List of Gimme a Break! episodes - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break!
Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from October 29, 1981, until May 12, 1987. The series stars Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters.-Premise:...

aired 137 episodes during its run on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

from October 29, 1981 to May 12, 1987.

Season One (1981–82)

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Season Two (1982–83)

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Season Three (1983–84)

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Season Four (1984–85)

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Season Five (1985–86)

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Season Six (1986–87)

Series #	Season #	Title	Notes	Original air date
113	1	Sam Goes to College (1)	Samantha, excited that she has gotten into Littlefield College in New Jersey, is let down when she receives a letter in the mail, saying that the school cancelled her scholarship. As this is going on, Julie and Jonathan, the proud new parents of baby Nell, are finally moving to Bakersfield to have privacy for a change, and to manage the chalk factory, as Simpson helps them with the move. Nell then calls Addy, who says she will do all she can to make sure it was an error, so that Samantha can get her scholarship back. While Samantha is in despair, Katie arrives home one last time to have her laundry cleaned before she moves to San Francisco, and tells Samantha to come with her and she will give her a job there. When Simpson arrives for another load of Julie and Jonathan's belongings, Nell tells him she is losing her girls, but Simpson tells her she will always have him.	September 24, 1986
114	2	Sam Goes to College (2)	Nell continues to talk Samantha out of moving to San Francisco with Katie. She then realizes that Samantha is still 17, and she still has legal control over her. Addy finally calls Nell and tells her that Samantha did get the scholarship, and that it was a computer error. An excited Samantha decides that she is going to college after all. Nell finally sees Julie and Jonathan to the front door as they say their goodbyes. Nell knows that the girls are all grown up now, and that she has the house to herself.	September 24, 1986
115	3	Below Sea Level	Nell and Joey fly to New Jersey to help move Samantha to her college dorm at Littlefield College, and also visit Addy in New York, who is now living there because she has gotten a job at a big university. Nell is surprised that Addy has a basement apartment, in which the view consists of being able to see tiny dogs and peoples feet who walk by. Nell gets furious when the construction workers outside make noise and she is not able to hear anyone, so she goes outside and gives them a kick on the leg. In the meantime, she is really worried about Samantha, who hasn't called her since moving in her dorm. Sam finally shows up in New York to go see a Broadway musical with a new guy friend of hers. Also, Joey is told that his father is in New York and has a big surprise for him. Joey is anxious and hopes that it's a puppy, but when his father shows up at Addy's, he brings Joey's surprise, his little brother Matthew. Nell as well as Joey are both shocked by this surprise.	October 1, 1986
116	4	Joey Meets Matthew	Joey finally meets Matthew, and is mad that he has a little brother. Tim says that he has some matters to take care of and will meet Nell and the boys at a restaurant. Nell and Addy then decide to take the boys to the park and they have a blast. As Addy and Nell sit and talk on a park bench, they realize that Joey and Matthew have disappeared and Nell calls the police. Joey and Matthew were taken to a museum by a police officer who tells Nell they are not fond of one another and are arguing back and forth. Later, everyone returns to Addy's, where Nell and Tim talk in private. He tells her he wants her blessing so he can raise the boys in New York, now that he has a job there. He tells the boys and everyone decides to go out for pizza. In the end, Joey returns back in the apartment as Nell stays behind and finds out that she is not going to live with them and he cries. Nell tells him to keep her picture and she will keep his and they will know the other is fine when they look at it. Nell calls the airport for a flight back to Glenlawn and as she is in the taxi she recalls past times with Joey.	October 8, 1986
117	5	Nell Goes Back To New York	Nell receives a letter from Joey in New York, telling her that he is fine, but she knows that Tim is not taking proper care of them. She returns to New York, where she ruins Addy's date with a lawyer, and tells her the two will get Joey back. She spies on him at the playground, and he sees her, and she tempts him with a big southern meal at Addy's apartment. Nell finally agrees to become roommates with Addy and move to New York. When Tim shows up to pick up Joey, he tells Nell he wants to go back to sea, and as much as he loves his boys, he has no time to be with them. He asks her to be their full guardian, and she accepts.	October 15, 1986
