XjGtupDDl5c

American television sitcom Gimme a Break aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981, to May 12, 1987. It was created by writers and producers Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen and was produced by Mort Lachman and Associates for the entire series and Alan Landsburg Productions, later renamed as Reeves Entertainment Group. In the early ‘80s, NBC was struggling. The network only had two successful comedies on the air: Different Strokes and The Facts of Life. They were desperate for a hit but after they looked at all their comedy pilots for the upcoming broadcast season, they quickly realized that none of them was going to cut it. They went back to the drawing board and came up with the concept of a show centered on a white widower raising his teenage girls with the help of their black maid. Fred Silverman, then president of NBC, had one specific person in mind to play the role of the maid: a Broadway star named Nell Carter. When approached with the offer, she jumped at the opportunity.

Nell was a monster on set. Watch the Rosie interview I posted a few months ago. Rosie said when Nell died people reached out to her to give a statement. Rosie said she did not respond because there was nothing good to say about Nell Carter. Rosie said it was not so much how she was treated but she tells the story of Nell freaking out because Joey Lawrence's mother came on set one day to give him a sweater or something. Nell flew into a rage screaming "Get that woman off my set!"

I didn't know there was so much trouble backstage. Poor Nell.