Gimme A Break! -- Nell Carter Tackles  

Intense. Nell Carter never got the credit for her acting chops. She was absolutely brilliant.

This is the one episode I remember over all the others in the show. I gasped when he came out in blackface. And then when Nell Carter says the line "...when you would use the word ******", I could feel the pain in her voice. You can see her face contort. There are real tears flowing after that line. It must have hurt so much to say it. More than it hurt us to hear it. And it did. Nell had guts.

Nell Carter loved everyone of the kids like if they were hers!! I still love this show 🤩🤩

Nell knocked it out of the park here. Wow. Such a powerful episode.

Nell Carter was a very talented lady. I would say this is a more realistic handling of blackface and how stupid and awful kids are... just in general

When sitcoms had heft

I wish more people would see this episode.

To be quite frank Nell never explained WHY Blackface was offensive. Gimmie A Break missed a golden opportunity jere. Thatis was a teachable moment not just for the characters but for the viewers. Instead the focus became more about Samatha’s transition from the baby of the family to this brazen young woman. I still enjoyed Nell unleashing her brand of fire on the family tho.

RIP Nell Carter

Nell had a good heart I would've not been so forgiving

Thanks for posting this. I don't recall seeing this episode earlier, just like I don't recall learning that blackface was wrong... I just always knew it was wrong and disrespectful. Not to mention I thought it looked ridiculous and not like anyone I ever met. I appreciate how well Nell put words on the feelings that go with it though. I must say however, don't paint on the color of someone else's skin. No matter what their hue, God made it and He paints better than you !

You should've shown him the minute he appeared in blackface.

Powerful episode!

Damn. Nell Carter was just do damn amazing! Every time I see this scene it hits me as strongly as the first time when I was a kid in the 80s.

It's a shame that blackface was ever a thing. How ignorant so many were and still are. It's just the pigment of a person's skin tone. So many are blind to the fact that underneath we're all the same. This was a very powerful and educational episode. We should look at race as how we look at M&Ms, different on the outside but same on the inside. And that's what matters, the inside.

This scene always stood out. I remember it more than any other from the show

I never saw this episode before...i literally cried at Nell's line to Samantha. It really hit home for me and finally realized and understood the meaning behind Blackface. That was very powerful!!

I saw this episode in the '90s after its initial run. Prior to this, only once had I seen a performer dress up in blackface on film (Eddie Cantor), but it wasn't until I saw this that I realized how inappropriate and offensive it is. It was educational in a way. Nice to see that in this day and age this is frowned upon and regarded as unacceptable (at least by most people).

This episode was good in season 1 there is an episode where sam steals the squad car to get away from her father after she says the n word. Nell give a great speech at the end.

I remember watching this episode back in 1984 when it aired. Joey and I are the same age. Even back then, I was like "Wow!"

R.I.P. Nell Carter

In all the episodes of Gimme a Break, this scene where Nell confronts Samantha about her dastardly deed, is the most powerful.

I watch this full episode of gimme a Break very interesting but go watch a different world Mammy Doll. and then watch family matters Eddie gets pulled over by racist cops.

Gimme a Break is on COZI TV now. I just found out. So glad I searched Nell Carter and found this video. Happy you posted it years ago. I hope people see this episode and give it some thought all these years later.

I loved this show💗

Now Canadian Justin Trudeau!

Nell must have forgot when Samantha asked Nell "How would you like it if I called you a N*****?" In season 1 (the episode where Samantha steals a cop car). That episode shocked me, but this joey episode is a whole other level of messed up.😦

Ralph Northam brought me here.

I always liked this show. Damn it Nell Carter. Thank you.

Something more believable would’ve been Samantha just tricked Joey into doing a hip-hop song and a break dancing routine to the church. I think even back in 1985 singing that song in a black church would be considered offensive even if a kid didn’t do it in black face. I know Nell liked to take Joey with him everywhere she went But come on a white kid singing at a black church that’s just asking for trouble

Samantha needs a lot of fine tuning in many episodes. Too spoiled!,-

I miss the show we grew up on they dealt with real iusse

...not to take from the (serious) topic, but.... back in 2012, I went to a Gym, where a Bodybuilder...220+, 6'2, Muscles all OVER....was interested in the (buxom) front Desk Girl...She then started dating his BEST FRIEND, and he was devastated....(cont.) ....I (tried) to fix them up previously, and I got so mad, I grabbed this HUMONGOUS Man, yanked him to the Front Desk, and yelled, *"...LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO THIS CHILD!..."* (1:14) ...HA-HAAA!! ...I completely FORGOT where I got it from, then it came FLOODING back! ...ha-HAAA!

But when Megyn Kelly was little it was ok? Right?

