Editing Gimme a Break! (section)

==Premise==
In Glenlawn, a fictional [[suburb]] in [[California]], Nellie Ruth "Nell" Harper (Nell Carter) agrees to look after the Kanisky household as a special favor to her dying friend Margaret Huffman Kanisky (played in flashback by Sharon Spelman), the wife of police chief Carl Kanisky (Dolph Sweet). More than a mere housekeeper and cook, Nell serves as a parental figure to the chief's three teenaged daughters, Katie ([[Kari Michaelsen]]),  Julie ([[Lauri Hendler]]), and Samantha ([[Lara Jill Miller]]). A foster son, Joey ([[Joey Lawrence]]), joins the Kanisky household in season three.

Five episodes into the sixth and final season, the show changed locales from Glenlawn to [[New York City]], when Nell, concerned for Joey's welfare after he moved there with his absentee father, traveled there to check on him. She subsequently assumed guardianship of Joey and his younger brother Matthew (played by Joey Lawrence's real-life brother [[Matthew Lawrence]]) at their father's request, and was forced to permanently relocate there after Chief Kanisky's father Stanley ([[John Hoyt]]) sold the family's Glenlawn home.

Over the six-year run, celebrities often appeared on the show, including singers [[Whitney Houston]], [[Andy Gibb]], [[Sammy Davis Jr.]], [[Ray Parker Jr.]], and [[The Pointer Sisters]]. More often than not, the guest singers would perform a song with Nell on the episodes. During the third season, [[Pat Sajak]] guest-starred as himself when Nell and her friend Addy ([[Telma Hopkins]]) were contestants on ''[[Wheel of Fortune (American game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]''. Other notable guest stars included [[Milton Berle]], [[Danny Glover]], [[Rue McClanahan]], [[Tony Randall]], [[Helen Hunt]], [[Don Rickles]], [[Gwen Verdon]], [[Dennis Haysbert]], [[Ernie Hudson]], [[Gary Collins (actor)|Gary Collins]], and [[Elizabeth Berkley]].

The episode "Cat Story" was performed and broadcast live on February 23, 1985, as a promotional gimmick, which the cast performed without major incident. An earlier episode (from the 1984–85 season), "Baby of the Family", ranked number 38 on [[TV Land]]'s list of "The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments"; it depicted Joey dressing and performing in [[blackface]] at Nell's church benefit, a plan hatched by Samantha to retaliate for Nell forbidding her to go on an unchaperoned camping trip.<ref>{{cite press release| website= PRNewswire.com| publisher= | title= TV Guide and TV Land Join Forces To Count Down The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments| date= December 1, 2005| url= http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-01-2005/0004225579&EDATE=| url-status= dead| archiveurl= https://archive.today/20120907031209/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tv-guide-and-tv-land-join-forces-to-count-down-the-100-most-unexpected-tv-moments-55122557.html| archivedate= September 7, 2012| accessdate= August 26, 2024}}</ref>