Review of Nanny and the Professor

Nanny Juliet Mills (with her magical ESP and London-town dark blue cape and hat) is such a lovely presence on the tube that it's rather a shame her TV series "Nanny and The Professor" doesn't utilize her personal magic more and give us less of Richard Long (sort of a Darrin Stephens to Mills' Samantha) and those squawking kids running up and down the stairs. The quaint laughs that come aren't enough to make the search for bootleg episodes worthwhile. It's blandly-nice, a featherweight diversion with its heart in the right place; yet it never found its audience on ABC prime-time, despite an initially plum spot between "The Brady Bunch" and "The Patridge Family". Even compared to those two squeaky-clean family shows, "Nanny" looks resolutely old-fashioned and square, but Mills is still very lovely.