List Price: $19.98You Pay Only: $14.99 You Save: $4.99 (25%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.
EAN: 0025192941320
Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 3
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: February 14, 2006
Running Time: 467 minutes
Sales Rank: 26275
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: October 29, 1981
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Nell Carter shines as Nellie Ruth Nell Harper the role that twice earned her Emmy® and Golden Globe Award nominations and helped redefine the meaning of family. Available for the first time ever on DVD Gimme a Break! is the funny hip and sometimes poignant portrayal of the Kanisky family: widowed Police Chief Carl; his three daughters Katie Julie and Samantha; and their unflappable housekeeper-turned-surrogate mother (Carter). This 3-disc set includes all 19 episodes from Season One as well as a preview from Season Two bonus episodes from the smash-hit sitcoms Kate and Allie and Charles in Charge and a special featurette that takes a look back at other great TV shows of the eighties. Featuring renowned guest stars such as Danny Glover Rue McClanahan and Helen Hunt Gimme a Break! is the beloved sitcom that delivers both love and laughs.System Requirements:Running Time: 468 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025192941320 Manufacturer No: 29413
Amazon.com:
Actress-singer Nell Carter provided the heart and soul for this much-loved NBC family series (1981-1987) about a black woman who cares for a white police chief's daughters after the death of their mother. Though some of the show's humor was derived from jibes about Ms. Carter's size and the clash of parenting styles between the no-nonsense Chief (stage veteran Dolph Sweet) and Carter's warm, sassy Nell Harper, Gimme a Break also addressed more serious and emotional subjects with surprising warmth and drama. The debut episode, 'Katie the Crook' (which is featured on this three-disc set, along with the other 18 episodes from the 1981-82 season), does a fine job of touching on the tougher issues, as the Chief's three daughters (Kari Michaelson, Lauri Hendler, and Lara Jill Miller) each react to the mother's untimely passing in realistic manners. Other episodes in the first season offer a good blend of humor and pathos, including 'Mom's Birthday' (in which Nell allows the family to celebrate their mother through home movies), 'The Emergency' (a rare TV storyline about teen birth control), 'Your Prisoner Is Dead' (the Chief is traumatized after killing a drugstore burglar, and considers retirement), and 'Nell Goes Home' (Nell is rejected by her ailing father during a trip to Alabama). Much of the credit for the show should go to the cast, especially Ms. Carter and Sweet (both who have since passed away), though veteran character actor John Hoyt deserves mention as the family's grandfather; their enthusiasm for and skill behind the roles is undoubtedly a large reason why Gimme a Break still enjoys a following. The first-season set includes a preview of the show's second season (the episode 'Nell Goes to Jail'), as well as episodes from Charles in Charge and Kate and Allie, two other popular family sitcoms from the '80s. A 30-minute featurette on '80s TV (the same one featured on the Charles in Charge first-season set) rounds out this fan-pleasing set. -- Paul Gaita
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Sell Gimme a Break to Shout! Factory, or Arts Alliance America
Gimme a Break! was a great show of the 80s, but why did Universal Studios stop after releasing Season One on DVD? Since there is hope for stalled series, which was said on May 28, 2008, I hope Gimme a Break! will be coming back to DVD soon!! Universal Studios should sale the rights of releasing the 5 remaining seasons of Gimme a Break to Shout! Factory. If not, there is always Arts Alliance America, who bought Charles in Charge last year. Please Universal Studios, sell Gimme a Break! to one of the independent companies!! Fans of the show will be more than happy once Gimme a Break returns to DVD!
Rating: - Gimme a Break - Season 1
First episode was really bad but the rest are great. Will be looking out for other releases.
Rating:  - Pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it...but...
I grew up watching "Gimme a Break" and enjoyed myself immensely. As with sitcoms, cartoons etc. that you watch as a child and then again as an adult, you realise how many things went over your head. In the very first episode Carl comes home from work talking about a gay cop wanting to come out of the closet. It was a big deal then back in the 80s and is still a big deal now. Some of the episodes deal with issues of cheating, stealing, teen sexual issues (dating, pregnancy, birth control)...in short, the social issues of the time. The more things change the more they stay the same...
It was so much fun watching this DVD, I could hardly wait for one episode to end and another to begin. I was able to fully appreciate all of the adult humour and content, and relate to the pop culture references that I remember so well (Billy Dee Williams was a really big deal back then). I was laughing out loud quite a bit and I loved that. So many times, a purchase made for nostalgia turns out to be so disappointing. It's never as good as you remember it but this was all that and MORE!
I had a couple of "Whoa Nellie! Where have I seen this before?" moments a couple times:
1. Overweight cop named Carl (Family Matters)
2. Girl named Samantha who is a tomboy called Sam, who comes home with a black eye from a fight with a boy (Who's the Boss?)
And a couple of "Heyyyy, I know that person!" moments with the following guest stars:
Johnny Brown (Good Times, The Jeffersons) ... Read More
Rating:  - gimmie a break
i watched this show just a little bit didnt really like it i think she is just a loud mouth person with a really bad cast i think this show wasnt a good one but i guess others would have their opinions too
Rating:  - Not closed captioned (!), otherwise I like it...
This is the first series on DVD I bought that's NOT closed captioned, but its saving grace is that it has English subtitles, so this makes up for it. Bonus features on other series sets aren't CC, but what's cool about this one is the bonuses here in the form of other shows--Kate & Allie, Charles in Charge, and Gimme a Break 2nd season premiere--are indeed available subtitled.
That said, I forgot all about the funny aquarium water incident. Won't say here what it is but you'll understand once you see the opening credits. But another incident happens there (in another episode) that I never got to see, and this one really cracked me up.
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