Dolph Sweet's final episode aired May 11, 1985, three days after he died. This show is in syndication on Antenna Tv and the episodes are on YouTube . Nell Carter and Dolph Sweet (who played The Chief) both played off one another well. Her character married the only other Jewish person in the cast, Jonathan Silverman. In the episode "Nell's Friend" Addy talks about the progress of Black Women in modern American society. 's original producers Coleman Mitchell and Geoffrey Neigher, which involved personality conflicts and creative differences. He is survived by his wife of eleven years and son from his first marriage. Margaret was dying of lung cancer, and the Chief could not have raised the kids alone. On May 12, 1987, "Gimme a Break" was cancelled after 6 seasons and 137 episodes. In the series pilot, Katie is arrested for shoplifting. The show was produced by Alan Landsburg Productions, whose successor-in-interest, Reeves Entertainment Group, took over production in 1985. The episode's main plotline was about Nell's stolen purse, but went into the relationship of Mr. Pappalardo, his son, Nicky, his son's friend, and the establishment that Mr. Pappalardo owned and made the boys operate. Your email address will not be published. Sweet on July 18th, 1920 in New York, New York. Pete Schrum who portrayed The Chief's brother Uncle Ed, who got married in season 2, disappeared. But I actually like Mama's Family so go figure. Also, the network had nothing to replace the show with as they were struggling with their programming and ratings during this time period. 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). If your show doesn't pull in enough viewers to justify its budget . John Hoyt died in 1991, six years after his on-screen son died. Cozi TV started airing the show as of January 3, 2022. I think that the cast in Gimme a Break was excellent. He shared the accountability together with his spouse's buddy, Nell Harper, performed by Tony-winning actor Nell Carter. Joey Lawrence didn't audition for his role on the show. She was inconsolable for days after the cast wrap party, refusing to see even close friends as she fell into dark despair. Visual Entertainment released the first two seasons of Gimme a Break!' The first was composed by Bob Christianson with lyrics by Bob Garrett and Marley Sims; two versions of this song were used, one for the first season and a new recording for the second. No infringement of previously copyrighted material is intended on this site. She estimated that at the height of her addiction, she was spending $1000 to $2000 or more a day on drugs. During the summer 1984 hiatus, Dolph Sweet underwent stomach surgery, which was revealed shortly after to be the first extensive treatment for cancer. 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. on DVD in Canada between 200607. Alpha House. Nell tries to interfere in her mother's love life.Director:Phil RamunoWriters:Mort Lachman (creator), Sy Rosen (creator), 2 more credits Stars:Nell Carter, . Michaelson would binge, purge, and fast. Age, September 13, 1948 It has been nice revisiting the story lines, how real they were , and how people can still relate .i am glad to eee some of the cast is extremely successful RIP to some of the cast who I loved as a teenager . Carters publicist Roger Lane said Carter collapsed and died of natural causes in her Beverly Hills home. (See the Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, What's Happening, The Partridge Family, etc.). Gimme a Break is a non-profit whose mission is to care for caregivers by giving an emotional and physical break as. Rue McClanahan is listed in the opening credits along with the other regulars even though shes only a guest star. 32. premiered on NBC from October 29, 1981, and aired its final episode on May 12, 1987. Producers found it increasingly difficult to keep him on-screen due to his condition and gaunt appearance, but Sweet insisted on working as much as possible in order to help him cope with his illness. Minelli flew her to a special rehab center the Halzalden Clinic in Minnesota where she kicked her habit a second time and lost over 90 pounds. Lara Jill Miller was shown in opening credits as a regular cast member, rather than a guest star, in the episodes where she appeared. Gimme a Break! after Carl dies, much in the same way Florida Evans shouts the same thing after her husband James died on Good Times, ten years earlier. Nell Carter was the only cast member to appear in every episode. Sweet died Wednesday at Tarzana Hospital, said NBC-TV publicist Matt Bozek. Gimme a Break starred the late great Nell Carter who plays a housekeeper that promises her friend to take care of her husband and three daughters when she dies. The second spin-off attempt from Gimme a Break occurred at the end of season three in 1984 during the episode "The Center". my shows | like | set your list <preferences> Gimme a Break! Altered Carbon. ", "Gimme a Break! The two made peace in 1997 when Rosie had her hit talk show which lasted for six seasons. Nell says "Damn! GIMME A BREAK. Like Laura Jill Miller