Sweet died in 1985, at age 64, while the show was still in production. GIMME A BREAK!!! [5], By contrast, the New York Times found the show promising, praising the performances of Carter and Sweet and the way the show balanced wisecracks with bits of seriousness. She revealed an incident where the cast was in the lunchroom doing a reading of the script and Joey and Matthew Lawrence's mother Donna Lawrence started making her way into the room and Nell Carter yelled across the room at the boys mother to get out and inappropriately called her the "c-word slur" right in front of the two brothers who were in the room when the incident happen. Before she landed her own sitcom, Nell Carter made an appearance in Hair (1979). Thelma Hopkins said if the script didn't call for it they wouldn't speak to each other and weren't close outside of the show, but in time managed a decent working relationship. The episode soon only focuses on Max and Danny at the deli and then Max Green's slummy bachelor apartment and the interaction between him and Danny. Hazel,The Nanny, Mr. Belvedere, Benson,and Family Affair. 15 were here. I would be very interested in what anyone here thinks of it. I watched reruns of this show when it aired on USA in 1998. Both Nell and Joey play characters named after the actors. A new theme, with music by Jay Graydon and lyrics by Richard Page, was introduced in the third season and used for the remainder of the show's run. This was also the title of a song by Tony Orlando & Dawn, of which Telma Hopkins was a member. This was the first show in NBC's all-star Thursday night line-up. Pete Schrum who portrayed The Chief's brother Uncle Ed, who got married in season 2, disappeared. Enjoy all of Ms. Carters' talents and cherish them for all time. Nell Carter was deemed difficult to work with most of the time. In one episode the chief takes off his belt and chases around Katie threatening to hit her. That wasn't me; it was just a job.[4], The show received mixed reviews from critics when it premiered. 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. We heart movies. 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. Status: cancelled/ended Network(s): NBC Run time: 30 min Episodes: 137 eps Genre(s): Comedy, Crime/Mystery . Rosie O' Donnell and Nell didn't get along during the final season and O' Donnell said Nell treated her terribly. Prior to the pilot episode . usually managed to land in the Top 40 during its first four seasons. is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until 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. 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. "Julie's Birthday" aired three days after Sweet passed on from the disease at age 64. aired 137 episodes over six seasons, with its finale airing on May 12, 1987. Date of death. Gimme a Break! 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. Although not noted on several Gimme A Break! / Alpha House. When producers Hal Cooper and Rod Parker took over the show in Season 3 there many changes that occurred. The second spin-off attempt from Gimme a Break occurred at the end of season three in 1984 during the episode "The Center". This line retcons the events of "Samantha Steals a Squad Car", when she, Season 3s The Way to a Mans Heart has her in Weight Winners, a. I used to watch this show when I was a little girl. 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. 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. Carter performed the lyrics in both versions of the theme song. We heart all thing in the Entertainment field. If you grew up in the 80's this show was a must see. He talks about how tough he and his family had it growing up, and also touches upon his deceased wife. United Paramount Network (UPN) Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. . The series premiered on October 29, 1981. She played one of the wicked stepsisters. Before she starred on Gimme a Break, Telma Hopkins' claim to fame was starring in the hit group from the 70s Tony Orlando and Dawn, of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" fame. Lara Jill Miller revealed in interview that she was initially fired along with Kari Michaelson and Lauri Hendler but ended up being kept around for six guest appearances due to her close relationship with Nell Carter who pulled strings with the network. Carter also said that she called other cast members by their character names for the same reason. The first occurred at the end of season two in 1983 with the episode "Nell and the Kid" in which Nell goes to Max's Deli. In addition, she said Nell was also unhappy with the script for that week. 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. is an American sitcom that ran on NBC for six seasons (1981-87), starring Nell Carter as Nell Harper, a once-aspiring singer who became a housekeeper for the Kaniskys: patriarch Carl, the chief of police of the fictional Glenlawn, California, and his daughters Katie, Julie and Samantha (the last of the kids played by a young Lara Jill Miller). We heart Celebrities. He never did, however, and eventually, Carl's worst fears losing his wife and partner in raising their daughters to lung cancer came true. 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!,. "Baby of the Family" had a resentful and jealous Samantha dressing up Joey in black face for a performance at Nell's black church, to get even with Nell for ignoring her. 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. 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. The seniors and the youths work together to have their dance. In "Julie Smokes", after slapping Julie, Carl says he had never laid a hand on his kids before. / She was 54. Platinum. Laurie Hendler who plays "Julie" is shown for only a few seconds at the start of episode 3 season 6 (Below Sea Level) taking a seat behind Nell & Joey on an airplane even though she was fired at the end of season 5. Sweet had missed four episodes in the 1983-84 season because of Throughout the course of Gimme a Break, there had been several un-successful spin-off attempts. Carter had begun experimenting with cocaine while in the cast of Aint Misbehavin They kept Lara Jill Miller as Sam. I thought she was great! He died 4 years after the show went off the air. In real life the three performers would all go on tour together during their hiatuses. is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. It turns out that he was a jazz musician that knew her mother When Grandpa comes to get the boys pajamas, since they are sleeping in his apartment because Addy is sick in bed, he tells Nell that her mother has a date. 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. , Whatever Happened To: The Cast Of "Gimme A Break!". And as much as they tried to make it work, there were just things missing. Wonderful show with many risqu , over the top episodes. Kaser was named as the heir to Carters property and guardian of Carters children. on DVD in Canada between 2006-07. Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/GimmeABreak. Telma Hopkins Helen Hunt auditioned for the role of Katie Kanisky. Her character married the only other Jewish person in the cast, Jonathan Silverman. Originally, Nell's mother supported her dream of being a singer, but later became a shrill woman who never had faith in her. Five episodes into the sixth and final season, the show changed locales from Glenlawn to New York City, when Nell. 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? Bring this hit sitcom back on the air, immediately. Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. This does bring up the question of what happened to said uncle this whole time? From 2006 until 2010, both networks are Ion Television and MeTV reruns this show, during daytime and nighttime. The Complete Series is now available in the US. 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. The show has been renewed for a fifth season, but it was undecided what would be done about Sweets character, Bozek said. 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. Before that she was a contract singer for Motown. The daughters were all fired at the end of the fifth season, because of the low ratings on the show. She did, however, return for an episode in Season 4, this time as a romantic interest for Grandpa. Nell Carter, who plays the housekeeper for police Chief Carl Kanisky on ''Gimme a Break,'' will eulogize Sweet . Dolph Sweet and Nell didn't get along at first but ended up becoming friends. NBC warned the producers that if they wanted a sixth season, drastic changes would have to be made or the series would be canceled. Parker sat down with Lawrence and had numerous talks with him because he loved the kid and thought was a real pro. How long ago Margaret died. Nell Carter portraying Nell Harper was awesome. She had been in rehearsals for ''Raisin,'' a musical adaptation of the play ''A Raisin in the Sun . This was meant to be a cliffhanger season finale, as the episode ends saying "To Be Continued", but the next season's premiere had to be retooled to have the family deal with the Chief's death instead of his reaction to Julie's sudden marriage. Instead of the Chief taking her in to custody, Max decides to adopt her, and has her work to pay back the money and food she stole. Nell's family. Nelle was the most loyal, lovable, and funny person. 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