Gimme a Break aired from October 1981 until May 1987 on NBC.
For more on Gimme a Break go to Gimme a Break Online right here at Sitcoms Online.
A Review from The New York Times
TV: 2 NBC COMEDIES HAVE PREMIERES
By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: October 29, 1981
TWO new situation comedies are making their debuts on NBC-TV tonight: ''Lewis & Clark'' at 8:30 and ''Gimme a Break'' at 9:30. Gabe Kaplan has had a measure of sitcom success in ''Welcome Back, Kotter,'' playing the high-school teacher overshadowed each week by a group of students that included John Travolta. Now he has ''created'' a series about a Long Island man who buys a saloon in Luckenbach, Tex. Stewart Lewis, played by Mr. Kaplan, discovers that he has to cope with, among other things, a folksy manager named Roscoe Clark, played by an actor named Guich Koock. Thus are titles like ''Lewis & Clark'' concocted.
As usual, most of the premiere episode is devoted to introducing the characters. Mr. Kaplan periodically talks directly to the camera, confiding bits of background information to the audience. The gimmick seems entirely unnecessary. The rest of the Lewis family is not terribly happy about leaving New York. The wife, Alicia (Ilene Graff), and the children, Kelly and Keith (Amy Linker and David Hollander), are chock full of complaints. There are no bagels in Luckenbach. It's too quiet for sleeping. There are rattlesnakes.
But Stewart is determined, insisting that they will find water they can drink and not chew, birds that can sing and not cough. Moseying down to his Nassau County Cafe, he mingles with the regulars: John the homespun bartender (Mike McManus), Wendy the down-home waitress (Wendy Holcomb), and Lester the old guy who tells tall tales (Aaron Fletcher), a character borrowed almost whole from William Saroyan's ''The Time of Your Life.''
Will Stewart persuade his family to stay? Will he keep Roscoe on as manager even if he can't quite figure out what it is the manager is supposed to do? The answers are as obvious as much of the humor. The initial script, written by Mr. Kaplan and Marc Sheffler, is heavily laden with exaggeraged cornpone. Mr. Kaplan gives every indication, for some unfathomable reason, of being warmly amused with himself and the show.
In ''Gimme a Break,'' a police chief is trying to rear three daughters after the recent death of their mother. His housekeeper, keeping a promise to the dead woman, has taken over as surrogate mother and formidable authority figure. The twist here is that Chief Karl Kanisky, played by Dolph Sweet, is white. Housekeeper Nell, played by Nell Carter, is black. Curiously enough, the program is immediately preceded, at 9 o'clock, by ''Diff'rent Strokes,'' another NBC excursion into a racially mixed household.
This is clearly meant to be a showcase for Miss Carter, a performer whose talents and physical girth are little short of massive. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the musical ''Ain't Misbehavin'.'' Miss Carter establishes a stage presence without even trying. But she also has a wonderfully ingratiating personality and impeccable comic timing. If need be, she'll do a wiggling and jiggling routine to rival that of any of Charlie's Angels and then announce triumphantly, ''Honey, I am a woman!''
Miss Carter has a strong partner in Mr. Sweet, whose grouchy bear of a policeman is perfectly on target. Coming home, he grumbles earnestly about his job problems, one of which involves a homosexual cop who wants to come out of the closet. Catching one of his daughters smooching with a boyfriend, he explodes. ''You're too short for deep emotions,'' he tells the determined Lothario.
''Gimme a Break,'' written by Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen, is crammed with wisecracks but it also takes time out for bits of serious business. When his oldest daughter is brought home after being picked up for shoplifting, the father suddenly finds himself in a situation that threatens to disrupt everything around him. The abrupt changes in tone are handled adroitly. Given some supportive scripts, Miss Carter and Mr. Sweet could insure a good run for this series.
Here is John Hoyt's Obituary from The New York Times
John Hoyt Is Dead; Actor, 86, Played In Films and on TV
Published: September 21, 1991
John Hoyt, an actor who appeared on stage, on television and in films, died on Sunday at his home in Santa Cruz, Calif. He was 86 years old.
He died of of cancer, his family said.
Mr. Hoyt had a career spanning more than half a century during which he appeared in dozens of roles, from serious Shakespearean characters to comic personalities like the grandfather on the television series "Gimme a Break."
Mr. Hoyt, whose original name was Hoysradt, was born in Bronxville, N.Y. He attended Yale University, where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree. After two years as a history teacher at the Groton School in Massachusetts, he appeared with several regional theater groups before making his Broadway debut in 1931 in William Bolitho's "Overture."
The next year Mr. Hoyt, who was an accomplished pianist, became the "ghost" pianist, playing offstage for Katherine Cornell, who was portraying a concert artist in Sidney Howard's play "Alien Corn." He also appeared in "The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936," along with Bob Hope, Josephine Baker, Fanny Brice and others.
A year later, Mr. Hoyt became a member of Orson Welles's Mercury Theater and worked with the company until he moved to Hollywood in 1945. During that time, he appeared in such plays as "Julius Caesar," "Heartbreak House" and " 'Tis Pity She's a Whore." He also worked as a stand-up comedian, often leaving the theater at the end of a performance to do his comedy routine in clubs like the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center.