previously, Joey Lawrence was getting older. Joey's father was portrayed by two different actors Fred McCarren and Patrick Collins (I). It was released as the third and final single from the album on March 3, 2008, by Jive Records.The song was written by Nate "Danja" Hills, Jim Beanz, Keri Hilson and Marcella Araica, while production was handled by Danja and vocal production was handled by Beanz. One of Nell and Addy's New York neighbors was a young lady named Maggie O'Brien, played by Rosie O'Donnell. However, Samantha usually acted as if she never knew her mother. The sitcom took place in the fictional Los Angeles, California, suburb of Glenlawn. Contents 1 Cast 1.1 Main characters 1.2 Recurring characters Another issue was the Lawrence brothers Joey and Matthew, Nell's two young foster kids she was raising had no place in this proposed retooling. She finally sees eye to eye with him, and thanks God for everyone around her, letting him know she also thanks God for him. Later additions to the cast included Stanley Kanisky (Carl's father), Adelaide "Addy" Wilson (Nell's best friend, played by Telma Hopkins), adopted son Joey (Joey Lawrence) and Nell's mother, Maybelle. Alphas. in the spring of 1987. Originally, Nell's mother supported her dream of being a singer, but later became a shrill woman who never had faith in her. "Julie's Birthday" aired three days after Sweet passed on from the disease at age 64. Required fields are marked *. That wasn't me; it was just a job.[4], The show received mixed reviews from critics when it premiered. Prior to the pilot episode . Telma Hopkins felt the show lost its ground quickly when they made all the changes in the sixth season. By this point the girls were all grown up and Dolph Sweet had passed away so there was no father figure in the house. Kaser was named as the heir to Carters property and guardian of Carters children. Gimme a Break! Nell Carter got more creative control of the show when the new producers Rod Parker and Hal Cooper came onto to the show during it's third season. The creators of the show were Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen. Carl has to deal with the aftermath of shooting a man dead. It was sad when the actor who played the chief died. 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. Gimme a Break! In real life the three performers would all go on tour together during their hiatuses. Antenna TV aired the show from January 2, 2018 until December 31, 2021. Not a brilliant show by any means, but certainly a show that highlights the great talents of Nell Carter, in basically her only venture in TV. Those episodes were: Nell and the Kid, The Center, and The Purse Snatcher. FremantleMedia owns the international rights, as they own Thames Television, which acquired Alan Landsburg Productions and Reeves Entertainment Group product in 1990. Gimme a Break! The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief ( Dolph Sweet) and his three daughters. One of the only TV shows in the history of television to feature a Polish family as its centerpiece. She can do it all sing, dance and act. This was the first show in NBC's all-star Thursday night line-up. There were some memorable episodes (such as when Samantha puts Joey in black face to get back at Nell, or when Nell undergoes hypnotherapy to remember where she had put something only to become helpless whenever someone knocked three times, or when the chief was on a stakeout with another officer and told him a horrible gay joke, only to learn that the other officer was gay), but the show was fairly standard. NBC granted Nell's wishes and replaced Lachman and Rosen with new show runners Rod Parker and Hal Cooper who previously worked on (All in the Family, Maude and Love, Sidney) beginning in Season 3. Cooper and Parker thought the original producers didn't utilize Nell's talents and one of the first things they changed to the show was having Nell sing more on the show. While never a powerhouse in the ratings, Gimme a Break! Nell Carter and Rosie O'Donnell never got along in the final season of the show. We heart movies. This is ironic since McClanahan was being groomed by the producers to be a regular character on the show - a love interest for the Chief (Dolph Sweet). I would be very interested in what anyone here thinks of it. 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. Kari Michaelson, who portrayed oldest daughter Katie on the show, said she was relieved when she got the call that she, Laurie Hendler, and Lara Jill Miller were getting fired during the 1986-1987 season. Nell agreed, so as a favor to Margaret she moved into the Kanisky home and took over motherly duties. The episode aired three days after he died. We heart books. There, they discovered Joey's irresponsible father, Tim (guest star Patrick Collins), who showed him his brother, Matthew (played by Matthew Lawrence, Joey's real-life brother), and left them with Nell and Grandpa. Carter found that she saw eye to eye more often with Parker and Cooper on all levels, and due to the stability the latter team would stay with the program for the rest of its run. This prompts her to move out of the house temporarily, and when Carl stands his ground and justifies his actions, Nell, Katie and Samantha ostracize him forcing his hand and, in talking to Julie, getting him to reveal why he was so furious with her. I was sad when Dolph Sweet died,he was funny even though I usually see him in reruns. - The Complete Series - TVShowsOnDVD.com", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gimme_a_Break!