Gimme a Break!

Unlike movies which appear once, it's hard to rate a TV show since you're dealing with dozens of episodes and several seasons.

For 'Gimme a Break!', the synopsis on TV reads: 'A feisty housekeeper named Nell helps a widowed police chief raise his three daughters'. This was true for the first few seasons and this was when the show was at it's best.

It dealt with controversial issues but gave a balanced approach as the chief represented the more conservative side and Nell represented the more liberal side. Unfortunately, the actor Dolph Sweet ran into health problems during the show's run and soon past away. I think this changed the nature of the show and it was never the same after.

The show turned more into a talent exhibition for Nell Carter and her singing voice and away from family comedy. By the last season, she was no longer a housekeeper, nor helping a widowed police chief nor raising three daughters. The whole successful premise of the show was gone and the show was deservedly cancelled as it was not nearly as funny anymore.

Had Dolph Sweet not incurred health problems, who knows what might have been.

Gimme A Break was in the sitcom line-up, on NBC in the 80s. NBC had many quality sitcoms on the air in the 80s, such as Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts Of Life, Silver Spoons, etc. Gimme A Break, was certainly in the same league as any of NBC's other popular comedy shows. It was warm, funny, and presented many contemporary topics that modern families struggle with, such as teen sex, drugs, alcoholism, dating, etc.

Nell Carter played the main character, Nell Harper. On the show, Nell often got to display her considerable singing and dancing talents. This made the show quite entertaining overall. And Nell held this show together, with her no nonsense brand of comic delivery. She had a feisty charm, that made her shine above the rest of the cast. Her co-star Dolph Sweet (who played the family patriarch, Carl Kominski), was lackluster by comparison. Only Thelma Hopkins, as Nell's best friend Addy Wilson, had nearly as much comedic talent as Nell. If you like 80s sitcoms, I'd highly recommend watching Gimme A Break on DVD.

I am so happy that this show has finally made it to the era of DVD. I still remember watching this show on Saturday nights back in the '80's over at my grandparents house.I believe it was on NBC-at 830pm right after Diff'rent Strokes (another classic sitcom that also has finally made it to DVD).It was an amazing show-It had the premise of a maid taking care of her employer-a police chief and his 3 teenage daughters.After 25 years since its premiere, several cast members have went to that great casting couch in the sky- Dolph Sweet (Chief Kanisky), Nell Carter (Nell Harper) and Howard Morton (Officer Ralph Simpson: They will live on forever via DVD.

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.

This was a reasonably funny comedy starring Nell Carter. A very young Joey Lawrence also appeared in it as a young street-hustler-turned-foster-kid-for-the-family. It was basic fare for a sitcom, featuring the cute kids, family values, and little lessons learned at the end of each episode. In the show, the chief of police's wife has just died, and he asks Nell (Nell Carter) to come in and work for him, helping him raise his three daughters in the process. Nell becomes sort of a mother figure for the girls, and everyone tries to learn from each other. 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. Nonetheless, I thought it was funny, and it managed to stand out due to its good cast and themes in its episodes and type of humor. It was sad when the actor who played the chief died. Jonathan Silverman was a good addition after that. I also love the grandfather character. He was funny, and changed as the show went on, from the senile old goat to a wise old man.

Unfortunately, the show went downhill after Nell and Addy moved to New York, and they changed the premise of the show. I didn't think it was as good after that, and I hardly watched it anymore.

Overall, anyone into '80s TV show might like this one. I used to enjoy watching it when I was younger. **1/2 out of ****