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It's been 40 years since Walt Disney's Mary Poppins told us a spoonful of sugar would help the medicine go down. Today's nannies may not be as syrupy, but they are set to become 2005's hottest pop icons, umbrellas or no. In movies, musicals and television, the nanny is the heroine du jour. She's upstaging mom as more fun, younger, prettier and--to top it off--better at taking care of the kids. Last month Madonna publicly criticized her best pal Gwyneth Paltrow for even attempting parenthood without a nanny at her side. "The profession is higher profile than ever before," says Kay Crosse, principal of Britain's Norland College, the world's most prestigious early-childhood studies seminary. "Being a nanny is cool."
The entertainment industry couldn't agree more. James L. Brooks's new film "Spanglish" stars a beautiful Latina nanny, played by Spanish actress Paz Vega, whose doe-eyed caring heals a dysfunctional Los Angeles family. In the blockbuster U.S. sitcom "Desperate Housewives," which hit British televisions last week (sidebar), it is the sweet nanny Claire (the stunning Marla Sokoloff) who is able to exert control over a small tribe of raucous boys after their ex-executive of a mother has failed. Last month French television debuted a new reality show, "My Nanny Is a Celebrity," in which parents are sent on weeklong luxury holidays while hapless B-list celebrities do surprisingly wonderful jobs taking care of their kids. Says the show's producer, Lionel Stan: "The most incredible thing happened with a young teenager who, his mom had warned us, did nothing to help at home. Suddenly, with [the French rapper] Doc Gyneco for a nanny, he started cooking and cleaning. His mom couldn't believe it!" The most popular show in Spain is the comedy series "Ana and the Seven" about a stripper who works days as a nanny. Ana welcomes the young charges of a widowed man to her loving--if pneumatic--bosom and keeps the family together. And in London a newly revamped "Mary Poppins" is this season's biggest West End hit.
What gives? In Europe and North America the popular interest in nannies mirrors a growing reliance on them as societies continue to move away from the traditional two-parent, stay-at-home-mom household. Furthermore, few people live near their extended families anymore, eliminating a reliable source of child-care support. But the sudden nanny obsession also reflects the mounting sense that we are losing control. "I think there is a Western trend of more badly behaved children because parents are spending less time with their kids, so they feel guilty and spoil them whenever they have the chance," says Nick Powell, executive producer of "Supernanny," the British reality show that started the trend. "Nannies provide the right combination of love and discipline that both kids and parents need."
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Self-styled "Supernanny" Jo Frost clearly struck a nerve when she brought her 16 years of stern child-care experience to Britain's Channel 4 last July. In the resulting smash-hit show, Frost whips naughty kids into shape, teaches their parents how to gain authority and then floats away leaving families as sublimely united as the Banks at the end of "Mary Poppins." "Supernanny" also boasts popularity akin to her prim predecessor, commanding a third of the British audience during her prime-time slot. American networks ABC and Fox TV fought over the format rights last autumn. ABC won Frost (the American "Supernanny" premieres Jan. 17), but Fox has already pre-empted her with a quickly assembled rival show, "Nanny 911," in which a team of British nannies helps frazzled parents manage their unruly offspring.
Such shows have broad cross-cultural appeal. Ricochet, "Supernanny's" independent British production company, has just sold the program's format to Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain. They've also optioned the rights to Australia, Turkey and Norway. In Germany, intense interest sparked a massive bidding war; last month the losing station, RTL, struck pre-emptively with its own knock-off program, "Supermommas."
With fame comes glamour. Forget Julie Andrews's carpetbag in "Mary Poppins." Buxom, blue-eyed Frost wears designer suits and coiffed hair. "Ana and the Seven" star Ana Obregon, who regularly appears in the celebrity fashion magazine "Hola," shows off tanned, toned legs in hot, label miniskirts. On "My Nanny Is a Celebrity," Greta Garbo's onetime Italian lover Massimo Gargia wore cashmere while hanging the washing. The glamorous lifestyle isn't divorced from reality either: some top nannies actually earn more than $100,000 a year.
And worth every penny. When Deirdre Kelly, a 32-year-old writer from Michigan, moved to London two years ago with her husband and two young children, she struggled to find time for herself. "My mom had a whole network of people when she was raising me, but for me, it was just me with the kids," she says. "There was no one around to take them off my hands even for just the afternoon." Hiring a nanny was a "lifesaver." As Mary Poppins would say, they are practically perfect in every way.
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