118	6	The Apartment	Nell tries to get a job at a famous New York publishing company called MacDillon and Loud. She then decides to rent an apartment in Greenwich Village and gets a 3-year lease on it with an option to buy it without Addy's approval. When she shows Addy the run-down apartment, Addy hates it, and then in the end, decides to go along with Nell and move there with her when Nell gets a call about the reader job at MacDillon and Loud she receives. At their new apartment, still vacant and run-down, Nell's Mama shows up and says Loretta, Jerome, and Howard have moved to New York because Howard got a job as a weatherman in New York City and she moved from Alabama to be with them.	October 29, 1986
119	7	I Love New York	Nell is fed up with the new apartment in New York, and tells Addy she wants to go back to Glenlawn to get some of that good California air inside of her again. When Grandpa calls, he tells her that he sold the house to leave Glenlawn behind and move to New York with her. She then meets her upstairs tenant Mrs. Jacoby, who bakes her a cake. In the end, Nell knows that if she can make it there, she can make it anywhere, after being inspired by Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York".	November 5, 1986
120	8	Nell The Boss	After Addy is laid off at the University for going on strike, Nell hires her as an assistant at Mcdillon and Loud's publishing company where she works. When Nell thinks Addy is too slow at reading manuscripts, she fires her, and Addy, upset at Nell's attitude towards her, refuses to ever speak to her again.	November 12, 1986
121	9	Harry The Hamster	Nell is furious when she hears a squeaking noise coming from Joey and Matthew's room. When she checks in on them, she finds out that they are caring for Joey's class hamster, "Harry", who Joey knows would most likely be used to be tested on human products. Nell and Addy decide to make a fund to stop people from testing animals with human products. Late at night, to stop the squeaking of Harry's cage, Nell pours salad oil on it. However, what she doesn't know is that it is rancid. When she gets another hamster for Joey, she is surprised that it is a girl who has just had six babies, making Joey change his mind about her, after he finds out she killed Harry.	November 19, 1986
122	10	Joey The Gambler	Joey gets picked up by the police for gambling. After Nell brings Joey home, she tries to teach him that gambling is wrong, but he doesn't see why, since Grandpa bets on horses, Addy plays the lottery, and even the police had a football pool. When her lecture doesn't work, she finally confides in Marty, who uses the game "Candyland", as an example that it is wrong for Joey to gamble, bets Joey all of his money, and in the end wins, teaching Joey a lesson that it is very wrong for people to gamble their money that they worked so hard to get in the first place.	November 26, 1986
123	11	The Scam	As Nell and her mother are at the bank to put money into Mama Maybelle's safe deposit box, a con man shows up, tries to attempt to fool Nell that there is a con man in the bank who is taking people's money, tells Nell he is a detective and to put her Mama's money out for the con man to take, then he will follow the guy outside and arrest him, but for Nell not to follow. When he doesn't come back, Nell realizes she was tricked, and Mama Maybelle is very upset. However, downstairs at Marty's restaurant, the guy shows up with a date, and Nell tells him she wants her money back, tells a waiter to alert the police, and brings Addy downstairs to snap photos of the guy. The officer doesn't believe Nell's story, until the guy says his name is one name, then the waiter calls him another name and he's finally caught for fraud.	December 3, 1986
124	12	Christmas in New York	Nell decides to buy a Christmas tree, as does Addy, who both know that it costs too much for one in New York. As the gang begins to celebrate Christmas New York style, Joey tells Matthew that there is no such thing as Santa Claus, and Nell blames Marty for the whole thing. In the end, Nell realizes that Marty always didn't believe in Santa Claus because he never got the toy train he saw in a store window when he was a child. In the end, Nell invites him to Christmas dinner, and on Christmas morning, he is surprised to see the toy train he has always wanted, which both Addy and Nell say they didn't get for him. Thus, proving to both Joey and Matthew that there is a Santa Claus after all.	December 10, 1986
125	13	Nell's Secret Admirer	Nell gets a call from her high school secret admirer. She decides to meet him at El Gazpacho since he is in town, after she finds out that he cannot have a successful relationship with a woman because he has never forgot about her. While Nell is waiting at El Gazpacho, he calls her, telling her he wrote her a note years ago in school, and that he's afraid to meet her. Nell has an emotional breakdown on the phone with him, telling him that she is a wonderful woman who did make fun of the note he gave her years ago. In the end, he surprises her by showing up at the restaurant.	January 7, 1987
