During the third season, Pat Sajak guest-starred as himself when Nell and Addy were contestants on Wheel of Fortune. Moreover, they featured near-identical scorelines: wild card Kimberly Birrell upset No.31 seed Kaia Kanepi 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 and No.26 seed Elise Mertens scored her first win over Garbie Muguruza 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1. KARI MICHAELSEN Advertisement The '80s was a great decade for young Kari Michaelsen. Sweet on July 18th, 1920 in New York, New York. The Kanisky daughters need all the help they can . I would be very interested in what anyone here thinks of it. 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. Final episode. Personally I'd kept Gimme a break on forever or even three more seasons. A running gag involved the Kanisky's goldfish, Gertrude. Platinum. 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. Kaser was named as the heir to Carters property and guardian of Carters children. Carter performed the shows catchy theme song, and her performance in the series earned her two Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. As the fifth season saw the death of the chief, Nell became the head of the household. "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. 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. As ABC was developing Growing Pains, and putting the final touches on it before it went to series; they decided to replace the young actress who played Carol in the pilot, Elizabeth Ward, because she was not testing well with audiences, so Tracey Gold was tapped to take over for the role. The overhaul and changes made for the sixth season didn't work out, so the producers quickly scrambled to retool yet again with the ratings continuing to decline. She was inconsolable for days after the cast wrap party, refusing to see even close friends as she fell into dark despair. 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!,. stomach surgery Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. In her autobiography, Rue McClanahan says this was a bad television show, but at that point in her career, she had to take what she was offered. She said that "Once that original formula was broken, it just didn't feel the same. The episode only includes Nell and Grandpa from the main cast, and begins with Nell telling Grandpa to go the senior citizen center because it has a mess of women, to which he agrees. In the series pilot, Katie is arrested for shoplifting. The episode Julie's Birthday (1985) was Dolph Sweet's last appearance before his death. These attributes contributed to the producers decision to drop most of the cast for sixth season except for Nell Carter, Thelma Hopkins, Joey Lawrence and John Hoyt. When Carl demands an explanation, Katie makes a snide remark "She can't say anything, she's dead!" Sweet died on May 8, 1985, after taping had completed on season four. Cozi TV started airing the show as of January 3, 2022. Nell Carter had a stormy relationship with Gimme a Break! A foster son, Joey (Joey Lawrence), was added to the Kanisky household in season three. Nell's middle name is Ruth, which was also Nell Carter's middle name in real life. Carter died in 2003, at age 54. I had a crush on Joey Lawrence and Matt was cute too. / Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, CA - 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. Too many changes were made and and the series was a completely different show from when it started. A later Season 1 episode, "Katie the Cheat," has Carl fuming when he learns that Katie did not actually take a college entrance exam (while Julie did). This instance accidentally retcons the pilot episode's instance by having Carl say he's never slapped one of his daughters before. 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 and Jonathan, who were now living in the Chief's old room, found out they were expecting a baby; their daughter, whom they named after Nell, was born before season's end. In Season 6, actors were only shown in the opening credits for episodes in which they appeared. 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. I was born in 1978. Telma Hopkins Gimme a Break! 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. 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. Nell even predicted it, teasing her co-star that she would soon be dating Andy Gibb even before he came to the set; she was right. / The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief ( Dolph Sweet) and his three daughters. After the original pilot was filmed NBC told the show producers they wanted to go to series with the show; but they had to redo the pilot. , and the experimentation became regular use. Nell Carter was absolutely magnificent. IHeartHollywood.com is an online magazine about all thing "Hollywood." websites online as a spin-off attempt, this episode most likely was a tester for a new series, as it aired at the end of the season (which is when tester episodes usually aired for new fall series). Nell was at Dolph's bedside during his death, and read his eulogy at his funeral. [12], Nell Carter received two Emmy nominations as Best Actress in a Comedy Series. [6], VEI released Gimme a Break! Nell's family. Sweet had missed four episodes in the 1983-84 season because of We heart Celebrities. She can do it all sing, dance and act. The show was produced by Alan Landsburg Productions, whose successor-in-interest, Reeves Entertainment Group, took over production in 1985. Nell Carter won an Emmy and a Tony Award. The name Matthew would pop up again in the show, as Matthew Lawrence joined the cast in season 6 as Joey's little brother, Matthew Donovan. 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). 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!" He said Blossom, because Gimme a Break "was done so long ago, it's not really relevant at this point". "Julie's Birthday" aired three days after Sweet passed on from the disease at age 64. NBC canceled the series in the spring of 1987. January 23, 2003 Prior to the pilot episode . They kept Lara Jill Miller as Sam. Before that she was a contract singer for Motown. The show was produced by Alan Landsburg Productions (renamed as Reeves Entertainment Group in 1985). True Hollywood Story, she was adamant that frequently calling her "Maggie" was a tactic to help young Joey and Matthew Lawrence focus on their lines, rehearsals and shootings without acting up, as kids often do. One of the producers saw him perform on The Johnny Carson Show and immediately wanted to add him as a cast member. Mamas Date Joey Lawrence portrayed Joey Donovan, a 7 year old orphan who would end up living with the Kaninsky family and becoming Nell's foster son. Nell Carter, who plays the housekeeper for police Chief Carl Kanisky on ''Gimme a Break,'' will eulogize Sweet . BREAK POINT BOOKS & MORE Cancelled. 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. Very good show that was one of many throughout TV sitcom history that revolved around a housekeeper/butler. Kari Michaelsen and Lauri Hendler returned for the Season Six episode Sam Goes to College at the beginning of Season Six despite leaving the show the previous season. Nell also served as a parent to the Chief's three daughters, Katie (Kari Michaelsen), Julie (Lauri Hendler), and Samantha (Lara Jill Miller). cast members, and just focuses on the two boys and Mr. Pappalard. Rosie O' Donnell and Nell didn't get along during the final season and O' Donnell said Nell treated her terribly. Producer Rod Parker expressed that it was difficult decision to let the girls go . And as much as they tried to make it work, there were just things missing. And if you tap below you can get the first 3 months for free! Joey's supposed backstory of living with an uncle was originally treated as a lie. 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