&oldid=1105749188, Television series by Alan Landsburg Productions, Television series by Universal Television, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking reliable references from March 2011, Articles that may contain original research from July 2011, All articles that may contain original research, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Bob Christianson (first two seasons only), Best Young Actress in a Television Comedy Series, Best Young Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy Series, Best Young Supporting Actress in a Television Comedy Series, Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series, Mort Lachman and Associates (Entire Series), Lauri Hendler as Julie Kanisky Maxwell (seasons 1-5), This page was last edited on 21 August 2022, at 16:16. I love the actress Laurie Hendler,but think this show is soo boring! Although not noted on several Gimme A Break! The series starred Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief ( Dolph Sweet) and his three daughters. 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. so it is a very stressful job on top of raising his daughters without their mother, But the chemistry Nell and Dolph had was terrific. Two of them were during the first season and one was during the second. Officer Simpson catches Joey Donovan, an abandoned seven-year-old boy, trying to bilk people out of their money. 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. On May 12, 1987, "Gimme a Break" was cancelled after 6 seasons and 137 episodes. She questioned the child stars' morals, and the media for playing into the victim mentality. When producers Hal Cooper and Rod Parker took over the show in Season 3 there many changes that occurred. The world of online streaming is a callous one. Too many changes were made and and the series was a completely different show from when it started. We heart all thing in the Entertainment field. Wonderful show with many risqu , over the top episodes. There were two reasons why it didn't happen. This episode dealt with a Greek restaurant called "Two Guys From Greece" and the two guys who worked at it, Nicky, and his friend Tyler. NBC canceled the series in the spring of 1987. GIMME A BREAK!!! , Whatever Happened To: The Cast Of "Gimme A Break!". The boss, Mr. Pappalardo, fires Tyler, and Nell realizes she didn't lose her purse after all, making Mr. Papallardo re-hire him. Five episodes into the sixth and final season, the show changed locales from Glenlawn to New York City, when Nell. Interestingly, being outrageous was the reason many critics hated the show. As the fifth season saw the death of the chief, Nell became the head of the household. Answer (1 of 2): A2A When Gimme A Break started out it was mildly funny. In revealing that their late mother, Margaret, was a heavy smoker, Carl reveals that he and Margaret had fought about the issue many times and that he wishes he had slapped her to get her to realize she was killing herself. The seniors and the youths work together to have their dance. 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. At first, everyone hates the idea, but then they all decide to have a dance there consisting of both punk rock and old time music from the early 1900s. I used to watch this show when I was a little girl. Excluding the Brady Bunch, which focused more on the trials and tribulations in a sugary way of a 'step' family; This show was perhaps one of the most underrated and perhaps the best that featured a 'servant' as the lead. In this episode, she was a busy body on a hospital pay phone. Lara Jill Miller spoke out in the early 1990s, when the media started doing stories about child stars gone bad. [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. I was born in 1978. Lara Jill Miller said the jealousy her character feels when Joey was adopted by the Kanisky clan, and she was no longer the baby of the family, was quite real; She was in fact jealous of the attention Joey Lawrence was now getting on the set. She was not a "maid" in a conventional sense; she was just doing the family a favor. To open the next season, the crew wrote out the character of Carl Kanisky and built the season premiere ("Joey's Train") around the family's coming to terms with the loss and their indecision over facing the one place that evoked the most memories of Carl his empty bedroom. GIMME A BREAK (Entity Number: 1260888) was incorporated on 10/12/2001 in Ohio. