"Moya prekrasnaya nyanya" (2004) TV series 2004-????

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

Aleksey Kiryushchenko
Andrey Kuznetsov

Writers:

Fran Drescher (writer)
Peter Marc Jacobson (writer)

Release Date:

27 September 2004 (Russia)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

She was working in a clothing boutique in Berilyovo, Moscow, 'til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes What was she to do...

Cast

Ira Andreeva	...	Ksyusha Shatalina
Katya Dubakina	...	Masha Shatalina
Aleksandr Filippenko	...	Vladimir Prutkovskiy (2008)
Andrei Grigoryev-Apollonov	...	Himself
Aleksandra Nazarova	...	Grandma Nadya
Gulya Nidzhinskaya	...	Vera Kopylova
Lyubov Polishchuk	...	Lyubov Grigoryevna Prutkovskaya
Olga Prokofieva	...	Zhanna Arkadyevna Izhevskaya
Pavel Serdyuk	...	Denis Shatalin
Boris Smolkin	...	Konstantin Nikolaevich
Anastasya Zavorotnyuk	...	Vika Prutkovskaya
Sergei Zhigunov	...	Maxim Victorovich Shatalin

Also Known As:

"Моя прекрасная няня" (Russia)

Runtime:

Russia:30 min (including commercials)

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

A Media

Trivia:

Russian episodes aren't shot and aired in the same order as their American analogues. Since the beginning of the sixth season, all episodes are brand new.

Quotes:

[In a hotel room, Zhanna lies down on a bed with Maksim, or so she thinks, then when she puts her han under the blanket, she realizes something is wrong]
Dzhanna: Wait, wait... big nose, short hair... I can't believe my hands!
[throws the blanket away and reveals Konstantin]
Dzhanna: Aah! I can't believe my eyes!
[Konstantin sits and smiles]
Konstantin Nikolaevich: Do you believe in God, at least?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Samyy luchshiy film (2008)

Amazingly Well Done!!!

To be honest, I was more than a a bit skeptical when I found that Russia was doing a remake of the cult American sitcom "The Nanny." My skepticism turned for the worse when I discovered that Russia was just one of **3** (!) countries (the other two being Greece and Argentina) that were remaking the show! I just didn't realize how a distinctly American humor could translate into other countries and what actress could possibly have the gull to re-create the role Fran Drescher practically owned? But when I was at my local Russian video store, I saw that they had the entire first season of this Russian version, so I thought "what the heck" and rented it, only to be pleasantly surprised! "My Wonderful Nanny" (a rough translation of the title) turned out to be quite a treat! Anastasya Zavorotnyuk did a bang up job filling in Fran Drescher's shoes and proved to be a worthy successor to the wonderfully comic actress, along with bearing an uncanny resemblance to her American counterpart. One other actor worthy of mention is Boris Smolkin, who is absolutely amazing as the Butler and gives Daniel Davis a real run for his money. That's right. Smolkin turned out to be much better than Davis and it's no use arguing. Anyone who has seen both will agree. The rest of the cast are pretty good, giving their own little zest to the familiar characters. For example, the Maggie character is much more sympathetic than the bitchy character Nicole Tom portrayed and the Maxwell character is not as idiotically loud-mouthed as the American version's. Same can be said for the Sylvia character, played by the Russian superstar Lyubov Polishchuk and Olga Prokofieva is having a field day with the obnoxious character of Dzhanna, much like Lauren Lane did with her C.C.

All in all, an amazingly well crafted remake and highly recommended to "The Nanny" fanatics everywhere, as well as for a casual Russian viewer.