Uh, wrong season. It was season 4 that they did Cat Story live. I enjoyed the episode because there were some great funny moments in it, from the Chief asking about the cat being tied to the garage and how it wasn't a good idea because he had an automatic garage door opener, as well as Grandpa responding to Katie's line about Simpson never being a stick in the mud by saying, "Until today." Joey was in the episode to some degree, although maybe you are right, it would've been hard for a kid to handle all those lines, yet, he had a good scene with Nell where Nell sings Down by The Riverside. This was also near the end of Dolph Sweet's life and although you see he is thin, he was a trooper with a lot of lines.
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jarrodmcdonald-1
9 years ago
Gimme a Break was one of a handful of shows that experimented with live broadcasts on NBC, long after most shows switched to the film or videotape format. The medical drama ER also had a live episode on NBC.
I agree that Sweet was a trooper-- he seemed quite invigorated by the challenge of doing a live show, probably because it harkened back to his early days as an actor-- in theatre and on soaps where they usually had to do everything in one take.
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stevenackerman69
8 years ago
Well, here you had to get it all done right in one take, since it was live, like theater. Otherwise they did tape in front of a live audience, but if someone messed up a line, they would stop and go back. Of course, if you did a lot of theater in the past, maybe the taping mistakes would be minimal.
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jarrodmcdonald-1
8 years ago
I agree. I would think the mistakes were minimal, at least from the leads. Nell and Dolph both came from a theatre background and were very well trained. And someone like John Hoyt had been acting on screen (in movies) since the late 1940s and with all his experience he was undoubtedly a pro. Telma Hopkins went on to have a long career in television, so she was up to the task as well.
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stevenackerman69
8 years ago
Lara Jill Miller also came from theater. She did theater in her hometown and did Music Man with Dick Van Dyke on the road and Broadway before doing GAB. Most actors have done stage work before they get to TV to begin with.
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jarrodmcdonald-1
8 years ago
Most but not all. Didn't the Lawrence boys start in commercials? Some get on TV, because they have done successful print ads or commercials or are related to a casting director or network executive. :)
Lara Jill's training shines through. Laurie Hendler had done some guest starring roles on previous series. I remember her from a standout episode of 'Magnum P.I.' which I think she did right before Gimme a Break! started.
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stevenackerman69
8 years ago
I have no idea. If you look at their credits on here, you will see their early TV credits, but maybe their bios will say some other stuff as well. I have the feeling that nobody just gets on a series without having gone through training and stage work and doing guest appearances on other shows. If you read Barry Williams' book Growing Up Brady, you can see he had many guest appearances on other shows before he became a series regular on Brady Bunch.
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jarrodmcdonald-1
8 years ago
Yes, most of them work their way up, (unless they're the child of a producer or star and just handed a major role off the bat).
Yesterday I watched an episode of 'St. Elsewhere' on Hulu from 1982. The little girl playing Terence Knox's daughter was Candace Cameron. I didn't even recognize her at first. This was several years before she wound up on 'Full House.'
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