Gimme a Break!

"Gimme a Break!" was one of quite a few sitcoms starring overweight Black women. I don't know why it was a thing, but it dated back to the 30's (Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers, and others) and they were usually servants of some kind. There was "Good Times," "What's Happening" (which had two), "The Jeffersons," "That's My Mama," and "Gimme a Break!" They weren't always funny, but they were there.

Nell Carter played Nell Harper in "Gimme a Break!" an overweight housekeeper for the Kanisky family. See the pattern? It was nothing I was aware of then, I just knew that Nell was funny and soulful. The only other character I thought was just as funny, if not for the contrast, was her friend Addy Wilson (Telma Hopkins).

This show is in syndication on Antenna Tv and the episodes are on YouTube . I forgot about this show and I've been watching the reruns . 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 .

I was 9 years old in 1981 when this show debuted. 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.

As Gimme a Break only enjoyed average ratings at the time, it was not a big candidate for syndication. As a result, it has been decades since I last saw the show.

I caught it again recently on YouTube, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was better than I remembered as a kid, perhaps because I could fully understand everything now. It's funny, charming, well-written, and even manages to tackle some serious issues. Most notably, it holds up surprisingly well today, which can't be said for many of the more popular sitcoms at the time.

The show was also fairly unusual in that its strongest episodes were in the first two years. Most successful shows take some time to find themselves, but Gimme a Break hit its stride early. Sadly, the show started to slip starting from season 3. Nell Harper's increased creative control was part of the problem. She was a very talented actress and singer, but not so much on the creative side. The series really took a nosedive in its final season when the girls left and the setting moved to New York.

Even so, this was a good show, and in fact deserved better ratings when it was on the air. Try watching it again, and I bet you'll enjoy it more the second time around.

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.

"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.