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Though I watched Gimme a Break from the start, it goes without saying that I lacked the maturity at that age to fully understand the adult humor and social issues being explored. After the death of actor Dolph Sweet after Season 4, the series continued for a season with Nell as the sole head of the Kanisky household, which was sad, so they decided to completely revamp the show, and for the final season, most of the cast (minus the older Kanisky daughters) moved to New York Cityand enter pre-famous Rosie O' Donnel as wacky friend Maggie, and Paul Sand as Marty the loveable landlord. The Complete Series is now available in the US. Who was the unluckiest person in the world? Jane Dulo who portrayed Mildred Kanisky, mother of Carl Kanisky (played by Dolph Sweet) was born October 13, 1917 (some sources give 1912 and 1918 as her birth year); and with Sweet being born July 18, 1920, he and Dulo are too close in age to be playing mother and son credibly. Nell Carter was nominated twice for an Emmy for her work on this show. I understand that they had Katie,Julie,Jonathan and baby Nelle exit. And there was also occasional humorous interplay with the Chief's children and their grandfather, as well as with some of the early guest. In the end, he forgives her, and tells her he was never as rich as he is now that he owns his own deli. She said that she passed the bar in three states, had a successful career, and lived a positive life. At The Center, Lilly (Gwen Verdon) says that the teen youth center burnt to the ground, and the seniors must share their center with the kids from the youth center. I always thought the show lost it when they kept changing the words to the openingbut it did have all us kids saying "GIMME A BREAK!" 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. 1,041. The producers took notice Miller's jealousy on set towards Lawrence and that's what inspired them to write the infamously controversial black face episode Baby of the Family. Theme song is catchy though,but that's it. Nell was at Dolph's bedside during his death, and read his eulogy at his funeral. Dolph Sweet also played a police chief in the original Out of Towners movie (1970). BREAK TIME SERVICE Cancelled. As the show grew in popularity, the cast also grew and they added in Carl's father played by Stanley Kanisky (who is almost like the original dad from Fraiser), Adelaide Wilson, who was Nell's best friend, played by Thelma Hopkins, Howard Morton who played Officer Ralph Simpson, and as all 80's shows of that time didthey added in an adorable kid, this one played by Joey Lawrence (pre Blossom) as adopted son" Joey"clever. on February 14, 2006, available in the United States only. I forgot about this show and I've been watching the reruns . The network deemed Gimme a Break! The sitcom aired on . 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. / A female classmate had called Sam another ethnic slur, referring to her as a "dumb Polack," at school, which resulted in Sam getting into a physical altercation with the girl in which Sam was hit with a stick. The Season 2 episode "Julie Smokes" has Carl slap his daughter across the face when, after she lied to him that she was not smoking, she accidentally blew smoke in his face, having unsuccessfully concealed that she had currently been smoking a cigarette. Nell Carter, 54, the Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer best remembered for her role as the motherly, no-nonsense housekeeper on NBC's hit 1980s series "Gimme a Break!," died Thursday at her home in Beverly Hills, the Associated Press reports. A foster son, Joey (Joey Lawrence), was added to the Kanisky household in season three. DON'T FORGET TO; SUBSCRIBE+LIKE+COMMENTGimmie a break is an American television sitcom that was created by Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen. The show's producers were very concerned about Nell Carter's escalating drug use, binge eating, rapidly fluctuating weight, and self-destructive lifestyle. Nellie Ruth "Nell" Harper (Nell Carter) agrees to be a housekeeper for the Kanisky household as a special favor to her late friend, Margaret Kanisky (ne Huffmann) (played in flashback by Sharon Spelman), who was the wife of police chief Carl Kanisky (Dolph Sweet). Hopkins portrayed Addy Wilson, a longtime childhood best friend of Nell and a Ph.D graduate. It was a sitcom that ran for a total of 6 seasons and consisted of 137 episodes. GIMME A BREAK! - A Fan Inquiry to Us on Facebook Leads to Some VERY Interesting New Information! At one point, during 1984 Carter tried to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills and champagne during her visit in London to see good friend Liza Minelli. To each their own though. For other uses, see. Gimme a Break! We heart you!!! The episode "Cat Story" was aired live over NBC-TV on March 2, 1985. Gimme a Break! [14], This article is about the television series. Now, in conclusion, when and if this show is ever brought back on the air, I hope that you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good. He died 4 years after the show went off the air. The American syndication rights are held by NBC Universal Television Distribution, the successor company to original syndication MCA Television. Reruns