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 her successful run as Florence on "The Jeffersons",actress Marla Gibbs takes Florence's sassy and intelligent character and applies it to everyday situations that always occurred on an apartment block in the developments of Washington,DC. But here is the catch: Its not Florence mind you. Marla's character is happliy married to a architect and has

a lovely teenage daughter. Her neighbors by the way is one lady and man-hungry woman who would try every scheme to get her one,often ending up with hilarious results. The other is their upstairs neighbor,who is a elderly lady who raises her teenage son,who has the hots for the teenage daughter. The show would become one of NBC's hottest commodities during its run in the 1980's when its was one of the peacock's ruling Saturday night line-up(which consisted of "227","Amen","The Golden Girls","Empty Nest",and the action packed drama "Hunter"),but it wouldn't last very long and they knew when to quit when they were ahead. "227" was that show. It was funny and it consisted of some very hilarious moments here. The show also skyrocketed Regina King to Hollywood status which after "227" went off the air King went on to star in several John Singleton films like "Boyz in the Hood","Higher Learning",and "Poetic Justice",and to star opposite Will Smith(aka,"Fresh Prince")in "Enemy of the State". The series also had regulars on weekly and fellow actors Hal Williams,Jackee Harry,and Helen Martin. Great Show.

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.

This show was EXCELLENT for about the first two seasons....then they started messing with it. It became too socially conscious and in the process became almost unwatchable. It was hilarious when Mary and Sandra were enemies. When they became too friendly it just wasn't funny any more. I can name the episode when the slide began....When they introduced Countess Vaughn. It was straight downhill from there. Too bad. It had an excellent cast and much potential, but it wasted it trying to be too relevant. Then they had to go and add Stoney Jackson, Paul Winfield, Barry Sobel, and Toukie Smith. No offense to them, but the whole show was unraveling by that time. In the first two seasons, almost all the episodes were hilarious, but by the third season, there were only a handful that were good. The fourth and fifth season were abominable. I LOVE Marla Gibbs, but season 3-5 were substandard.

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.