Gimme a Break!

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Gimme a Break! ranks 2,158 out of the 18,228 shows on TV.com.

The 116 users who count themselves as Gimme a Break! fans have written a total of 11 reviews.

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A rotund black housekeeper maintained order in the home of a portly white police chief in this old-fashioned comedy set in the fictional town of Glen Lawn, California. Policeman Carl's beloved wife Margaret had died only months before, leaving him with three, winsome daughters, ranging in age from cute... more »

A rotund black housekeeper maintained order in the home of a portly white police chief in this old-fashioned comedy set in the fictional town of Glen Lawn, California. Policeman Carl's beloved wife Margaret had died only months before, leaving him with three, winsome daughters, ranging in age from cute grade-schooler to troublesome teen. Wisecracks and fat jokes abounded, but there was a lot of love as Nell tried to befriend and surrogate mother to the clan. Officer Simpson was a dopey police officer who was frequently seen, and Joey was a six-year-old orphan and junior-grade hustler who joined the household in the 1983-1984 season.

As the 1985-1986 season opened the chief had passed away (actor Dolph Sweet had died), and Nell
became both mother and father to the Kanisky brood. The man of the house was now Jonathan, who had married
Julie at the end of the 1984-1985 season and moved in. The ratings started to slip from its usual place
that season, and the network was so worried about that, and what they felt was a decline in the quality of the writing, that Hal Cooper, the executive producer, was told by NBC executives to either end production of the series or make major changes.

By 1986, with the Kanisky girls grown and/or college-bound, Nell and her best friend Addy decided to leave Glen Lawn for New York City, with Grandpa and little Joey in tow. There they discovered Joey's irresponsible father Tim, who turned over Joey's younger brother Matthew (played by Joey Lawrence's real-life brother) and departed, adding a second child to the shifting
household. Marty was Nell's nutty New York landlord, who also owned the restaurant El Gaspacho downstairs,
where he put on a phony Spanish accent and called himself "Esteban". The changes didn't help the ratings
any, nor did two different time slots that season, and the show quietly ended its network run in the spring of 1987.

NBC Broadcast History

October 29, 1981- August 26, 1982----Thursdays----9:30 p.m.

September 2, 1982- September 30, 1982----Thursdays----9:00 p.m.

October 2, 1982- December 25, 1982----Saturdays----9:00 p.m.

January 6, 1983- August 4, 1983----Thursdays----9:00 p.m.

August 11, 1983- September 20, 1984----Thursdays----8:00 p.m.

September 29, 1984- November 24, 1984----Saturdays----8:30 p.m.

December 1, 1984- August 31, 1985----Saturdays----9:00 p.m.

September 7, 1985- June 7, 1986----Saturdays----8:00 p.m.

June 11, 1986- March 23, 1987----Wednesdays----9:00 p.m.

March 31, 1987- May 12, 1987----Tuesdays----9:00 p.m.

• Kari/Katie in cyan blue in "The Robbery"

  IN that episode "The Robbery", she looks 100% attractive in that cyan blue dress, she would looked better when she pinches both sides of her cyan skirt or spin around making her cyan skirt flying around.

  IN that episode "The Robbery", she looks 100% attractive in that cyan blue dress, she would looked better when she pinches both sides of her cyan skirt or spin around making her cyan skirt flying around. less «

  ireeagle Last online 7 days ago
  2 comments, last one Mar 25, 2008 + Add Comment

• Season 2 Available

  Season 2 now available at www.amazon.ca     

  Season 2 now available at www.amazon.ca      less «

  Eric5237 Last online Mar 17, 2009
  4 comments, last one Feb 3, 2008 + Add Comment

• Gimme A Break! reminds of...

  1) Alice 2) Fresh Prince Of Bel Air 3) Hang Time They all have: 1) A set of three female actresses 2) One overacting tough man actor a) Vic Tabyor-Alice b) Dolph Sweet-Gimme A Break! c) James Avery-Fresh Prince Of Bel Air d) Dick Dutkus-Hang Time 3) Funny perfomance besides slow drama. Any suggestions?

