Gimme a Break!

1981

Seasons & Episodes

  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
6.4| TV-G| en| More Info
Released: 29 October 1981 Ended
Producted By: Alan Landsburg Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC for six seasons, October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.

Genre

Comedy, Family

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Gimme a Break! (1981) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Production Companies

Alan Landsburg Productions

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Gimme a Break! Audience Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
irishm This is one of many shows I used to watch just because it was on, not because I particularly enjoyed it. All these years later I watched a couple episodes just to "check in", and it was pretty much as I'd remembered it. 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? I saw episodes from Seasons One and Two and it seemed like the middle and younger daughters got all the speaking parts, and the youngest one all the zingers. The blonde oldest girl was very pretty but didn't have much to do, just a "hi Nell" or "bye Dad" and that was it. She might as well not have been there at all. Never could quite figure out what made Nell Carter such a big deal, either... I know she did musicals but her singing voice is like chalk on a blackboard, very nasal. Typical family situation comedy, nothing special.
Greatornot Very good show that was one of many throughout TV sitcom history that revolved around a housekeeper/butler. 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. Hazel,The Nanny, Mr. Belvedere, Benson,and Family Affair. Nell Carter portraying Nell Harper was awesome. She can do it all sing, dance and act. She was basically the whole show , which dealt with many cast changes, perhaps the most shocking being Chief Carl Kaminskys death- Dolph Sweet. Mr. Kaminsky was a widower with 3 daughters, in the initial seasons and Nell was the surrogate mom/housekeeper. Wonderful show with many risqué , over the top episodes. Future seasons adding 'child' Joey Lawrence,Jonathon Silverman and Telma Hopkins as a fine tandem to Nell, especially proving more so important after Dolph Sweets sudden death with 2 seasons left. Ditzy friend Angie, senile Grandpa and many credible guest stars , including Tom Poston,Helen Hunt, Don Rickles, Rue McClanahan and Danny Glover. 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. Enjoy all of Ms. Carters' talents and cherish them for all time. Unfortunately she passed way too early.
mfloyd-3 This was and to this day is still one of my all time favorite sitcoms of the eighties. Nell Carter was absolutely magnificent. I watched reruns of this show when it aired on USA in 1998. When I tried to tape it when I finally got my cable back and I was shocked to learn that it had been taken off the air. To this day I have written letters to the Hallmark Channel, KSMO WB 62, KCMI 38, USA, and KCWE 29 networks requesting that they bring this show back on the air. I still have not received not even an email from them and I still continue to check on all the following channels just to see if they have brought back this show. The next networks I'm going to write to are TBS, PAX TV, and possibly ABC Family and request that they bring this incredibly show back on the air so I can tape it.
raysond "Gimme A Break" was one of those shows that always had something going for itself and for one this was out of a pick of standard 80's family shows that hit a home run and so much more with the prime essential element of actress Nell Carter,who was also a accomplish Broadway singer/dancer who won a Tony award for her work in "Ain't Misbehavin" in 1978. 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. For the six seasons that in ran on NBC-TV(1981-1987) in the eighties,this was one of those shows that was constantly in the top ten ratings during its run on the Peacock network. 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.The show itself was a launching pad for three young performers who would go on to be stars: Joey Lawrence,Matthew Lawrence(both of whom landed key roles on other TV sitcom series and also have recording careers),along with actress Telma Hopkins(of Tony Orlando and Dawn,and later on with Family Matters,and Half and Half),and in its final season Rosie O'Donnell(before she would break out in daytime television). The series was produced by Alan Landsburg(who was also crank out other sitcoms like Kate & Allie,and In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy). However,when the show went off the air in 1987,she returned to do several other series and also was a spokeswoman for Liberty Medical Insurance Company(who in turn spoke out about the effects of diabetes since she was a diabetic herself). However,Nell Carter is no longer with us(she passed away on January 23,2002 at the age of 54)but her presence with that series will always remained in our hearts since she was a entertainment legend. She will be truly missed.