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| “Happily Divorced”: Producer Peter Marc Jacobsen and Fran Drescher. |
Our favorite adenoidal female drag queen from the Bronx, Fran Drescher is developing a number of new projects including a syndicated talk show and a just announced sit-com pilot for the TVLand cable channel according to Deadline Hollywood. What’s unusual about it, is that Ms Drescher is teaming up with her ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobsen for both projects, and the fact that Mr Jacobsen subsequently came out as a gay man after the divorce. The couple met when they were in high school, married young and were together for 21 years before divorcing in 1999 and have remained close friends and business partners since the divorce. While married, the couple enjoyed enormous success with their hit show, “The Nanny” which they produced, but also endured the horror of a home invasion in 1985 and the brutal beating of the couple and the rape of Ms Drescher. And, in 2000 the actress successfully battled uterine cancer but only after months of being misdiagnosed by doctors, an experience she wrote about in her memoir, “Cancer, Schmancer” which led to the creation of the “Cancer Schmancer Movement” dedicated to the early detection of cancer in women.
Mr Jacobsen was supportive of Ms Drescher during her cancer fight and she returned the favor during 2008’s Propositon 8 campaign in California and hosted several fundraisers to defeat the initiative alongside her ex-husband. The sitcom in development for TVLand is called “Happily Divorced” and mirrors the positive relationship of Drescher and Jacobsen focusing on a woman re-entering the dating world after her divorce and her relationships with both her gay ex-husband and the new men in her life. In real life, Fran has said that she and her ex frequently fix each other up with men to date; it would be charming to see a TV show depict such a healthy, friendly relationship between a gay man and his ex-wife. “The Nanny” star has not committed to starring in the potential series, (though, it seems likely) and is creating and producing it with Mr Jacobsen and there’s been no information released on when the pilot would film, (and, of course, this does not guarantee it will become a series or even get aired.)
“The Nanny” was never a brilliantly written piece of TV comedy, but it was entertaining and Fran Drescher is an old school Hollywood entertainer who knows how to tailor the material to suit her talents…this could be a winner.
– Michael Strangeways
