The chatterbox episode
I didn't know it was suppose to be a spinoff. I don't know if the show would have had 4 episodes it seem like it would have been a funny show.
shareI would have watched! I like those ensemble-type shows, and I thought there was a good comedic balance (the quirky, klutzy lead character, the suave and unattainable male love interest you root for her to beat the odds and end up with, a few sassy sidekicks). I think it could have worked in the '90s, though probably not now (shows like that have kind of been done to death, at this point).
shareThe problem with that episode to me is the same one, that I have with pretty much any backdoor pilot on any show: I get annoyed by how out of place it feels within the show. I did not put on "The Nanny" to watch all those people, whom I don't know and don't care one bit about. I want to watch Fran and her ensemble.
Intelligence and purity.
Well we still got to see Fran and her ensemble in the episode. It's not like let's say "The Jefferson" backdoor pilot where it only has Edith Bunker in the opening scene and that's it. The rest of the episode is just "The Jefferson" cast and the setting for that show. This Nanny episode had the perfect balance and flopped back and forth between the show's main cast and the Chatterbox crew. Backdoor pilots can be a bit off putting, but it's a clever way for TV people to get a show started without having to spend extra money producing a pilot on it's own to sell to the network. It's easier to just make one out of an already existing show.
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