126	14	The Loan	When Addy has a chance to go to a Dance with the Prince and Princess of Wales she finds she doesn't have the money for an expensive dress, So Nell loans her the money only to find that Addy is spending it faster then paying her back, will the two make up or with the friendship end?	January 21, 1987
127	15	The Window(1)	Nell has a better job in her company as a book editor. However, that tears her away from staying with the boys. When Joey tells Nell that he's doing a Walk-a-thon fund raiser for his school & wants to sign up sponsors. But Nell doesn't want Joey to go alone with Matthew wandering the streets of New York. But Grandpa disagrees. Joey also has to take Matthew to his guitar lesson as well. After school, Joey decides to go get sponsors, and takes Matt with him. When Joey goes to a doctor's office, he tells Matt to wait for him. Then Matt hears music coming from next door & sees a band rehearsing. Then the band lets Matt jam with them. Joey finds that Matt's missing and he searches all over for him. When he arrives home, he asks Marty for his help and Marty called the police. Nell enters & Marty tells her Matt's missing. Nell takes the receiver while Marty looks at his restaurant. Nell is mad at Joey for losing his brother. Then Marty finds Matt & took him home. Joey's mad at Matt for wandering off and Nell tells him he's 5 years old and Joey cries he's only 10. Nell feels guilty of not being there with the boys, and Joey's not talking to Matthew.	January 21, 1987
128	16	The Window (2)	Nell decides to quit her job so she could stay home with the boys. So Nell decides to get a new job instead. When she told Joey that, he was delighted. Then the phone rings and the company wants Nell to come to her interview. Nell tells Joey to watch Matthew, but he's still mad at him. So she calls Matthew and he comes with his guitar ready to go to a guitar lesson that Nell forgot. But Joey still won't take Matt to his guitar lesson. Nell's mom advises her to let the apron strings go, and to let Joey grow up. So while talking to Joey, she hears a puppy coming from Matthew's bedroom. They find the puppy outside the fire escape in a box, so she tries to get the puppy inside and her shoe's caught in the fire escape. Nell calls for Maggie to help. But she's scared of heights. Then a fireman comes and with a crowbar, gets her boot out of the fire escape. The fireman says that Joey's the hero who came to him asking him to bring his crowbar. Nell then tells Joey he can participate in the walk-a-thon.	January 28, 1987
129	17	Joey's First Crush	Nell throws a party for BJ, Maggies husband, who is serious about moving to Georgia to open a Bed and Breakfast. In the meantime, Joey begins to have a crush on Maggie and tells this to Grandpa. Nell sings "Georgia" to BJ and tells him if he transplants Maggie out of New York, she's like a flower and will die. Maggie and BJ fight at his party due to him being jealous of her boss, a fellow dentist, who actually is moving with his gay lover out of town. Joey talks to BJ in the end about what a jerk he's been to Maggie, he and Maggie make up, and Maggie kisses Joey on the cheek.	February 4, 1987
130	18	Joey's Teacher	Joey is upset because his teacher, Mr. Gronimeyer hates him. When Nell invites him to the house to talk about Joey, he trips on Maggie's skateboard, and decides to sue, and fakes that he has serious pains. However, he is on his way to spin the big wheel for fast cash on television, and when Nell turns on the television to see him spin the wheel, he wins the big jackpot, and says that he is going to buy an island in the Caribbean, and will never have to look at another kid again.	February 11, 1987
131	19	Joey's Hero	When Joey's favorite television star "Captain Jerk", is hospitalized after swallowing a whistle, some of Nell's blood is used for a transfusion, since he has a rare blood type, and Nell has the same type as him. However, as she goes to his hospital room to meet him, she finds out that he is prejudiced as she overhears him talking to his co-stars about how much he hates blacks and how he organizes a group of people who are for a white society. She realizes that she must tell Joey the truth, that his favorite television star doesn't favor blacks. In the end, Captain Jerk asks Nell to be on the show, but swallows his whistle again when he sees she is black. He gives her money, and tells her to not tell anyone she is black and since she gave him 5 pints of blood, it makes him "42% Negro". Joey hears this, and despite not believing Nell before, he finally knows that his hero is prejudiced and he and Nell leave the hospital knowing that Captain Jerk is nothing but one.	February 11, 1987
132	20	Joey the Gigolo	Nell knows that her boss is beginning to fire many workers on the job, and when she finds out he has a daughter named Molly that is Joey's age, she sets the two up, so she can try to keep her job. What Nell doesn't know is that Joey is turning into a gigolo, leaving the family every day for Molly, even during Matthew's birthday party. In the end, Nell storms into Molly's room, and tells Joey to come home for his brother's party. When her boss comes in and tells her to stop yelling, she tells him she doesn't have to set Joey up with his daughter in order to keep her job. Nell is surprised when her boss tells her he's not going to fire her, since he just sold the company.	February 21, 1987
