227

Storyline

227 followed the lives of people in a middle-class apartment building, 227 Lexington Place (the numerical address in which the sitcom's name comes from), in Northeast, Washington, D.C. The show was centered around Mary Jenkins, a nosy, tart-tongued, but loving housewife. Her husband, Lester, had his own construction company, and their daughter, Brenda, was boy-crazy yet smart and studious. It was King's first acting role. Also cast in 227 was Sandra Clark, Mary's young neighbor 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. Also living in the building was Pearl Shay (Helen Martin), a feisty-but-kind-hearted busybody neighbor who was known for snooping and had a sharp sense of humor. Pearl had a grandson named Calvin Dobbs, whom Brenda had a crush on and would finally date later in the series' run. Rose Lee Holloway was Mary's level-headed best friend and often the voice of reason among 227's residents. She and Mary were often seen sitting on the front stoop of the building, exchanging rumors and gossip, with Pearl adding sly commentary and humor from her front window. Rose had a daughter named Tiffany, who was Brenda's closest friend, but she disappeared after the second season, although she was mentioned occasionally. In the premiere episode, Rose became the unexpected landlord of the building after the building's stingy slumlord Mr. Calloway died. Rose stayed on as landlady until the fourth season (for season five, Paul Winfield was introduced as the building's new snide, wealthy landlord Julian C. Barlow). 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 card 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 became the Jenkins' houseguest. Vaughn received her role after she appeared on Star Search and declared to host Ed McMahon that her favorite show was 227. However, Alexandria left during Calvin's graduation episode near the end of season four to reunite with her father who after completing his archaeological dig in the Amazon had moved to London to catalogue his items. After the fourth season, Jackée's television pilot, entitled Jackée, found Sandra moving to New York City and finding work at a spa. NBC aired the episode on May 11, 1989. The pilot was rejected, and Jackée left the show; however, she was a guest star in seven of the final season's episodes. In the show's final season, Toukie Smith, Barry Sobel, Stoney Jackson, Kevin Peter Hall and Paul Winfield joined the cast in an effort to stop the show's declining ratings. In the end, the cast additions proved fruitless, and 227 ended its run in the spring of 1990.