I'm 41years old and I remember this episode as kid 😮

The hypocrisy of this scene: Samanatha says she did NOT mean to offend Nell.....then a second later, she says "I just wanted to get back at you!" Well, when you do something to get back at someone, your intention is obviously to offend them. I can honestly say that I never want to "intentionally" hurt someone's feelings without reason, BUT, if you insult me first....yes, I will let you have it, and I'm NOT going to lie and say I did'nt mean it. I said it, and I meant it, PERIOD. This scene is a good example of the hypocrisy of human nature and how fake people are.

Al Jolesen opened up the doors for black entertainers!!! I Love him for that!!! 👌

I was cable channel surfing (lock down covid19 in NYC), send this episode to Donald Trump, The Republicans, The Independents, The Democrats, Every School District in the United States, and I can go on, on, on, etc. We live in the United States and Black Face is still going on, here it is 7/24/2020 and Nothing has Changed.

Where it doesn't seem to help in this day and age that a lot of African-Americans use that word regardless of blackface have all the Oasis religions and sexual orientations the African American community above all still uses that word.

I'm watching this on MeTv right now

Would this make air today even as a teachable moment? I think people would just make the snap judgement and cancel the show.

5:31 😂. Top notch acting.

I remember seeing this episode as a child and didn't know the extent of what black face was. This episode was before it's time. Shows today are too busy tip toeing around gays to make them comfortable but stuff like racism needs to be addressed strongly and bodly!!!!!

It was pretty hard to view Samantha the same after this💜

my girl! rip!

I find this episode a little hard to believe. First off, did that girl think he wouldn't say "it was Samantha that told me to wear blackface" if he got in trouble? Secondly, I don't believe she would do something like that without realizing how Nell would feel about it. Third, isn't that girl a little too old to be jealous of a younger kid? There's no way to a girl that age would have an issue like this.

This show had heart

Beautiful scene! Watching gimme a break on antenna TV!

I always thought this kid did an awful Jolson. Anyone else recognize that? I mean.. Jolson never had a booming exaggerated voice…

I watch reruns of Gimme A Break on Cozi TV everyday with so much enjoyment. I believe Cozi TV has banned this episode from its daily schedule altogether. Can't say I can blame them. This episode is way too controversial and some of its scenes are very offensive. However, I'll always love watching GAB because those two hours in the late afternoon serve as my own personal "me" time everyday.

My first cousin and I had this similar talk. I have learned to let the past go and to live MY life. RIH Mom and Dad - I love you

Samantha even looks like Sara Silverman😉

This Episode made me so very ANGRY!!!!!

Nell shakes Joey WAY too hard there!

0:35 😂😂😂 the way how she threw her keys and purse

How did I grow up watching this show and not remember this scene?

Nell Carter

In an episode nell carter said the n-word, was just a word. Look at back episodes. I think season 2.

Thats a young Justin Trudeau! He can't help himself!

All right, Nell.

Touching. Humor and a very serious topic

"Joey"

COZI TV did not air this episode when they had the rights to Gimme A Break

Daaaamn. Today (10/3/20) is the first time I ever saw this episode, I had heard about it but never knew which one. There's absolutely no way in hell NBC would air something like this nowadays, especially with all the racial tension lately. I remember the Golden Girls episode from early 1988 where Blanche and Rose did the mud facials and then met Dorothy's son's fiancee who happened to be black, but the "blackface" wasn't on purpose which makes it funnier. I wonder how Nell Carter herself actually felt about tackling this? I heard about when she played Miss Hannigan in Annie in 1997, people were mad because they didn't think she should've been played by a black woman, and I don't blame Nell for being hurt about that. The first time I saw a "blackface" gag was in the old Tom & Jerry cartoons from the early 40s, and I never knew why Cartoon Network kept editing it out. Now I totally get it. How did they ever get away with being so stereotypically racist back then? There was one episode where Tom got covered in soot and he pretended to be a black person (accent and everything) to hide from the Mammy. Cartoon Network always cut it out.

Without a doubt, this was the single most transphobic cisracist half-hour in television. Blackness is not the exclusive property of those who were assigned it at birth. Racial dysphoria is real, transBlacks are Black, Joey is Black, and Nell is a TERF. Not only that, but they contradicted the n-word episode from season 1 by acting like the events in that episode never happened, and then in season 6, they contradicted the whole message of this episode by creating Paul Sand's character of Marty/Esteban, TV's first TransMexican character. ¡TransMejicanos es Mejicano! /sarc

I always wanted to see Nell Carter and Dolph Sweet give in to their unspoken sexual tension. That would have really been some must see TV!

its ok when democrats do it

I love blackface! More blackface! It's just comedy! Stop being so sensitive!

Blackface is hilarious tho