133	21	Parent's Week (1)	Nell finds out that it's Parents Week at Littlefield College in New Jersey, and she's upset that Samantha didn't invite her to attend it. However, she decides to go anyways. When she arrives at the college, Samantha is stunned to see her, and she begins to barge in on student's lives. She sits in on an English class of Sam's, and Professor Dudley gets upset with her when he mentions the title of his book and she tells him her publishing company turned it down a while back. After wards, she meets a boy named Keith who wants to switch his career from teaching to fashion design, but can't stand up to his father, who is actually Professor Dudley. As Sam and Nell are about to go to bed as Sam tells her a secret she has been keeping from her. She is in love with a student named Eric, and they are going to drop out of college and get married and move to South Dakota, where the two will live on a farm and he will work on his novel "The Hayloft", since he doesn't have enough money to stay in school. Nell drops to the floor when she hears this. Eventually, she changes her mind when she talks to Professor Dudley about it and he tells her to let Sam "Go, go, go", the same advice she gives to his son Keith who wants to go into fashion design. Nell tells Sam she can go to South Dakota but she must finish out the semester. Nell talks to Sam's roommate Linda,who tells her she's dumb to let Sam "Go, go, go". Nell then realizes she can't let Samantha throw away her college education and must find a way to stop the wedding.	March 31, 1987
131	22	Parent's Week (2)	Nell tries to convince Samantha to stay in college and not marry Eric while helping Keith stand up to his father, Professor Dudley, and Eric get his book published as well as having a college girl, a star player, decide to drop basketball for ROTC. However, things go bad for both Nell and Samantha as Nell learns that Eric is moving to Hollywood alone to write the screenplay for "The Hayloft", the novel MacDillon and Loud accepted and decided to publish after Nell sent it to them, and he will leave Sam at the college and write to her from Hollywood when he becomes famous. Sam realizes that Eric dumped her, and Professor Dudley has campus security escort Nell off campus for interfering with his son's career choice of being a fashion designer and getting into everyone's personal lives at the college.	April 7, 1987
135	23	Save the Church	Nell prepares for Mary-Ellen Baldwin's arrival, a snobbish foe of hers from Alabama. She arrives in New York to tell Mama Maybelle along with Nell that she is knocking down the old church to make room for new condos. Mama Maybelle, displeased with the act of foolishness, rejects the check for $5,000 that Mary-Ellen gives her, but Nell wants the money. Mama Maybelle then decides she is going to Alabama to save the church. Once they arrive there, Mama Maybelle goes off to see Mayor Watson about what she can do about the church, while Nell and Joey stay at the Church. Nell tells Joey about her father and how he preached. In the end, she is amazed by her father's memories, and when Mama Maybele returns to tell her there is nothing she can do to save the church, Nell rips up the check, saying that she will fight for her father's church, even if she loses. Mama Maybelle is very proud of Nell for once in her life, since she finally made a right decision.	April 28, 1987
136	24	Someday My Prince...	Nell is wooed by an African man who invented chocolate chip cookies in his African country. She is given a necklace by him, and is given a proposal to be his wife. She tells Addy that they should all move to Africa if she decides to accept his proosal, but in the end she declines it, when he tells her his mother wants him to marry a pure woman who hasnt had sex before. She is however, mad that she gave back the expensive necklace that she was given by him.	May 5, 1987
137	25	Mama's Date	When Grandpa comes to get the boys pajamas, since they are sleeping in his apartment because Addy is sick in bed, he tells Nell that her mother has a date. Nell wonders why her mother would have a date, and when her mother shows up, she meets her date, Ernie, a man from her past. It turns out that he was a jazz musician that knew her mother before she married Nell's father. When they were young, he took her to a dance contest, and asked her to go on the road with him, but she refused. Nell can't believe that this is true. In the end, as Ernie waits outside for Maybelle, Nell asks her mother if the two of them ever had sex, and Mama Maybelle tells her that Nell should know the answer to that question, and tells her she has a lot of growing up to do, and that she must realize that her mother is a woman, just like herself.	May 12, 1987

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