Gimme A Break! Didn’t Know WHAT It Was Doing In Its Final Season

[TMC]

https://popculturereferences.com/gim...-final-season/

In a feature spotlighting TV show drastic revamps, Brian looks at how Gimme a Break! didn't know what the heck it was doing in its sixth and final season.



Today, we look at how Gimme a Break! didn’t know WHAT the heck it was doing in its final season.

This is “Gonna Make a Change,” a feature where I spotlight shows that underwent major revamps during their runs to avoid cancellation. Note that I mean MAJOR revamps, not, like, M*A*S*H getting more serious as it went on or Cheers becoming more of an ensemble comedy once Shelley Long left.

Gimme a Break! was a star vehicle for Nell Carter, who was coming off of hit Tony Award-winning performance in the musical, Ain’t Misbehavin’, in 1978 (she then won an Emmy for the same role in 1982).

Original Concept: The concept of the series was that Carter played Nell Harper, a woman who moved in with the family of her dead best friend after the best friend died, as Nell promised her best friend that she would take of her kids. The widower husband, Carl Kanisky (Dolph Sweet), had three daughters, who I’m sure had names, but no one cares (Kari Michaelsen, Lauri Hendler and Lara Jill Miller). Okay, so that’s the setup. Cranky police chief dad, three teen daughters, sassy mother figure.



That went on for four seasons (with one notable change happening in Season 3, when Nell became the foster mother to a cute young kid, Joey, played by Joey Lawrence), until Sweet tragically died of cancer following Season 4 (he literally died a few days before the final episode of Season 4 aired).

The fifth season was weird. The middle daughter married her college boyfriend (a young Jonathan Silverman) in the Season 4 finale, so he moved into the house with her, but mostly, the show just kept kind of kept moving forward just on the power of inertia.

Revamped Concept: So, Season 6 came, and the show decided to blow up the whole concept big time, but without really knowing HOW to do so. The two older daughters (I’m going to say…Elphaba and Betty? That sounds right) were both written off as having moved to different cities (the middle daughter had a baby with her husband, that was also a plot point of Season 5), and the youngest daughter (Shania, I want to say?) moved to New Jersey to go to college. Nell’s best friend, Addy (Telma Hopkins), got a job in New York City, so Nell decides to move to New York with Addy, where they would share an apartment and, I guess, I dunno, raise Joey together, while nominally keeping an eye on Shania in college…



After getting to New York, they met Joey’s brother, Matthew (Matthew Lawrence), who was dropped off by Joey and Matthew’s biological father so that Nell could become HIS foster mother, too. That’s already insane. But wait, there’s more! So then, like, the grandfather of Shania (John Hoyt), who had been a cast member in previous seasons, ALSO decides to move to New York FROM CALIFORNIA. Also, Nell’s mother moves to New York and ALSO joins the cast.

With Shania pretty much dropped from the show (she was nominally still on the show, but not really), the show decided to pivot to more adult-centric stories, so Paul Sand joins the cast as Nell and Addy’s landlord and the owner of a local restaurant (which could be used as a hangout spot). Then Rosie O’Donnell joins the cast as a neighbor. It’s all so, so stupid. There’s no rhyme or reason to this stuff at ALL. And the opening credits keep changing from episode to episode (the grandfather’s opening credit scene uses a piece of footage from the California years. They literally couldn’t spring to get a new clip of the grandfather in New York?).

Shania is then officially written off of the show (despite also having her college professor inexplicably added to the cast at one point, too). Nothing like, “Shania’s gone now,” just they stop talking about her and she makes no more appearances. Nell then becomes a book editor out of nowhere. It’s all so awful. The show could not pick a lane. So, so bad.

Did it get the show more than one last season?: No, it did not. Sadly, it also didn’t get a real series finale. The final episode was some non-descript plot involving Nell and her mom.

[michelala]

Actually that article is pretty spot on about the last season. It would've taken a quick google search to find the daughters' names but apparently the writer was trying to be funny.

I was only able to get thru a few of those 6th season eps as the show was all over the place by that time. Mainly remember watching the first episode and also the college episodes mainly because of Samantha.

[CJMD03]

Horrible season.

[BestTVever]

I am surprised the show lasted as long as it did. If you watch The Real Hollywood Story of Gimmie A Break its pretty crazy.

