227

The first 3 seasons were absolutely amazing!!! Setting the standard for black television in the late 80s. As soon as season 4 started there was absolutely NO life in the show. The addition of irrelevant characters was Terrible. They were trying to add more youth, more diversity and it really brought the show to its knees. Absolutely dreadful. With Mary daydreaming in almost every episode it was just an overall failure the last 2 seasons. I just can't describe the lifelessness behind those last 2 seasons. I feel like they had new writers or producers who made them take the show in different directions.

After Marla Gibbs left "The Jeffersons" she walked right into her own show: "227." 227 was the apartment number she lived in and it's where everything happened. It's where Pearl Shay (Helen Martin) sat at the window and clowned folks. It's where Sandra Clark (Jackee Harry) sassed it up. And it's where we got our first look at Regina King (she played the daughter, Brenda Jenkins) whose career is only getting stronger the older she gets.

"227" was another family favorite in our house. My mother tuned into it weekly and I enjoyed it as well. Not a whole lot happened on their stoop, but enough to make us laugh.

This show came on after my bedtime when it first came on. Therefore I saw the first seasons episodes in reruns. Marla Gibbs had that same Florence Johnston personality. But she did not whine as much. Hal Williams was the husband who was a construction worker. He was not funny. Regina King played Brenda, the spoiled daughter. Then there was Alaina Reed, the lady from Sesame Street, who had a daughter who disappeared (a la Judy Winslow) and fly Jackee Harry who also lived in the building. Helen Martin played Pearl, who was just a reoccurring guest star who would just look out the window and make wise remarks the 1st season. The 2nd season she became a regular and finally came out of the window. She had a grandson named Calvin who thought he was cool. I hated the episode when Bobby Brown appeared. When Brenda got in trouble, she should have really been punished by not seeing Bobby Brown. She was still allowed to dance with him! When Countess Vaughn came on the show, the show got worse. When Jackee got demoted to guest star and Toukie Smith, Paul Winfield, Barry Sobel, and Stoney Jackson became regulars, the show got even much worse than that! I was still mad that the 227 characters didn't get to win on Wheel Of Fortune or Family Feud. I was also mad at the episode when Gary Coleman was a criminal on the show and Mary and Lester didn't get to go to Hawaii as planned. It's not their fault that they got robbed!

This show and Amen both aired on NBC. Both show featured the comic genius of two Jeffersons' alums, Sherman Hemsley, and Marla Gibbs. We all watched her play the wisecracking maid, Florence Johnston, on the Jeffersons. Now she shines in her own show but not without a great supporting cast. There is Emmy winning Jackee Harry as Sandra, her upstairs neighbor, or veteran actress Helen Martin as the nosy neighbor on the stoop. The show was named 227 after it's address. No it was set in Washington D.C. of all place, a nice change in location. Hal Williams played the ideal spouse to Marla Gibbs' husband. If you look, you will see Regina King who is on her way to becoming a star with credits like Jerry Maguire and Ray. It was a good show with wholesome family entertainment.

In the 1980s, NBC had shows like Cheers, The Cosby Show, The Golden Girls and Night Court, among others.

In 1985, they debuted 227, starring Marla Gibbs following her long-running role as maid Florence Johnston on The Jeffersons.

Gibbs plays housewife Mary Jenkins, who is married to her husband Lester (played by Hal Williams), who have a daughter Brenda (played by future award-winning actress Regina King).

Mary's neighbors/friends include landlord Rose Lee Holloway (played by the late Alaina Reed Hall), who had a daughter Tiffany (played by Kia Goodwin), who was dropped by the 3rd season, Mary's frenemy Sandra Clark (played to sassy perfection by Jackée Harry) and Pearl Shay (played by the late Helen Martin), who has a grandson Calvin Dobbs (played by Curtis Baldwin) who is Brenda's boyfriend.

By the 4th season, a new kid character was added in the name of Alexandria DeWitt (played by a young Countess Vaughn) and was dropped near the end of the season.

At the end of that season, Jackée would leave, but would make special guest appearances throughout the 5th (and eventually, final) season, and in comes 4 new characters: Dylan McMillan (played by Barry Sobel), Eva Rawley (played by Toukie A. Smith), Travis Filmore (played by Stoney Jackson) and new landlord Julian C. Barlow (played by Paul Winfield).

It's pretty decent and if you're looking for an underrated 80s sitcom, then enjoy watching 227!