  1) Alice 2) Fresh Prince Of Bel Air 3) Hang Time They all have: 1) A set of three female actresses 2) One overacting tough man actor a) Vic Tabyor-Alice b) Dolph Sweet-Gimme A Break! c) James Avery-Fresh Prince Of Bel Air d) Dick Dutkus-Hang Time 3) Funny perfomance besides slow drama. Any suggestions? less «

  ireeagle Last online 7 days ago
  1 comments, last one Dec 1, 2007 + Add Comment

•  

  6.5 Fair

  Gimme a freaking Break! hide « show »

  The show sort of started going downhill when the Dolph Sweet died then the wheels really came off this jalopy during the final season. They should have ended it the season before that.
  
  I have to admit when I was in highschool I had a crush on Lara Jill Miller - dont know why exactly. I just did. Well after the fat man cop dad died it just sort of went downhill since without a man in the house, Nell Carter couldnt keep control of the dang kids! Now Nell is dead too, so I guess there wont be a reunion show any time soon since all the other actors havent been seen around at all.
  
  Why does the description describe Nell Carter as "rotund" and Dolph Sweet as "Portly"? They were F-A-T, FAT! Come to think of it I could stand to lose 10-20 of those holiday pounds. LOL!

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  SoylentYellow Added Jan 29, 2007 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  This show was about a black housekeeper who promised the chief's wife she would take care of the chief and his daughters. She also ended up taking care of Joey and Matthew later in the series. All in all an excellent show that show be put back on the air. hide « show »

  They really need to put this show back on TV and show all the episodes. This was an excellent show from beginning to end and I hope they come out the rest of the series on DVD, because I would buy the whole series. This show was hilarious and showed great family values with a housekeeper, the Chief, his daughters, and Joey and Matthew Lawrence. I hope they come out with the rest of the series on DVD, or put it back on TV where it belongs. I give this show a perfect ten. Like I said excellent from beginning to end!

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  lilrock87 Added Aug 15, 2006 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  This show is AWESOME....Nell Carter is hysterical and has a voice blessed by God. I wish they would release a CD of all the songs she sang throughout the run of this show. hide « show »

  This is a classically funny show. It allowed for physical humor and out right comedy. Some of the best episodes include: When the house was burglarlized. When the telephone company cut off the phone. When Nell went back home for Loretta's Wedding. All of these episodes showed the comedic ability of all of the players. There were some episodes that also allowed for some drama to play out and in doing so allowed us to truly start to care about these people. When Nell went home to see her ailing father and of course the episode that dealt with the death of the Chief. This is truly an amazing show.

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  honestguy5872 Added Jul 31, 2006 All my reviews
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  8.6 Great

  a really funny comedy series. hide « show »

  This was a pretty good old-school comedy television series. As is normal with good television shows, this one did not last long enough. This is a show that I would suggest watching if you get the chance. Check the bargain bins at Wal-Mart, the online movies sites (Amazon.com and such) and all of the cable channels that run old shows. Nick at Nite and TV Land are great for theses kind of shows. They will even do a week long spot for shows that only had 6 or so episodes. Then you have your super stations. They run a bunch of old shows too. All in all a pretty good show that did not get a good enough chance. Sometimes it is a simple as the show it is up against. Look at Law & Order. It is one of the longest running shows on TV. They moved it to go up against Lost. After about 2 weeks of getting pounded in the ratings it was moved back to it's original time slot. Shows like this should be given more of an opportunity.

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  vicmackey31 Added Apr 26, 2006 All my reviews
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  9.9 Superb

  Way Before my time but I remember it vaguely when I was little toddler. hide « show »

  This show was a good show, all I remember is the theme song. Look forward to see how this show was a great 80s sitcom especially in honor of Nell Carter. I've been anticipating on knowing more about the show on the 1st season DVD, I want to see what made this sitcom so good

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  BroRollins Added Jan 13, 2006 All my reviews