The new year brings Hollywood glamour to German television: Fran Drescher, the cult star of The Nanny, takes on a leading role in the second season of the ARD series “Die Zweiflers,” which centers on a Jewish family in Frankfurt. The new episodes (six 45-minute installments) premiere in the ARD Mediathek on January 15. Returning are Sunnyi Melles and Mark Ivanir, as well as Aaron Altaras and Saffron Marni Coomber.
The first season of “Die Zweiflers” from 2024 earned numerous accolades, including at the Cannes International Series Festival, the German Television Award, and the Grimme Prize. Season two, among other storylines, follows an insolvency proceeding at the Zweifler Deli that threatens the deli’s very existence, the disappearance of the grandparents, and a crime from the 1950s that remains unsolved.
Is Frankfurt am Main Germany’s New York?
Series creator David Hadda said Thursday evening at the ARD Serien Spotlight 2026/27 program presentation in Berlin that the team asked themselves who would fit best into the already internationally oriented series. “Frankfurt is a bit like Germany’s New York,” Hadda explained, which is why a Jewish icon from New York like Fran Drescher would be ideal.
Direct link | Trailer for the first season of “Die Zweiflers”
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The 69-year-old Drescher rose to worldwide fame in the 1990s with the sitcom “The Nanny,” set in New York. In it she plays Fran Fine, an eccentric, warm-hearted cosmetics salesperson from Queens. Quite by chance, she is hired in Manhattan as the nanny for a widowed, wealthy Broadway producer, Maxwell Sheffield. Fran’s working-class background and Jewish humor meet Max’s aristocratic, non-Jewish British upbringing.
Queer Icon
In the LGBTQ+ community, Drescher has long enjoyed cult status. With her distinctive voice, flamboyant fashion, and razor-sharp wit, Fran Fine became a figure celebrated by many as a camp icon. “The Nanny” still circulates in many fan circles, and Drescher’s quotes and looks form a staple part of the drag scene.
There is also a personal connection: Drescher’s ex-husband and co-creator of “The Nanny,” Peter Marc Jacobson, came out as gay after their 1999 divorce. The two remained close friends and continued to collaborate, including on the sitcom “Happily Divorced,” which drew on that experience. Drescher has since been vocal in supporting LGBTQ rights.
