Her character is bubbly, outgoing, and humorous but also caring and responsible of the kids and her job, and plays the mother figure for them.
She was a fashion icon in the show, often wearing black turtlenecks, or clothes right off the runway (even though her salary couldn’t afford them in real life).
Also, in the last episode, Fran, Maxwell, Grace, along with Niles, C.C., Sylvia, Morty, Yetta, Val, and Fred move from New York to California.
The youngest daughter of Sylvia and Morty Fine, Fran was raised in Flushing, Queens with her older sister Nadine.
In the show's pilot episode, Fran arrives at the home of Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy), hoping to sell cosmetics.
Fran, with her nontraditional nurturing style and no-nonsense honesty, soon becomes a favorite with the kids as well as Maxwell, as they come to respect her opinions and love her as a person.
This compelling desire mainly comes from the obsessive, overbearing nature of her mother, Sylvia, who often nags Fran about the subject of marriage.
As she continues to work for Mr. Sheffield, Fran develops many fantasies about being romantically and sexually involved with him, such as the two kissing passionately.
In the last episode of season 3, Maxwell confesses to Miss Fine that he loves her when their plane from Paris to New York meets some turbulence, and he believes they may crash.
Upon returning home, Maxwell immediately revokes the remark, claiming it was based more on panic and the possibility of death, while also being a spontaneous response, and was something he wanted to tell her before they perished.
This incident is later referred to as "The Thing" and is held over Mr. Sheffield's head with glee by both Fran and Niles (Daniel Davis) his butler for almost a whole season.
(In the traditional British fashion of addressing butlers or ladies' maids, Maxwell calls Niles only by his surname.)
Despite the fact that they stop using each other's last names to address each other when they become engaged, at times Fran and Max still switch to their boss/employee roles out of habit.
Maxwell Beverley "Max" Sheffield is the male lead and patriarch of the family, portrayed by actor and British peer Charles Shaughnessy.
Maxwell is a Broadway theatrical producer of some success, although he seems to remain in the shadow of his main rival, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Max is always irritated that he turned down producing the shows Tommy, Hair, and especially Cats, which proved to be a financial windfall for Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Maxwell's busy schedule does not allow him much time to spend with Maggie, Brighton, and Gracie Sheffield so he had to find a nanny; enter Fran Fine.
Maxwell is nervous about commitment and is mourning his deceased wife, while Fran is still reeling from a broken relationship with ex-boyfriend Danny, whom she almost marries again in a later episode.
After the birth, the whole family moves to California, where Maxwell is scheduled to produce a TV show in Los Angeles.
Maxwell tended to smother Maggie, discouraging her from any kind of activities with boys, wanting her to remain his little girl.
Eventually, Maggie met and married a handsome, Jewish underwear model named Michael Brolin (Andrew Levitas), who was related, by marriage, to Barbra Streisand.
Grace has a habit of using complicated words and terms that others can't understand, as well as naming medical conditions.
plunges into depression, gains weight, loses her sanity, and has to be institutionalized for three months (a plot line written to coincide with Lane's real-life pregnancy).
later accepts Niles' proposal, gets married as Fran gives birth, and by the end of the series, they learn that they are expecting a child.
To Niles, Fran is a breath of fresh air, bringing life back in the house, which it had been lacking since Sara died.
On more than one occasion, Maxwell has addressed a question to Niles while seemingly alone in an empty room, secure in the knowledge that his butler is nearby and listening.
usually poke fun at her supposedly advanced age, subtly comparing her to a dog or a witch, her inability to date anyone, and her vanity, though C.C.
Considered the stereotypical Jewish mother,[citation needed] Sylvia offers overbearing guidance, has a voracious appetite (she claims to be "Hippo-glycemic"), and always tries to maintain an important and prevalent role in her daughter's life.
In one of the episodes, it is revealed that Yetta had a romantic affair with a waiter on the boat to Ellis Island, but she was to marry a different man.
Val occasionally has moments of intelligence, but generally makes outright dimwitted remarks, much to the annoyance and worries of Fran.