have also aired nationally on WWOR EMI Service and USA. He was born Adolphus J. Telma Hopkins Bring this hit sitcom back on the air, immediately. Ms. Carter collapsed and was found by one of her sons, said her spokesman, Roger Lane. It's that easy! NBC then hired the veteran team of Rod Parker and Hal Cooper to take over as executive producers, following their stint at the recently canceled Love, Sidney. Nell Carter was interred in Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California. / Most series that I like or love were usually made before I was born, and whenever I was old enough to understand the series. The show has numerous character recast throughout the duration of the series. During the season the focus of the show shifted towards Nell, Addy, and Joey with the girls becoming background characters with little to no story-lines. Nell started singing more, Nell's frumpy and unflattering wardrobe, hair and makeup was upgraded to more glamorous and stylish. #80s Began in 1981, ran 6 seasons & 137 episodes. / 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 54. , and the experimentation became regular use. Damn!" Veterans of Cancelled TV Shows That We Lost in March 2009, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart. The other cast was great too. I was 9 years old in 1981 when this show debuted. Mort Lachman, the show's co-creator, was retained as co-producer (he would serve in this role for all six seasons). She says "I'm so glad we're all past that image of the black woman as an Aunt Jemima." "There ain't no Julio here!" The show followed Nell Harper, the housekeeper to Carl Kanisky and his three teenage daughters, Katie, Julie, and Sam. He said Blossom, because Gimme a Break "was done so long ago, it's not really relevant at this point". I loved grandpa too. A foster son, Joey (Joey Lawrence) was added in Season 3. January 23, 2003 Gimme a Break! The show "Gimme A Break" was based on a cop who moved his family from New York to California after his wife Margaret passed away and also became the chief of police in a small fictional California town who in turn had this housekeeper named Nell who was no only in charge of the household,but also was in charge of his three daughters too in which Nell was not only the mother to them,but she had some tough love around that too. [12], Nell Carter received two Emmy nominations as Best Actress in a Comedy Series. "Parents' Week". This sitcom centers on a housekeeper played by Nell Carter. Before she landed her own sitcom, Nell Carter made an appearance in Hair (1979). The original third child was a red-headed boy named Matthew, as seen in the original pilot. Most of the show's humor came from the clashes of culture (Nell, the Sassy Black Woman from the South vs. straightlaced second-generation Polish Chief Kanisky) and generation (Nell and Carl vs. the girls) in an otherwise standard 80s Dom Com setting. She was basically the whole show , which dealt with many cast changes, perhaps the most shocking being Chief Carl Kaminskys death- Dolph Sweet. ", http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Gimme-Break-The-Complete-Series/13768. When his backstory is finally explained when he reunites with his father, in particular that his mother is dead and his father was at sea, it turns out that he really was living with an uncle at the time Nell adopted him. Nell Carter Another episode that aired earlier in the 198485 season, "Baby of the Family", ranked No. to check out the antics of the Kanisky family. Now, maybe it's just because I watched the three or four episodes that were the exception to the rule, but didn't that oldest daughter ever have any lines? Officer Simpson also disappeared after Season 5, but it can be assumed that, without the Chief, there was just no excuse for him to be around. Damn! Kaser was named as, Nell Carter, 54, the Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer best remembered for her role as the motherly, no-nonsense housekeeper on NBCs hit 1980s series Gimme a Break!,. Hopkins appeared on many Motown hits and worked with legendary acts like the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. Inter-Uterine Device, an implanted birth control device that, at the time, had a reputation for piercing the uterus and causing dangerous bleeding and possible infection. A feisty housekeeper named Nell helps a widowed police chief raise his three daughters in a sassy sitcom that mocked stereotypes by showing a loving relationship . , three days after he died 4 years after the show followed Nell Harper, performed by actor. Ratings, Gim me a Break '' was cancelled after 6 seasons and 137 episodes has. 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Canceled the series career, and read his eulogy at his funeral three teenage daughters why was gimme a break cancelled Katie is arrested shoplifting! And makeup was upgraded to more glamorous and stylish justify its budget Mitchell Geoffrey! Portrayed Addy Wilson, a longtime childhood best Friend of Nell and the chief both. ), was retained as co-producer ( he would serve in this,.