Nanny and the Professor (2025)

by Bill D. Morgan

Many pop culture enthusiasts fondly remember Friday’s prime-time line up onABC TV during the 1970-71 season as one of the best.Those lucky enough to tune in during this period witnessed classic TVhistory in the making. Many belovedfavorites joined forces for that magical night, which included TheBrady Bunch, That Girl, LoveAmerican Style, This Is Tom Jonesand the premiere of The Partridge Family.If for some reason you did miss the ultimate in classic TV scheduling,you would have also missed out on the original run of one other captivatingsitcom. Sandwiched between the timeslots that provided home to two families, the Bradys and Partridges, was theEverett family that made up the cast of the short-lived series Nannyand the Professor.

Nanny and the Professororiginally aired as a mid-season replacement when TheFlying Nun was permanently grounded early in 1970.The show had plenty of supportfrom the network, including a healthy budget that peaked over half a milliondollars for filming two completely different pilot episodes.Interestingly, the first pilot included Dawn Lyn, fresh from her stint as Dodie in MyThree Sons, in the role of Prudence.Despite the manyefforts and talents of cast and crew, the show only made it officially throughone full season. Thedemise of the show came in December of 1971.Nanny and the Professor did, however, manage to roll out 54relentlessly cute episodes during its 24-month run. The show had a formula that was fresh and unique whencompared to the other contenders of the Friday night line up. Instead of spotlighting sibling rivalry like that on TheBrady Bunch or musical numbers and teen stress that transpired on ThePartridge Family, Nanny and theProfessor portrayed a softer side of family virtues with “a little bit offaith and lots of love. “

The driving forcebehind the show was the magic provided by Miss Phoebe Figalilly, better known asNanny, played by Juliet Mills. Asseen in the first episode, Nanny arrived unannounced from England and acceptedthe job as housekeeper and governess to the family’s three children, Hal(David Doremus), Butch (Trent Lehman), and Prudence (Kim Richards), and theirwidowed father, Professor Harold Everett (Richard Long).She instantly warmed the hearts of everyone, including millions offaithful viewers. Gifted withmysterious abilities, Nanny became the focal point of each episode by displayingher amazing abilities to communicate with animals, change the weather, readpeople’s minds, and perform other physic phenomenon at will – each proceededby the sound effect of a harp being gently struck.The gimmick, as well as network ratings, eventually wore off, leavingbehind only a small trail of collectibles for fans to remember the show by.

With onlyfourteen different items made, finding any of them can be challenging.A great item to start a collection with is the Cartoon Kit made by Colorforms in 1970.The box lid sports a unique illustration of the cast, including thefamily pet dog Waldo, and guinea pig Myrtle.The box contents include a backdrop featuring the house den and backyard,instruction booklet, and 36 small figural plastic pieces, which stick to thebackdrop assembling the complete cast with a few accessories. Don’t hesitate picking one up if it is missing pieces.The toy kit is rarely found complete.A boxed set in average condition will sell for about $40 to $50.

One of therarest items to locate in the hard cover book made in Germany by Schneider-Buch.Titled, 'Nanny und der Profesoor, this 5 x 7 1/2 inch book includes 107 pages ofstory and 8 glossy pages of black and white photos of the TV show cast.Although the book's text is German, it's not to difficult to tell that the storyis the same as the first American paperback credited with the same author,William Johnston.

Collectorsmight have an easier time locating one of the three different coloring booksmade by Saalfield in 1971. Thecontents of each book contain distinctive illustrations of the cast withcaptions that place them in similar situations as the TV series.Two of the books have cast photo covers which are always more desirableto collectors than illustrated versions. Thethird book has an illustrated cover and pictures Nanny in front of theEverett house with the three children peering out the window.This book varies with both a green house and blue lettering or a yellowhouse with red lettering. Dealerswill usually note if the book contains all the pages and the amount of coloringit contains. Theseconditions can greatly change the value of the book.A mint book can run double the cost of one marked with crayons or missingpages. A mint Nanny and the Professor coloring book will sell in the $35 to $45range.

Paperdolls are another class of collectibles that can be found in a variety ofconditions. Some may be cut orpunched out from the original sheets while other remain untouched.If the dolls and clothes are complete and not torn or ripped, both thecut and uncut sets can still be considered in excellent condition.The value, however, is twice as high for uncut sets than those that arecut. Nannyand the Professor paper dolls come in three differently styled booklets.Two of the booklets are approximately 9 x 12 inches and include a dollfor each character as well as one for their dog Waldo.The third book is slightly wider than the other two, but contains thesame dolls and six pages of clothing featured in all of the sets.An unpunched set will go as high as $50.

WilliamJohnston was a master at writing TV tie-ins.He has written hundred of original novels based on TV series from the1960s and 1970s. Some of hishighlights include The Brady Bunch, TheMunsters, The Flying Nun, Get Smart,Happy Days, and three titles for Nannyand the Professor. Althougheach book contains the caption “based on the delightful ABC-TV series,”these books are far from delightful and have little to do with the series otherthan the characters placed in the stories.The stories are beyond fantasy and included storylines that deal withspies stealing secret formulas for rocket fuel and a magical blue box thatcontrols household appliances and causes havoc to department store computersystems. The issues get scarcer by number, causing the value for thefirst book to start at $10 and number three to jump to a value of $25.

Some of thelast items to check off your Nannylist are two comic books and view-master reels. The comic book stories are far more similar to the TV seriesthan the paperback books and are more entertaining to read, since they areaccompanied by a slew of hilarious illustrations. The view-master reels are based on an actual episode entitled“Nanny on Wheels.” Because thecomic books can very greatly in condition, their values will range from $15-$35while the view-master set always seems to sell near $40.

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