A widowed chief of police with three daughters hires on a divorcee as his housekeeper. A simple enough concept that helped NBC begin to climb out of the ratings basement.
Gimme a Break! was the first sitcom from producer Alan Landsburg (That's Incredible!, In Search Of...), and ran for 6 seasons (1981-7). Actress-singer Nell Carter, fresh from Lobo, is the housekeeper acting as a mother figure for the daughters of police chief Carl Kaminsky (Dolph Sweet). Two of the three daughters (Kari Michaelson, Laurie Hendler) were written out after the first five seasons, while the youngest one (Lara Jill Miller) was reduced to a recurring role in the final season.
Season six also saw future stars Rosie O'Donnell, Matthew Lawrence, and Rosetta LeNoire join the show.
Now, let's go back to the beginning. Carter also sings the theme song.
Rating: B.
3 comments:
Something you left out:
Dolph Sweet died from cancer at the end of the fourth season; the series continued for two more seasons thereafter, with John Hoyt taking up the slack as Sweet's elderly father, among other changes.
Lara Jill Miller would go on to voice characters such as Lamby from Disney Junior's Doc McStuffins, Lisa Loud on Nickelodeon's The Loud House and Petunia Pig on WB's Looney Tunes Cartoons.
@Mike Doran: Hoyt had been part of the show from the start, and was elevated to a regular with the 5th season, to your point.
@Goldstar: Thank you.
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