Synopsis
227 followed the lives of people in a middle-class apartment building in Washington, D.C. The show was centered around Mary Jenkins, a nosy, tart-tongued housewife. Her husband, Lester (Hal Williams), had his own construction company, and their 14-year-old daughter, Brenda (Regina King), was boy-crazy yet smart and studious. It was King's first significant acting role.
Also cast in 227 was Sandra Clark (Jackée Harry), Mary's young, sexy building vamp who constantly bickered back and forth with her about their respective views on life. Although their relationship was antagonistic at first, Mary and Sandra became good friends as time went on. Pearl Shay (Helen Martin), a crotchety-but-kind busybody neighbor, who was known for snooping. Pearl had a grandson named Calvin Dobbs (Curtis Baldwin), whom Brenda had a crush on and would finally date later in the series' run.
Rose Lee Holloway (Alaina Reed Hall) was the kindhearted best friend to all. She had a daughter named Tiffany (Kia Goodwin), who disappeared after the second season. In the premiere episode, Rose became the unexpected landlord of the building after the building's stingy slumlord Mr. Calloway (who was constantly mentioned but never seen onscreen) died out of the blue. Rose stayed on as landlady until the fourth season.
In the first season, both Helen Martin and Curtis Baldwin, who had only been recurring stars, appeared in nearly every episode. In the second season's opening credits, Martin and Baldwin shared a title card, thus making them official full-time cast members. Martin had her own title for the third and fifth seasons, while Regina King and Baldwin shared a title card together in those years.
By the time taping started on the third season in 1987, Jackée Harry, who had just won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress changed her stage name to simply Jackée, which she used until 1994. In the fourth season, an 11-year-old child prodigy named Alexandria DeWitt (Countess Vaughn) became the Jenkins' houseguest. Vaughn received her role after she appeared on Star Search and declared to host Ed McMahon that her favorite program was 227. However, Alexandria left during Calvin's graduation episode near the end of season four to reunite with her father in London who had completed his archaeological dig in the Amazon and was now cataloging his items in London.
By the time production on the fourth season commenced in 1988, tension between stars Gibbs and Jackée were mounting due to the show's increasing focus on the Sandra character. To keep the stars happy, Jackée was given the chance to spin off the Sandra character into her own show. Jackée's television pilot, entitled Jackée, found Sandra moving to New York City and finding work at a spa. NBC aired the episode in primetime on May 11, 1989. The pilot was rejected, and Jackée left the show; however, she was a guest star in eight of the final season's episodes.
The show's final season saw Toukie Smith, Barry Sobel, Stoney Jackson, Kevin Peter Hall and Paul Winfield join the cast in an effort to rejuvenate the show's sagging ratings. In the end, the cast additions proved fruitless, and 227 ended its run in the spring of 1990.
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