227 (TV series)

ClassyCo

ClassyCo

Telly Talk Warrior
While scrolling through the reels on YouTube a week or so back, I stumbled upon the theme song for "227", the NBC sitcom that aired from 1985 to 1990, producing five seasons and 116 episodes. Based on the successful stage play TWO-TWENTY-SEVEN, the series was a star vehicle for Marla Gibbs, fresh-off her seasons-long success on THE JEFFERSONS, which concluded its eleven-season run in July 1985.

The series is set in a black neighborhood in Northeast, Washington D.C., where a group of characters live at 227 Lexington Place. Mary Jenkins (Marla Gibbs) is a tart-tongued housewife married to Lester Jenkins (Hal Williams) with a teenage daughter, Brenda (Regina King). Rose Lee Holloway (Alaina Reed Hall) is Mary's level-headed best friend, who has a daughter named Tiffany (Kia Goodwin), who is close friends with Brenda. Also living in the apartment building are Pearl Shay (Helen Martin), the nosy, busybody, downstairs neighbor, and the younger and vivacious Sandra Clark (Jackee Harry), whose views on life often provide comedic fodder between her and Mary.

"227" had a successful run and has been reasonably successful in syndication since it ended in 1990.

Any fans of this show?

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Michelle Stevens

Michelle Stevens

'The Lovely Michelle'
I remember seeing it and it was nice to have Marla Gibbs as the star of her own series after a decade on The Jeffersons. It was also nice to have a series set in Washington DC that didn't involve politics. A solid cast.
 
Crimson

Crimson

Telly Talk Star
I watched 227 as a kid, although I don't think I've seen it in decades. I recall the first 3 seasons being solid and amusing. In the final 2 seasons new characters were added, especially after the loss of Sandra in the final season; these new characters were pathetic.
 
rayray

rayray

Telly Talk Active Member
I watched and liked (not loved) this series. I thought it was a basically well-done three-camera sitcom. I liked the interplay between Mary, Rose, Pearl and Sandra. By the time they were getting locked in a storeroom with Pee Wee Herman, however, the shark had long since jumped. Jackee gave scene-stealing lessons as Sandra, but her character was always best as a quick walk-on/walk-off rather than a focus in an episode. Had they written her as more consistently multifaceted, the balance would have remained and the show could have rotated focus across Mary's family and the core female characters.
 
Soaplover

Soaplover

Telly Talk Fan
According to Marla Gibbs, either the network or the producers wanted to cut the Rose character after filming the pilot and Gibbs rightly pointed out that Rose needed for one very good reason ' There would be no way that Mary would ever allow that child (Sandra) into her apartment unless she came along with Rose'. Rose was the peacemaker of the group.
 
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