The series starred Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief ( Dolph Sweet) and his three daughters. Alvin and the Chipmunks. As the fifth season saw the death of the chief, Nell became the head of the household. The sitcom aired on . After Gimme a Break wrapped in the spring of 1987, Telma Hopkins and Rosetta Lenoire would co-star two years later in the smash hit ABC sitcom Family Matters. After The Cosby Show (1984) became a big hit, NBC didn't want to a show about a black housekeeper raising a white family on the same network as the Cosby Show with a black family where the father is a doctor and the mom is a lawyer. The one that I really thought that she outdid herself in was the "Emergency". NBC president Brandon Tartikoff had a lot of faith in Nell Carter and thought she had potential to become a breakout star. The two made peace in 1997 when Rosie had her hit talk show which lasted for six seasons. outdated and vaguely stereotypical. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); A foster son, Joey (Joey Lawrence), was added to the Kanisky household in season three. From 1981 to 1987, viewers tuned into Gimme a Break! To each their own though. They should of had a Gimme a Break reunion movie. It's cool that we have reruns of it. Sweet continued dropping weight, due to cancer. Gimme a Break! When they brought the character back in season 2 she was replaced with actress Bonnie Urseth. Parker said Carter spoiled him for a good two years and then suddenly turned on him. Platinum. TV Listings. Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that I'll always remember this show in my memory forever, even though I don't think I've seen every episode. By season three, when he was added as a regular, his hearing is normal and he is no longer senile. Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, CA The Kanisky daughters need all the help they can . The plan was for Nell to become a housemother at Samantha's college dorm, reminiscent of the early seasons of the hit NBC sitcom the The Facts of Life. It revolves around the manager of a Greek restaurant and his assistant investigate the disappearance of Nell's purse while dealing with the manager's father, who owns the restaurant. Pete Schrum who portrayed The Chief's brother Uncle Ed, who got married in season 2, disappeared. Over the six-year run, a number of celebrities appeared on the show, including singer Whitney Houston, Andy Gibb, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Ray Parker, Jr.. [7][8][9][10] Distribution rights are jointly owned by The Program Exchange and NBCUniversal Television Distribution, successor in interest to previous syndicator MCA Television. Jonathan Silverman was a good addition after that. The final spin-off attempt of Gimme a Break was at the end of season 5 in 1986 in "The Purse Snatcher". Telma Hopkins All rights reserved. Considering it was a. However, she was still seen occasionally in the sixth season, visiting from school. Theme song is catchy though,but that's it. The show has numerous character recast throughout the duration of the series. I don't remember the original theme song and after looking up old episodes on YouTube I hate it. cast members, and just focuses on the two boys and Mr. Pappalard. He is survived by his wife of eleven years and son from his first marriage. Carter performed the lyrics in both versions of the theme song. In 2009, VEI announced that they plan on releasing the entire series in a complete series box set in 2010. I am so happy that this show has finally made it to the era of DVD. The show was about a woman named Nell Harper (Nell Carter), who agrees to be a housekeeper for the Kanisky household as a special favor to her late friend, Margaret Huffman Kanisky (played in flashback by Sharon Spelman) who was the wife of police chief Carl Kanisky (Dolph Sweet). The US syndication rights are held by NBCUniversal Television Distribution, the successor company to original syndicator MCA TV. Carter also said that she called other cast members by their character names for the same reason. is an American television sitcom created by Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen, that aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981, to May 12, 1987. . Nell Carter was deemed difficult to work with most of the time. Helen Hunt auditioned for the role of Katie Kanisky. I think that the cast in Gimme a Break was excellent. I still remember watching this show on Saturday nights back in the '80's over at my grandparents house.I believe it was on NBC-at 830pm right after Diff'rent Strokes (another classic sitcom that also has finally made it to DVD).It was an amazing show-It had the premise of a maid taking care of her employer-a police chief and his 3 teenage daughters.After 25 years since its premiere, several cast members have went to that great casting couch in the sky- Dolph Sweet (Chief Kanisky), Nell Carter (Nell Harper) and Howard Morton (Officer Ralph Simpson: They will live on forever via DVD. usually managed to land in the Top 40 during its first four seasons. Sadly, Nell Carter, who played Nell, and Dolph Sweet, who played Carl, have since passed away. Over its run, the series used two different theme songs. Telma Hopkins felt the show lost its ground quickly when they made all the changes in the sixth season. We heart books. She was basically the whole show , which dealt with many cast changes, perhaps the most shocking being Chief Carl Kaminskys death- Dolph Sweet. During the filming of the backdoor pilot Nell and the Kid, Nell and Don Rickles didn't get along and were clashing all over the place. "The Purse Snatcher" also seems to be one of these. O' Donnell has stated numerous times over the years during the final season of the show Nell Carter was in a bad place with personal issues and extremely miserable and unpleasant to be around. to check out the antics of the Kanisky family. A foster son, Joey (Joey Lawrence) was added in Season 3. Nell Carter as an overweight housekeeper, a devout guardian to 3 teenage white girls and a force not to be reckoned with whenever she dealt with the Chief of Police - Carl Kanisky, pretty well sums up what this 1980s sitcom is about. Early episodes implied it was recent, and any bad behavior from the girls was treated as a reaction to it, and the plotlines of a few early episodes revolve around Nell getting used to the family. I was young when this show aired. