Gimme a Break!

Seasons

1981

6.4

TV-G

Nell agrees to look after the Kanisky's home, as a special favor to her dying friend, and takes on the role of housekeeper to widowed police chief Carl and a parental figure to his three teenage daughters, and eventually a foster son.

Episode List

S1 • E1

Katie the Crook

Recently-widowed Police Chief Carl Kanisky returns home to find his household in a mess. His housekeeper Nell has vacuumed his goldfish Gertrude, his youngest daughter Samantha has a black eye, his middle daughter Julie is kissing a boy in the kitchen, and his oldest daughter Katie has been picked up for shoplifting.

S1 • E2

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Nell is tired of striking out on the dating scene, so the Chief sets her up with one of his officers.

S1 • E3

The Second Time Around

The Chief is reunited with a woman he knew when they were both high-school students--when she runs into his police car.

S1 • E4

Mom's Birthday

Nell, the Chief, and the girls try to take their minds off of the fact that it today would have been the girls' mother's birthday.

S1 • E5

Do or Diet

Nell and the Chief, who have both struggled with weight problems for years, try not to think about food.

S1 • E6

A Man in Nell's Room

Nell quits her job and moves out of the house when she argues with the Chief over inviting her boyfriend to stay the night.

S1 • E7

Your Prisoner is Dead

The Chief is caught in a stand-off at a drugstore and is forced to shoot the hold-up man.

S1 • E8

Julie's Rejection

Katie sponsors Julie for membership in the Silver Slippers, an exclusive club to which she belongs.

S1 • E9

Julie's First Love

Julie falls in love with Arnie, a boy she meets at a video arcade.

S1 • E10

Nell's Ex

Nell's ex-husband Tony, a singer who had a modest Top 40 hit in the mid-1960s, returns to audition for a gig on a TV show.

S1 • E11

Katie the Cheat

The Chief hopes that Katie will be the first member of the Kanisky family to go to college, but she doesn't believe she can do well on a test, so she asks Julie to take it for her.

S1 • E12

The Emergency

Katie is hospitalized with what turns out to be complications from an Intra-Uterine Device.

S1 • E13

Nell Goes Home

Nell goes back to Alabama when she learns that her father is dying.

S1 • E14

Samantha Steals a Squad Car

Samantha runs into the house after getting into a fight. When she fails to get the attention of Nell and the Chief, who are fighting because Nell sat on his hat, she runs off with a squad car.