Gimme a Break!

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.