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. We heart Beverly Hills. The cast addition of Joey Lawrence's younger brother Matthew Lawrence in the final season, was forced on the producers and ordered from NBC to preserve the cuteness factor. And didn't tell Carl because they both feared the exact angry reaction he ended up having. She was 54. The abrupt changes in tone are handled adroitly, John J. OConnor wrote. Carter performed both themes. Nell Carter would admit later in interviews that she had a serious cocaine problem when she starred on this show, which spiralled out of control. Gimme a Break! By the end of the Season 2 the tension between them gotten so bad to the point that Nell threatened the network and demanded either they get replaced or she wouldn't return to the show. The sitcom took place in the fictional Los Angeles, California, suburb of Glenlawn. I am sure if Nell Carter hadn't passed away, they would be bringing this show back. Sadly Dolph Sweet passed away during the 3rd season but the show was able to continue thanks to a stellar cast including the 3 daughters Katie, Samantha, and Julie (Kari Michaelsen, Lara Jill Miller and Lauri Hendler) also Silver screen legend John Hoyt as Grandpa Stanley, Howard Morton as the lovable but bumbling Officer Simpson as well as Thelma Hopkins as Addie and Joey Lawrence round out the cast. Gimme a Break! [12], Nell Carter received two Emmy nominations as Best Actress in a Comedy Series. On May 8, 1985, actor Dolph Sweet (who portrayed the character of Carl "The Chief" Kanisky) passed away from cancer at the age of 64 and his final appearance on the show aired three days later on the day of his funeral. I would be very interested in what anyone here thinks of it. Nov 05, 2007 #9. If your show doesn't pull in enough viewers to justify its budget . According to Rod Parker in an interview, at one point during the series Nell Carter had a slight falling out with Joey Lawrence because she thought he was getting too much screen-time. On May 12, 1987, "Gimme a Break" was cancelled after 6 seasons and 137 episodes. Two new characters were added to the cast: Addy Wilson, Nell's longtime friend, and Joey Donovan, an abandoned seven-year-old orphan. If you tap now and watch the short video you'll get 30 minutes of ad free music! Margaret was dying of lung cancer, and the Chief could not have raised the kids alone. GIMME A BREAK! Carter had begun experimenting with cocaine while in the cast of Aint Misbehavin Carters publicist Roger Lane said Carter, Nell Carter, the robustly sassy singer and actress who exploded onto the New York musical stage in the Fats Waller revue Aint Misbehavin and went on to become a popular television star in the series Gimme a Break!, died yesterday at her home in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was, At some point during the mid-1990s, Carter had begun a relationship with a woman named Ann Kaser, but this was not known to the public until after her death. She believes it was the customer that the two guys had her sit with, and who she took a liking to. Who was the unluckiest person in the world? He talks about how tough he and his family had it growing up, and also touches upon his deceased wife. In the episode he slaps Julie, Carl reveals his regret he never slapped Margaret (his now late wife and daughters' late mother) when he couldn't get her to stop smoking, in what would have been a misguided (to say the least) attempt to wake her up to the fact that she was killing herself with her chronic smoking. As with many star vehicles in Hollywood, the main character was named after the star. In some of these episodes, the guest would eventually perform a song with Nell. The only other storyline in the episode consisted of the activities director Lilly, a four time widow, having a crush on one of the senior members named Andy, and how he refused to go to her house for dinner many times. Nell also served as a confidante to the chief's three daughters, 17-year-old Katie (Kari Michaelsen), 15-year-old Julie (Lauri Hendler), and 13-year-old Samantha (Lara Jill Miller). Addy got a job in New York City, so Nell, Grandpa and Joey came to New York to join her. Grandpa (John Hoyt) starts off season 1 as almost deaf and very senile. In real life the three performers would all go on tour together during their hiatuses. The show has been renewed for a fifth season, but it was undecided what would be done about Sweets character, Bozek said. She did, however, return for an episode in Season 4, this time as a romantic interest for Grandpa. I know she did musicals but her singing voice is like chalk on a blackboard, very nasal. She had been in rehearsals for ''Raisin,'' a musical adaptation of the play ''A Raisin in the Sun . Whitney was very young on Gimme A Break, and only had a minute or two on screen. When producers Hal Cooper and Rod Parker took over the show in Season 3 there many changes that occurred. Ambitions. Nell started singing more, Nell's frumpy and unflattering wardrobe, hair and makeup was upgraded to more glamorous and stylish. Nell and the Kaniskys had a black goldfish named Gertrude, who keeps getting killed throughout the series (accidentally by Nell, with a rogue vacuum cleaner, or with a sprinkle of Comet) only to reappear again. She estimated that at the height of her addiction, she was spending $1000 to $2000 or more a day on drugs. As ABC was developing Growing Pains, and putting the final touches on it before it went to series; they decided to replace the young actress who played Carol in the pilot, Elizabeth Ward, because she was not testing well with audiences, so Tracey Gold was tapped to take over for the role. Typical family situation comedy, nothing special. Dolph Sweet, the lovingly sarcastic police chief on television's "Gimme A Break" and an actor who began his career in a World War II prison camp, died May 8th, 1985 (shortly after filming the final episode of the 1984-1985 season) of cancer at Tarzana Hospital in Tarzana, California.He was 64. I wish I could sue NBC for the grievous consternation, intestinal distress and aggravated low moaning I have suffered as a result of Gimme a Break, Shales wrote, going on to criticize the shows sex jokes and what he found to be the racial stereotypes embodied by Carters character. I was sad when Dolph Sweet died,he was funny even though I usually see him in reruns. How long ago Margaret died. We heart movies. During the downtimes from Gimme a Break, Joey Lawrence would tour with Nell Carter and Sammy Davis Junior, and would perform with them frequently. I thought she was great! (a Titles & Air Dates Guide) . Though the sitcom was hardly groundbreaking for its time,the series earned Nell Carter two Emmy nominations for her work and in turn gave her an opportunity to sing and dance in some of the episodes occasionally. You don't think? Like the episodes "Nell and the Kid" and "The Center", this episode does not rely on any Gimme A Break! 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