Mr. Hoyt appeared in 75 films, including "Spartacus," "Blackboard Jungle," "Cleopatra," "When Worlds Collide" and "Flash Gordon." On television, he performed on "Playhouse 90," and was seen in the original pilot of the "Star Trek" series as well as episodes of "Bonanza," "The Twilight Zone" and "Hogan's Heroes." At age 77, after moving to Santa Cruz, he signed a contract with NBC to play Grandpa Kanisky on "Gimme a Break," a role he portrayed for seven years.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; a son, David, a stepson, Kurt L. Haveman, both of Santa Cruz, and 10 grandchildren.
Here is Jane Dulo's Obituary from The LA Times
Jane Dulo; Actress, Comedienne in TV Series of '50s-'70s
May 25, 1994
Jane Dulo, actress and comedienne who appeared on major television series in the 1950s through the 1970s, has died. She was 75.
Miss Dulo died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after cardiac surgery.
Born in Baltimore, Miss Dulo began her acting career on the stage, appearing in the Broadway shows "Are You With It?" and "On the Town."
Moving to television, she portrayed nurse Molly Turner for two years in the long-running series "McHale's Navy." In the late 1970s, she was the regular "woman in the window" on "Sha Na Na," a humorous series reviving music of the 1950s.
Miss Dulo was a semi-regular on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "Get Smart," and appeared on variety shows hosted by Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Perry Como and Martha Raye.
She is survived by a sister, Shirley Gordon, of Sarasota, Fla.
Here is Howard Morton's Obituary from Variety
Obituary
Print ArticlePrint
Posted: Tue., May. 20, 1997, 11:00pm PT
By Variety Staff
Veteran character actor Howard Morton, who had recurring roles on numerous Norman Lear television series, has died following a stroke. He was 71. Morton died May 11 from complications at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank.
For five seasons (1981-86), Morton played bumbling police officer Ralph Simpson on the NBC-TV sitcom "Gimme a Break." More recently, he co-starred as Grandpa in the syndicated series "The Munsters Today."
But it was on Lear shows, including "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons," "One Day at a Time" and "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," that Morton had the most frequent roles.
Morton also had stage and movie credits, including legit productions of "Auntie Mame," "Mornings at Seven" and "Fancy Meeting You Again."
Born May 15, 1925, in New York, Morton moved to Hollywood in the 1960s.
He is survived by a sister.
A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the North Hollywood Church of Religious Science.
Here is Nell carter's Obituary from CNN
Actress-singer Nell Carter dies
January 23, 2003
Actress and singer Nell Carter, best known for her role as the housekeeper in the TV sitcom "Gimme a Break!", died Thursday. She was 54.
Carter's publicist Roger Lane said Carter collapsed and died of natural causes in her Beverly Hills home.
She had suffered from diabetes and had recovered from a near-deadly bout with a brain aneurysm in the 1990s. Lane said he did not know if her diabetes contributed to her death.
Carter, who was born September 13, 1948, in Birmingham, Alabama, first rose to stardom on the New York stage. After a series of roles on- and off-Broadway -- and a short-lived part in the soap opera "Ryan's Hope" -- in 1977 she starred in the show "Ain't Misbehavin'!", a revue of the works of composer Fats Waller. She was rewarded for her performance with an Obie Award, and later with a Tony Award when the show moved to Broadway.
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Several years later, she earned an Emmy for her performance on a television presentation of the musical.
Despite her Broadway success, Carter would have preferred to sing opera, according to The Associated Press.
"When I was growing up, it was not something you aspired to," she said in 1988. "I was a weirdo to want to be in show business. Most kids wanted to be teachers or nurses."
"Gimme a Break!" ran from 1981 to 1987. Carter was nominated for two Emmys for her role as housekeeper Nell Harper, who helped run the household of police chief Carl Kanisky, played by Dolph Sweet. She also garnered two Golden Globe nominations for the role.
Carter also appeared as P.J. Moore on "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and as a psychiatrist in the sitcom "Reba."
Her diabetes wasn't easy to handle at first, she told USA Today in 2001.
"When I first found out I had diabetes I denied it," she said. "Being diabetic was not what I thought of as being normal, and I feared the stigma of having to take medicine and having people stick me with a needle."
But, she added, "I learned this was basically manageable."
Carter is survived by her two adopted sons and an adult daughter.
Here is Pete Schrum's Obituary from The AP
Richard Schrum, actor, dies at 68
Posted: Monday, February 24, 2003
The Associated Press
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) - Paul Richard "Pete" Schrum, a character actor who appeared in dozens of TV shows, movies and commercials, died Monday of a heart attack. He was 68.
In a career that spanned three decades, Schrum played everything from prospectors to salesmen, villains to henchmen. Schrum's credits included a recurring role as Uncle Ed Kanisky in the 1980s sitcom "Gimme a Break." He portrayed Santa Claus in Coca-Cola ads that ran for more than a decade.
He appeared in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" as a shotgun-wielding bar owner. Other movie appearances included "The Man Who Wasn't There," in which Schrum played a truck driver, and "Eliminators."
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