The November 8 general election date is fast-approaching, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been making daily headlines. He's been open about his dislike for being told what to say on teleprompters, but he's never been shy about trying his hand at scripted television. Trump has appeared in a variety of TV shows over the years, usually as a fictionalized version of himself, and he apparently wasn't always the most cooperative guest star. The Nanny co-creator Peter Marc Jacobson recalls this story from Trump's 1996 appearance on the sitcom:
We sent the script to Mr. Trump, and in return I got a message from casting that said, 'Mr. Trump has a problem with the line above: 'Do all you handsome millionaires know each other?' I was actually impressed and thought, Isn't it nice that he's humble and doesn't want to call himself a millionaire? Then I read the rest of the note, and it said, 'Since he's a billionaire, he would like the line changed accordingly.'
Considering all of the very serious stakes in the current campaign season that has Donald Trump pitted against Hillary Clinton, it's nice to have a story about one of the candidates that's actually kind of amusing. Of all the things for a wealthy man to object to as he plays himself on a sitcom about a fashionista-turned-nanny, we might not have all guessed that he'd chafe at being called a millionaire when he's actually a billionaire. Peter Marc Jacobson's reveal to Newsweek that Trump had a problem with the line is worth a laugh or two, though not billions.
The line was ultimately changed. Fran Fine did not ask "Do all you handsome millionaires know each other?" in the episode that aired back in 1996. Instead, she said "What am I talking about? All you handsome zillionaires know each other." Donald Trump got his way, and then some! "Zillion" isn't an exact measurement, but "zillionaire" sounds much richer than "millionaire."
Interestingly, the 1996 episode that featured Donald Trump also featured somebody who has been a figure in several of Trump's most colorful speeches, as Rosie O'Donnell co-appeared in the episode, also as herself, when Fran Fine attended a taping of The Rosie O'Donnell show. Trump and O'Donnell didn't share any scenes, but it's a surprising piece of trivia for anyone who has followed their ongoing verbal feud.
The Nanny wasn't the only 90s show to get Donald Trump to appear. One of his most memorable small screen appearances was in 1994, when he and then-wife Marla Maples visited the Banks family on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He also turned up on The Drew Carey Show in 1997 when the Drew Carey and Co. visited New York. Take a look at all of his TV and film cameos:
We'll probably see plenty of Donald Trump on TV during these final weeks leading up to the general election, and the coverage probably won't all be as laughable as some of his acting jobs from the days before he entered politics. Check out our fall TV schedule to see all that you can watch now and in the near future.
