Happy Fran Drescher Friday: The Beautician and the Beast

by Mallory Ortberg · May 20, 2016

UNDERRATED.

Oh my God, I just realized this was a The King and I remake? OH MY GOD.

Mallory is an Editor of The Toast.


39 Comments

  1. don'tcallmejenny +37

    Wasn’t it The King and I meets The Nanny meets Sound of Music, kinda?

    1. shaqattaq32 +5

      Literally the only thing i remember about this movie is her poking his ass and saying it was shiatsu

    2. walrathem +18

      Timonthy Dalton’s joie de vivre. He’s one of the people I first thought of when I learned of the phrase “living your best life.”

    3. Jungle_Red +8

      Here’s a question… Can you get INTO a chin dimple? I’ve seen a guy with one a few times, and I just can’t reconcile myself with it. Any and all advice appreciated.

      1. angrypedestrian +8

        If you don’t have tumblr, you can e-mail me at diablotien (at) gmail and I will mail you a couple!

    1. Hannah Richards +10

      I jUST came here to say the same thing!!! Where am I gonna get all my obscure 80s/90s movie recs when all this is gone?!

  7. susania +13

    I always thought it was a Beauty and the Beast remake… hence the title…

  8. alyssabarringer +50

    Things with Fran Drescher in them fell into the category of “not a show for kids” in my house. I later found out this category had very little to do with objectionable content and more to do with that my dad didn’t like the voice and didn’t want us imitating it.

    (See also: Rugrats, Spongebob)

    1. Siana720 +33

      I wasn’t allowed to watch Rugrats (at my mom’s house) because Angelica was too mean. For years I have considered this tomfoolery, because obviously that was the point, Angelica was the villian, and Tommy’s ability to love her through it was part of what made the show great.

      It is only now at 26 I am realizing my mom probably just found it annoying.

    2. catcet +33

      We weren’t allowed to watch Dexter’s Lab in my house. My dad said it was because the characters didn’t make good choices, but I found out years later that it was actually because my sister wanted to have a lab built below our kitchen and our parents wanted her to stop pestering them about it.

      1. Angela +9

        Characters not “making good choices” sounds exactly like a reason i’d give my kids for not watching a show, and until now I hadn’t realized how sinister and intriguing it sounds…

  11. GinnyQ9 +11

    Sometimes I realize that I was very lucky to have a mother who liked all kinds of obscure movies (Edited to add: AND MADE US WATCH THEM, often against our will, but we always thanked her for it afterwards because we were Catholic and the guilt is strong in us), such that my cinema knowledge, albeit scattered, includes gems like this.

    1. Opal_Whitely +1

      We owned a copy of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, but I wasn’t allowed to bring Disney movies into the house at all.

      My mother was an abysmal parent, but her taste in movies is actually pretty OK.

  12. GinnyQ9 +16

    But, but … I liked him better WITH the mustache! (Also, is that the same girl who played the moody oldest girl in Mrs. Doubtfire? Talk about typecasting.)

    1. rituleenreads +6

      YES, Same? I was so bummed when he shaved it! Men with Mustaches can still be jovial, people!!!

  13. hope +21

    often quoted at my house: “you fed the chicken chicken?! it’s like the silence of the chickens!”

  14. gyre +41

    A friend and I tried to watch this ironically but I ended up watching it sincerely.

  15. builtahouse +20

    This is 100% a Gentle Romcom I Watched With My Mom as an adolescent, when only certain PG-13 & under movies were allowed.

    SO ENJOYABLE.

  16. Amphora

    I assumed it was, until today, and now it makes sense: he's not under a spell that makes him awful, he's just ruling an absolute monarchy stuck in the eighteenth century until Fran Drescher pulls him into the twentieth!

  17. Amphora

    Alvin and the Chipmunks were the only videos/tapes banned in my house, for what are now obvious reasons.

  18. Jungle_Red +16

    Oh, man. Nothing would make me happier in The-Toast’s waning days than a few more Fran Drescher Fridays. This movie is entirely underrated. It’s also hilarious to consider how relevant it is with Putin putting on the major Cold War moves.

    I’ve rewatched The Nanny several times, which I like to blame on Fran’s fabulous fashion and enviable figure. But I also DVR’ed Fran’s TV Land series, which was mostly execrable and occasionally brilliant. A toast to Fran!!!

  19. ankulometes +5

    This movie showed on Cinemax a few times when I was younger and I enjoyed it a lot. Timothy Dalton’s face didn’t hurt either … oh my god … is this movie why I’m into chin dimples

  20. Trixr

    My brother has one (he looks like a sandy-haired younger John Travolta), and even if I were into dudes, it's just a big NOPE for me because of the association. (I like my brother, but urrrrr.)

  21. rdhingra116

    YES, Same? I was so bummed when he shaved it! Men with Mustaches can still be jovial, people!!!

  23. VioletandIrises

    Back when I was a kid and Blockbuster was still a thing, I used to renew The Chipmunk Adventure over and over until finally one of my parents just said "NO!" when it was time to renew it. I was baffled by it at the time. I mean, look at the description from Wikipedia

    "The film…follows the Chipmunks and the Chipettes as they go on a hot air balloon race around the world that is the cover for a diamond smuggling ring."

    Diamond smuggling, hot air balloons and musical battles–what's not to love?

  25. ParadoxBox

    I think I watched that movie about a hundred times in a single summer. The song the Chipettes sang to the little baby animals made me cry every time.