Gimme a Break!: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Nellie Ruth "Nell" Harper agrees to be a housekeeper for the Kanisky household as a favor to her late friend, Margaret Huffman Kanisky, who was the wife of police chief Carl Kanisky. Nell also serves as a parent to the Chief's three daughters, Katie, Julie, and Samantha.

Series details

• Title: Gimme a Break!
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy, Family
• Premiere date: 1981-10-29
• Final broadcast date listed: 1987-05-12
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: NBC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 4.8/10
• TVMaze ID: 7221
• TVDB ID: 77726

Cast and credited roles

• Nell Carter — Nellie Ruth 'Nell' Harper
• John Hoyt — Grandpa Stanley Kanisky
• Kari Michaelson — Katie Kanisky
• Lauri Hendler — Julie Kanisky Maxwell
• Lara Jill Miller — Samantha Kanisky
• Joey Lawrence — Joey Donovan
• Dolph Sweet — Chief Carl Kanisky
• Telma Hopkins — Dr. Adelaide "Addy" Wilson
• Howard Morton — Officer Ralph Simpson
• Rosetta LeNoire — Maybelle "Mama Maybelle" Harper
• Paul Sand — Marty
• Rosie O'Donnell — Maggie O'Brien

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1981-10-29; final listed air date 1982-04-01.
• Season 2: premiered 1982-10-02; final listed air date 1983-05-05.
• Season 3: premiered 1983-09-29; final listed air date 1984-05-03.
• Season 4: premiered 1984-09-29; final listed air date 1985-05-11.
• Season 5: premiered 1985-09-14; final listed air date 1986-05-10.
• Season 6: premiered 1986-09-24; final listed air date 1987-05-12.

Source and licence

Adapted from Gimme a Break! on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.