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1987: 'Gimme a Break' Ends its Seven-Season Run
May 12, 2012  | By Christy Slewinski  | 4 comments
 
This day in 1987 marked the last telecast of NBC's Gimme a Break!. The sitcom, which ran seven seasons, starred Tony Award-winner Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief (Dolph Sweet) with three daughters, played by Kari Michaelson, Lauri Hendler and Lara Jill Miller.

A young Joey Lawrence — in his first full-time series role — joined the cast in the third season, playing a foster child.

Other noteworthy cast members over the years included Telma Hopkins, Jonathan Silverman, Rosie O'Donnell and Joey's younger brother, Matthew Lawrence. Whitney Houston also appeared on the show as a friend of eldest Kanisky daughter, Katie.

The show was rocked at the end of the fourth season by the death of Dolph Sweet — a one-time World War II POW, Broadway actor and former head of the Barnard College drama department. When the show returned in its fifth year, Carter's character, Nell Harper, remained with the family and served as their sole parental figure. During the show's final season, Nell leaves the girls, who are now all grown, and relocates to New York City with foster child Joey.

Carter's musical background also offered opportunities for her to perform on the show, sometimes joined by stars such as Sammy Davis Jr., Ray Parker Jr., and teen sensation Andy Gibb:

 
 
 
 
 
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