Franny and the Professor 

C.C. makes a bet with her brother than he can't get Fran on Jeopardy. Fran gets on and wins and gets Renaissance Fair tickets from their new next door neighbor Roger Clinton when Maxwell can't.

Director:

Dorothy Lyman

Writers:

Robert Sternin (developed by), Prudence Fraser (developed by)

Stars:

Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, Daniel Davis

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Fran Drescher	...	Fran Fine
Charles Shaughnessy	...	Maxwell Sheffield
Daniel Davis	...	Niles
Lauren Lane	...	C.C. Babcock
Nicholle Tom	...	Maggie Sheffield
Benjamin Salisbury	...	Brighton Sheffield
Madeline Zima	...	Grace Sheffield
Michael McKean	...	Professor Noel Babcock PhD
Alex Trebek	...	Alex Trebek
Roger Clinton	...	Roger Clinton
John Bishop	...	Stewart (as John Glen Bishop)
Sue Goodman	...	Henrietta
Amy Lerman	...	Stage Manager

Storyline

C.C.'s pretentious professor brother, Noel, comes for a visit. Noel is a male version of C.C. and they have a very competitive relationship. Noel sees Fran as not being in the same intellectual class as himself. As a gag, Noel and C.C. decide to make a bet: that Noel can get Fran on the television game show Jeopardy! (1984) Because of the attention he is paying her, Fran believes that Noel is interested in her intellectually. Although he finds it a difficult task, Noel does manage for Fran to pass the test to get on the show. When Maxwell finds out about the bet, he first wants to rub Fran's nose in it as they had an argument about Noel and their common bond of intellectualism. However, when he see how excited Fran is, Maxwell decides instead to wish her luck on the show and crosses his fingers that she won't embarrass herself on national television. Fran does end up being one of the contestants, although she has a difficult time with the game. At least by the end of Double Jeopardy!,...

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Plot Keywords:

man wears eyeglasses | family butler | butler costume | mansion | english butler | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The reason why Fran gets her first question right on Jeopardy is because---at the time---a famous commercial ran on TV for English muffins, depicting the exact trivia, complete with dates, that Fran retells.

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Goofs

In Final Jeopardy, the third place player would show their response first, before the second place and first place players. The producers had Fran, who was in third place, show her response last, so as to build up to the surprise that Fran was right and wins.

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Quotes

Brighton Sheffield: [testing Fran's TV knowledge] Channel 29, what follows "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir"?
Fran Fine: That would be "Family Affair", the episode where Mr. French accidentally drops Mrs. Beasley off the terrace, followed by "The Munsters" with Marilyn Number 2, followed by "Bewitched" with Darrin Number 1 but Mrs. Kravitz Number 2.
Maxwell Sheffield: Bravo, Miss Fine. You seem to know more about sixties television than most people your age have forgotten.
Fran Fine: Well, are you calling me old or just stupid?
Maxwell Sheffield: You have a childlike quality that I find ...
[...]

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Connections

References Jeopardy! (1984)

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Soundtracks

Think!
(uncredited)
Composed by Merv Griffin

User Reviews

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1995 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS, Highschool Sweethearts, Sternin & Fraser Ink

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1