When Nell Carter died a few years back, she did so knowing her legacy was the once cutting edge show, Gimme A Break! Most people probably don’t remember the early inclination of the show, which was far different than the campy, silly show that it became once the networks embraced it and gave it a “friendly” makeover. The early years, especially the first episode, followed a blueprint created by All In The Family back in the early years. Season 1 of Gimme A Break showcased the life of a single, rough and tumble cop (Dolph Sweet), the nanny he hired to help him raise the kids (Nell Carter) and the three daughters he raises (Kari Michaelsen, Lauri Hendler & Lara Jill Miller). The show was somewhat heartwarming from time to time, but featured a lot of surprising topics for the era.
Considering it came out in 1981, it is really surprising some of the areas touched on by this show so early on. In the very first episode, “Katie The Crook”, sexual issues and violence at school immediately confront the three daughters. All the while, Carl Kanisky (Sweet) banters back and forth like Archie Bunker. He takes immediate shots at homosexuals, bussing of white kids to a black neighborhood and random attacks on all that normal conformists would expect. In fact, Kanisky keeps to this mantra throughout the show. His attacks find overweight people on “Do Or Diet.” In this episode, he spews at Carter, that “most of your weight is just water. You can lose it in a second. Just squirt it out of your trunk.” Carter is just as cutting. In the same episode, she makes a casual joke about anally raping a man, telling him to “bend over and smile” when he questions that he’s gotten everything that is coming to him in a weigh-in contest. The whole episode, complete with references to people as “fat slobs” and “orcas,” is brutal, but funny at the same time. In today’s world where everything is so PC, this would never fly.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments