History Series / GimmeABreak

* {{DaddysGirl}}s: Chief is old-fashioned and cannot for the life of him relate to the 1980s, its trends and cultural tastes, which the girls – especially Katie – have embraced fully. He also has a hard time understanding that Katie is quite promiscuous and fights with her a lot over the issue. Yet, he reveres each of his daughters and loves them very much and, despite sometimes threatening to cut them off in the end stands by them and knows he is the rock they depend on, and that they are the greatest gifts his late wife, Margaret, gave him.

Most of the show's humor came from the clashes of culture (Nell, the SassyBlackWoman from the South vs. straightlaced second-generation Polish Chief Kanisky) and generation (Nell and Carl vs. the girls) in a otherwise standard 80s DomCom setting. After the death of Dolph Sweet (Carl) after season 4, the series continued for a season with Nell as the sole head of the Kanisky household. For the final season, the show underwent a ReTool, with most of the cast (minus the older Kanisky daughters) moving to New York City.

* InstantlyProvenWrong: When Addie tells her African-American friend that Black women have finally evolved past the "Aunt Jemima" image, Nell walks in (having done the household chores) exhausted... and wearing a do rag.

** Nell's family. Originally, Nell's mother supported her dream of being a singer, but later became a shrill woman who never had faith in her. To the show's credit, they initally did handwave her mother's change in personality as a reaction to her husband's death, but they also changed her name (from Emma to Maybelle) and the actress. Nell's father was originally the one who disapproved of Nell's dreams, but after he died, DeceasedParentsAreTheBest came in full force, going to so far as to say that Nell was his favorite. Nell's younger sister's name also changed from Marie to Loretta, and went from an immature brat who still watched ''Sesame Street'' to a snob. She also went from being married in her first appearance to getting married in the second (and the characters react as if she was on the verge of becoming an old maid, suggesting he's her first.)

* HollywoodNerd: Julie, the middle daughter, complete with NerdGlasses.

* RunningGag: That poor fish....
%%** "There ain't no Julio here!"

* DoItYourselfThemeTune: Nell Carter sings the main theme(both themes in fact). Nell Carter was an accomplished stage performer and former dancer, so her [[TheCastShowoff singing chops]] were used frequently on the show.

--->'''Nell:''' "I never thought that I would live to see the day when you would use the word 'nigger'."
--->'''Samantha:''' "Nell, that's horrible! I would never say that."[[note]]This line retcons the events of "Samantha Steals a Squad Car", when she ''did'' say the N-word in a non-malicious manner. (See "N-Word Privileges" for a further explanation.)[[/note]]
--->'''Nell:''' "Well, you might as well have. Because that's what you did by putting Joey in blackface. You offended me and a lot of other decent Black people."

* DoItYourselfThemeTune: Nell Carter sings the main theme. Nell Carter was an accomplished stage performer and former dancer, so her [[TheCastShowoff singing chops]] were used frequently on the show.

%%* RunningGag:
%%** Poor Gertrude the goldfish...

** Nell's family. Originally, Nell's mother supported her dream of being a singer, but later became a shrill woman who never had faith in her. To the show's credit, they initally did handwave her mother's change in personality as a reaction to her husband's death, but they also changed her name (from Emma to Maybelle) and the actress. Nell's father was originally the one who disapproved of Nell's dreams, but after he died, DeceasedParentsAreTheBest came in full force, going to so far as to say that Nell was his favorite. Nell's younger sister's name also changed from Mary to Loretta, and went from an immature brat who still watched Sesame Street to a snob.

%%* NoPeriodsPeriod: Played straight.

* GameShowAppearance: Nell and Addy appear on ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' during "Best Friends Week." (This was different than the current "best friends," where teen contestants play in teams of two; here, the friends play ''against'' each other and one other studio contestant.) With $7,600; Nell mis-solves the Quotation puzzle GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH ("Give me liberty or give me a car!"), but Addy solves correctly for $2,700; the remainder of the two-part episode involves a trip to New York which Addy purchases (with [[TheCameo a guest appearance by Tony Randall in part two]]).

* FunWithAcronyms: PORKO (the weight loss support group of which Nell is a member in a handful of episodes during Seasons 1-3), which stands for “People Organized to Reduce and Kick Obesity”.

* MaximumCapacityOverload: In "Porko's II", Nell and the members of her overweight support group get stuck in an elevator while stopping the founder of the group, Dr. George Avery, from jumping off his top-floor apartment. (During his visit to their meeting, Nell’s fellow PORKO[[note]]People Organized to Reduce and Kick Obesity[[/note]] members had made light of Dr. Avery having regained the 180 lbs he had previously lost.) The people inside argue for a while, then try going down in the elevator, which works. Nell gets off at the lobby but the elevator then closes and goes back up, now no longer over capacity, forcing Nell to have to take the stairs. As they talk Dr. Avery out of jumping, he, Nell and the other PORKO members are later forced back into Dr. Avery’s hotel room after the balcony starts crumbling underneath them.

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: By Season 6 (the final season), Nell, Addy and Joey had moved from California to New York City, the Kaniskys were all written out ([[spoiler:or dead, in Carl's case]]), and Nell's mother and Joey's brother were added to the cast, with the original premise seemingly forgotten about.

* MaximumCapacityOverload: In "Porko's II", Nell and the members of her overweight support group get stuck in an elevator while stopping the founder of the group from jumping off his top-floor apartment. The people inside argue for a while, then try going down in the elevator, which works. Nell gets off at the lobby but the elevator then closes and goes back up, now no longer over capacity, forcing Nell to have to take the stairs.

* NWordPrivileges: In the first season episode "Samantha Steals a Squad Car", as Carl and Nell are arguing over the latter accidentally sitting on (and flattening) the cap of the police uniform that Carl was going to wear to a policeman's luncheon, Sam – in frustration to the two adults failing to pay attention to her issue – uses the N-word when, in equating her situation, she exasperatedly asks Nell "how would you like it if somebody called you a nigger?".[[note]]A female classmate had called Sam another ethnic slur, referring to her as a "dumb Polack," at school, which resulted in Sam getting into a physical altercation with the girl in which Sam was hit with a stick.[[/note]] After being chased by a perturbed Carl, she ends up locking herself in a bathroom and later escapes and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin steals her father's squad car]]. When Carl and Nell meet up with Sam at the police station, during which Sam apologizes for using the word and notes to Nell that she didn't use it to be mean but to compare the hurtfulness of being called one racial slur for being a black person to her being called one relating to her Polish heritage, Nell explains to the Chief (who clearly didn't like the word being used) that its meaning can differ depending on who's using it:

* DisproportionateRetribution: In "Baby of the Family," Samantha is disgruntled with Nell over what she [Samantha] sees as letting Joey get away with things, when Nell disapproves of her going on an unchaperoned camping trip... with teenage boys going along. Her jealousy over Nell's treatment of Joey compared to Nell's treatment of her, leads Samantha to dress Joey – who is performing "Toot-Toot-Tootsie" from the now-infamous Al Jolson classic ''Film/TheJazzSinger'' at the church Nell attends – in [[Main/{{Blackface}} blackface]] (as Jolson did in the film). Considering he was performing in front of an ''all-Black'' congregation, Nell, Addy and the rest of the congregation weren't pleased. To make matters worse, as shown shortly after Nell pulls Joey off-stage, then-seven-year-old Joey didn't know the racist background behind blackface, having mistakenly believed Jolson himself was Black (rather than a white actor portraying a Black minstrel stereotype). When she confronts Samantha, Nell states that putting Joey up to do blackface was equivalent to this...

* DisproportionateRetribution: In "Baby of the Family," Samantha is disgruntled with Nell over what she [Samantha] sees as letting Joey get away with things, when Nell disapproves of her going on an unchaperoned camping trip... with teenage boys going along. Her jealousy over Nell's treatment of Joey compared to Nell's treatment of her, leads Samantha to dress Joey – who is performing "Toot-Toot-Tootsie" from the now-infamous Al Jolson classic ''Film/TheJazzSinger'' at the church Nell attends – in [[Main/{{Blackface}} blackface]] (as Jolson did in the film). Considering he was performing in front of an ''all-Black'' congregation, Nell, Addy and the rest of the congregation weren't pleased. To make matters worse, as shown shortly after Nell pulls Joey off-stage, then-seven-year-old Joey didn't know the racist background behind blackface, having mistakenly believed Jolson himself was Black. When she confronts Samantha, Nell states that putting Joey up to do blackface was equivalent to this...

--->'''Nell:''' "Well, you might as well have. Because that's what you did by putting Joey in blackface. You offended me and a lot of other decent black people."

* DisproportionateRetribution: In "Baby of the Family," Samantha is disgruntled with Nell over what she [Samantha] sees as letting Joey get away with things, when Nell disapproves of her going on an unchaperoned camping trip... with teenage boys going along. Her jealousy over Nell's treatment of Joey compared to Nell's treatment of her, leads Samantha to dress Joey – who is performing "Toot-Toot-Tootsie" from the now-infamous Al Jolson classic ''Film/TheJazzSinger'' at the church Nell attends – in [[Main/{{Blackface}} blackface]] (as Jolson did in the film). Considering he was performing in front of an ''all-black'' congregation, Nell, Addy and the rest of the congregation weren't pleased. To make matters worse, given that he was only seven at the time, Joey didn't know the racist background behind blackface. When she confronts Samantha, Nell states that putting Joey up to do blackface was equivalent to this...

* DisproportionateRetribution: In "Baby of the Family," Samantha is disgruntled with Nell over what she [Samantha] sees as letting Joey get away with things, when Nell disapproves of her going on an unchaperoned camping trip... with teenage boys going along. Her jealousy over Nell's treatment of Joey compared to Nell's treatment of her, leads Samantha to dress Joey – who is performing "Toot-Toot-Tootsie" from the now-infamous Al Jolson classic ''Film/TheJazzSinger'' at the church Nell attends – in [[Main/{{Blackface}} blackface]] (as Jolson did in the film). Considering he was performing in front of an ''all-black'' congregation, Nell, Addy and the rest of the congregation weren't pleased. To make matters worse, Joey didn't know the racist background behind blackface. When she confronts Samantha, Nell states that putting Joey up to do blackface was equivalent to this...

* [[DaddysGirl Daddy's Girls]]: Chief is old-fashioned and cannot for the life of him relate to the 1980s, its trends and cultural tastes, which the girls – especially Katie – have embraced fully. He also has a hard time understanding that Katie is quite promiscuous and fights with her a lot over the issue. Yet, he reveres each of his daughters and loves them very much and, despite sometimes threatening to cut them off in the end stands by them and knows he is the rock they depend on, and that they are the greatest gifts his late wife, Margaret, gave him.

* GilliganCut: When Addie tells her African-American friend that Black women have finally evolved past the "Aunt Jemima" image, Nell walks in (having done the household chores) exhausted... and wearing a do rag.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Played straight.

** Nell, first for the girls' mother, and then later after the death of their father. Sadly, Dolph Sweet passed [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim away after the fourth season]].

* RunningGag:
** Poor Gertrude the goldfish...
** "There ain't no Julio here!"

* YouTalkTooMuch: Samantha was prone to this during the early seasons, especially Season 1.

* CousinOliver: Joey, played by [[TheDanza Joey Lawrence]]. Not content with one Cousin Oliver, [[RealLifeRelative Joey's brother Matthew]] was added to the case as [[TheDanza Matt]].

* EpicFail: In an early episode, the Chief tries to play a video game with Julie and loses a life just by pressing start.

* PosthumousCharacter: Margaret Kanisky

* [[DaddysGirl Daddy's Girls]]: Carl is old-fashioned and cannot for the life of him relate to the 1980s, its trends and cultural tastes, which the girls – especially Katie – have embraced fully. He also has a hard time understanding that Katie is quite promiscuous and fights with her a lot over the issue. Yet, he reveres each of his daughters and loves them very much and, despite sometimes threatening to cut them off in the end stands by them and knows he is the rock they depend on, and that they are the greatest gifts his late wife, Margaret, gave him.
* DiesWideOpen: In "Your Prisoner Is Dead" (the episode where Chief shot a would-be armed robber), Chief effectively shocks Samantha into reality about what happened: After being wounded, the robber was crying for help and had his eyes wide open the whole time. This was in no way, he goes on, like the scene from ''[[CHiPs]]'' (that Sam had described) and other police shows where the bad guys shut their eyes after being fatally shot.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Played straignt.

* PutOnABus: Older daughters Katie and Julie (and Julie's new husband, Johnathan) moved out prior to the ReTool.

** One episode has Katie hospitalized when her I.U.D. malfunctions. An IUD Carl didn't know she had.[[note]]But her mom did and helped her obtain it.[[/note]]