[Kittykittykittycats]

Yes! It was like a COMPLETELY different series by season 6. I hate how the 3 girls got fired like that. And Nell had encouraged one of them to buy a house, and then all of a sudden BOOM, fired. Please tell me it wasn’t fully her decision to have them fired. Also, I feel like there were rumors where Nell’s cocaine habit was becoming much worse by this point, and she would not speak to Rosie O’Donnell while on the set. They made up in later years though, and she appeared on Rosie’s talk show in 1997. Something feels … off … about this season. I’ll still watch though, but knowing what was happening behind the scenes gives it a weird vibe. I kinda like the Christmas in New York episode, with the music box. I also love the montage in Central Park with Nell singing Sing in the background lol. Funny how there’s a screencap from that scene in this post.

Nell broke down crying at the wrap party when it was announced that the show was officially canceled, but people say she was only sad because no more steady paychecks, and not because the series was ending. I wonder how true that was, I hope it was more because it was over.

I wonder if Telma was actually sick during the shooting of the series finale and they wrote it in. I wish we got better closure too, like where everyone ended up over the years, or how long they all stayed in that apartment. And I like to think Nell HARPER is still hopefully alive. Poor Miss Carter, she was trying to make a comeback too. It isn’t fair.

[BestTVever]

Originally Posted by Kittykittykittycats

Yes! It was like a COMPLETELY different series by season 6. I hate how the 3 girls got fired like that. And Nell had encouraged one of them to buy a house, and then all of a sudden BOOM, fired. Please tell me it wasn’t fully her decision to have them fired. Also, I feel like there were rumors where Nell’s cocaine habit was becoming much worse by this point, and she would not speak to Rosie O’Donnell while on the set. They made up in later years though, and she appeared on Rosie’s talk show in 1997. Something feels … off … about this season. I’ll still watch though, but knowing what was happening behind the scenes gives it a weird vibe. I kinda like the Christmas in New York episode, with the music box. I also love the montage in Central Park with Nell singing Sing in the background lol. Funny how there’s a screencap from that scene in this post.

Nell broke down crying at the wrap party when it was announced that the show was officially canceled, but people say she was only sad because no more steady paychecks, and not because the series was ending. I wonder how true that was, I hope it was more because it was over.

I wonder if Telma was actually sick during the shooting of the series finale and they wrote it in. I wish we got better closure too, like where everyone ended up over the years, or how long they all stayed in that apartment. And I like to think Nell HARPER is still hopefully alive. Poor Miss Carter, she was trying to make a comeback too. It isn’t fair.

If you watch the interview I posted in another recent thread, Rosie spoke honestly. She basically said there was nothing good about Nell Carter. It was not so much the way she treated her (which was terrible) but the way she saw her rip into Joey Lawrence's mother who dared come to the set one day.
The girls that got fired were relieved they got fired as they could not stand to be on the show anymore. It was so toxic.

[Wildchats]

The last season was messed up. They aired Someday My Prince out of order, which should have been aired early right after they moved to NYC.


It seems a bit unclear...


Joey The Gigolo shows Nel fearing for her job. The owner tells Nell he sold the company. This was one of the last episodes of the season...

Then we see Parents Week Pt 1 and 2 and Nell tells Samantha she can get Eric's book published.


I'm confused...


Wasn't the company sold?! Or was Parents Week Pt 1 and 2 filmed before Joey the Gigolo?


They seemed to film stuff out of order and then in the last season, aired Someday My Prince out of order.


We didn't really see Nell dating much over the 6 seasons. Very little in season 1, I can't recall her dating in season 2, season 3 she had James Roland, then a few different guys in seasons 4/5, but they were all one time characters.


The big problem in the final season was it was all about JOEY.

Joey Meets Matthew
Joey's Hero
Joey's Crush
Joey The Gigolo


Plus The Window was also a lot focused on Joey.



I think there would have been a season 7, not a spinoff. It wouldn't have made sense spinning off Nell, the star of the show to another show...along with Samantha and just dropping everyone else or having them make guest appearances?


I feel season 7 would have still taken place at the apartment, but Nell would have gone back and forth I think from Littlefield College to the apartment...they weren't that far in distance.

[BestTVever]

Yes the last season was a train wreck. Can't believe it lasted that long. Samantha and Grandpa were only used in a few episodes to give the show some sort of continuity. Joey was getting older and they needed another cute kid with a bowl cut so his brother was added. Nell was not even funny anymore. It was rage comedy.
If you have not seen True Hollywood Story about Gimmie A Break its really shocking. Nell was friendly towards the actress that played Samantha so she requested her to come back to the show. Everyone could not stand Nell. If you watch the Rosie interview I posted on another thread the way she described Nell was horrific. Their make up was sort of faked and Rosie could never forget not only the way she was treated but the way Joey Lawrence's mother was treated by Nell.