227

I think that 227 is one of the best series, comedy or drama to ever be on television. It blended humour and drama into each episode, over the course of it's run it tackled topics such as homelessness and popularity (character of Brenda). Sandra was my personal favourite!

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.

Episodes usually begin with the daily gossip on the front stairs of 227. There was one episode featuring Sherman Hemsley; the character thought Mary was a maid and the two spar is if they were still on The Jeffersons together. Jackee Harry is wonderful as Sandra. The episode that caught my attention is on disc 2: "We The People." This story is about Lester's supposedly wealthy friend who becomes the building's maintenance man. He doesn't complete all jobs and wears the same shirt for many days. Pearl senses something fishy when the maintenance man's friends enter but don't leave the building. Pearl and Mary visit the man to figure out what is happening and the door is opened for Mary.

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!

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!