Gimme a Break! is not the pad’s only claim to fame! The interior of the Kanisky house was just a set located on a soundstage at the now-defunct Metromedia Square in Hollywood, where Helen Bernstein High School now stands. Only the exterior of 515 South Norton appeared on the series. It truly is a feat that so little of the property has been changed considering 39 years have passed since Gimme a Break! first hit the screen, not to mention how prevalent remodels are in L.A. And there, on the sixth street he searched, was the Kanisky house. Andrews Place and continued on that way in a grid-like fashion, moving west. He then ventured back toward Beverly on North St. He began his search at Beverly Boulevard and Manhattan Place at the very eastern edge of Windsor Square and, using Street View, worked his way south on Manhattan until he hit Wilshire Boulevard. Like me, Chas had a feeling the property was most likely located in Hancock Park and its environs. Said to be at 2938 Wells Drive in the fictional town of Glenlawn, the pad popped up in Gimme a Break!’s Season 1 and 2 opening credits, which you can watch here. So it’s no surprise it found its way to the screen. It really is a handsome property, with plenty of Anywhere, U.S.A. In real life, the 1910 home boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3,022 square feet, a fireplace, a 0.16-acre lot, and a detached 2-car garage with what appears to be an in-law unit upstairs. As it turns out, my hunch about Hancock Park was right on the money! The Kanisky residence can be found at 515 South Norton Avenue in Windsor Square, looking pretty much exactly as it did during the Gimme a Break! days almost four decades ago! It was not until the end of May that the home was finally identified thanks to fellow stalker Chas, of the It’s Filmed There website. I did some digging in the area, but came up empty. One look at its stately architecture told me the property was likely in Hancock Park. As he wrote to me, “I’m guessing this is one of the few remaining popular ’80s sitcom houses that has yet to be found.” I was, of course, intrigued. Owen isn’t actually a huge Gimme a Break! fan either, but bored during quarantine, caught an episode on YouTube and quickly zeroed in on the traditional-style pad shown in the opening credits. So when my friend Owen emailed in April asking if I had any intel on the supposed Glenlawn, California residence where widowed police chief Carl Kanisky (Dolph Sweet) lived with his three daughters, Katie (Kari Michaelsen), Sam (Lara Jill Miller) and Julie (Lauri Hendler), and their housekeeper, Nell Harper (Nell Carter), on the series, I was at a loss. The idea that you do not need a special occasion to break off a piece of the candy and that it is a perfect break time snack will forever remain a staple of the Kit Kat brand.Though I definitely consider myself a child of the ‘80s, somehow I never watched Gimme a Break!, which aired on NBC from 1981 to 1987. The new slogan is acknowledging that a break is less formalized but, even it is for five minutes, you can maximize your enjoyment with a KitKat,” says a spokesman for Nestlé.Īlthough the brand no longer uses the famous slogan, Kit Kat has been able to create and advantage with a jingle that consumers can sing off the top of their head and included it in many memorable commercials. “Our findings indicated that the workplace break is now less structured and formal. After some market research, Nestle discovered that while most people knew the slogan and the jingle, it was starting to have little effect in convincing them to buy the candy. In 2004, the makers of Kit Kat decided to take a break from the company’s 47-year old slogan. Levine, was introduced in America in 1986. The classic “Gimme a Break” Kit Kat jingle, written by Ken Shuldman and Michale A. One year later, it was used on the first television spot for the candy and the commercials became extremely popular in the 1980’s when boardrooms and newsrooms were shown breaking off pieces of a Kit Kat bar. Have a Kit Kat” with the idea of associating the Kit Kat bar with the enjoyment of a short break from the working day. Walter Thompson ad agency created the slogan “Have a break. During World War II, the candy was portrayed as a valuable wartime food and was advertised as “What active people need”. Within two years of its launch, Kit Kat had become Rowntree’s (a Nestle company) most popular product. The chocolate wafer was initially introduced in London in September 1935 as “Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp” and was renamed two years later as Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp. When you are halfway through a long, exhausting workday, why not take a break and reach for the perfect break time candy…a Kit Kat bar. Flashback Friday: "Gimme a Break" admin | April 5, 2013
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