The BEST episodes of 227
Every episode of 227 ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of 227!
This popular sitcom that starred Marla Gibbs, who played Florence Johnston for many years on The Jeffersons, got her own show. She played Mary Jenkins, a housewife who lived with her contractor husband, Lester and their 14-year-old daughter Brenda. Mary's best friend was Rose Lee Holloway, who used to sit out with her on the stoop of the apartment building (#227) and discuss many things, especially Sandra Clark, the wise-cracking, hyperactive, and often scatter-brained woman from upstairs. Rose had a daughter named Tiffany. Next door to the Jenkins was the gossipping, yet loving, Pearl Shay, a crotchety busybody who lived with her grandson Calvin Dobbs, who was Brenda's first love. Throughout the final two seasons, several new characters appeared. Broadcast History September 1985-June 1986----Saturdays----9:30 p.m. June 1986-May 1987----Saturdays----8:30 p.m. June 1987-July 1987----Saturdays----8:00 p.m. July 1987-September 1988----Saturdays----8:30 p.m. October 1988-Jul
#1 - The Big Deal
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/13/1988
Lester's construction company has the chance to be purchased by a multi-national company. The lawyer that is over the proposed merger sub leases the apt and next door, and he and Mary start off on the wrong foot from the beginning. He requests tickets to see the Pointer Sisters, makes Mary cook a steak, (after she'd already made fish) mistakes her for the maid and tells her to clean his apt for $3.00 and hour. When Mary can't get tickets, she, Rose and Sandra dress up as the Pointer Sisters and host a party for Thurmond. Lester decides that he does not want to sell.
#2 - Country Cousins
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 4/30/1988
Lester is informed that he has an inheritance coming to him. But before he can collect it, he has to live with some distant relatives and discovers that they are country folk and white.
#3 - A Young Man's Fancy
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/18/1986
Pearl goes to Baltimore to visit her sister and the Jenkins watch Calvin for her. When he tries out for the romantic lead for a school play and doesn't get it, he becomes depressed. Sandra boosts his confidence and makes him feel better, however, he mistakes her kindness for affection and begins to fall in love with Sandra. When Brenda hears how silly Calvin is acting over Sandra, she goes and talks to him and expresses to him that she cares for him more than Sandra would ever, and she tells him that he is her best friend. Calvin gets over his crush really fast after that.
#4 - The Bed of Rose's
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/4/1986
Sandra starts dating a man who works with her and Lester, however she finds him boring. She leaves it up to the Jenkins to cancel their date. When he comes to the apartment, he meets Rose and she goes out on the date instead. The two hit it off very well. He asks Rose to go to New York with him and Mary and Sandra disagree on what Rose should do. Mary thinks she should not go, because they may end up sleeping together, which would be too soon for the time they were dating. Sandra thinks she should live life to the fullest. Rose finally decides to go and Mary apoligizes for meddling into Rose's business. Rose has a great time but does not reveal if they went through it or not.
#5 - Brenda's Last Date
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/11/1986
Pearl asks Mary if Lester would have a man-to-man talk with Calvin about sex and Brenda asks her parents if she could go to the dance Friday night. They believe that she is too young to date (14). From Mary's persuading, Lester talks to Calvin and ends his talk with, ""If you mess around with my daughther, I'll rip your head off."" Scared, Calvin breaks the date anyway. But Brenda still wants to go and comes up with a plan. Brenda tells her parents that she will go to the library Friday night, while Calvin tells his grandmom that he is going to see Haley's Comet. When Mary finds out, she goes to the dance and takes Brenda home. At home she and Brenda have a heart-to-heart talk, where Mary says she and Lester will relax the rules a little.
#6 - Check Snub
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/6/1987
The Social Security office says that Pearl is dead, and the resulting protest lands Pearl, Mary and Rose in jail.
#7 - The Facade (a.k.a. Tangled Web)
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/12/1987
When Mary goes to a seminar about success, she meets a business man who wants to build a $50 million museum. She tells him that Lester is a big time contractor and sets up a meeting date. She uses Sandra's boyfriend's penthouse across the street to prove to Mr. Mortimer that she and Lester have lots of money. When Sandra's boyfriend comes home early, Mary's plan begins to fall apart. She admits what was going on to Mr. Mortimer and his wife. They understand, because Mrs. Mortimer says she, too, would do almost anything to aid in her husband's success. They end up using Lester's company for a smaller project.
#8 - The Butler Did It
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/12/1988
Mary and Rose win a raffle contest and their prize is a butler for a week. They both become quickly annoyed with his presence and ""loan"" him to Sandra. When it is time for him to go home, his boss comes over to the Jenkins and fires him. With no where to go, Alfred fakes a back ache and have the Jenkins' waiting on him hand and foot. His boss later come back and wants to take him back. He admits to Mary that it's only because it was in his father's will to that he must continue to employ Alfred in order to receive money.
#9 - Mary's Brother
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1985
When Mary's brother Lewis comes to town on business, she decides to set him up on a date with Rose. The next day when Rose won't give Mary any details about the date, they get in to an argument where Rose finally admits that she thinks Mary's brother is ""self-centered"" and ""egotistical."" They stop speaking. Meanwhile, Lewis asks Sandra out on a date, and Mary fears that Sandra may be her future sister-in-law. When Mary spies on the ending of Sandra's and Lewis' date, and notices that all he talks about is himself and his job, she realizes where Rose is coming from. Sandra leaves Lewis on the stoop, dissatisfied with the date, and the next day Mary apoligizes and she and Rose make-up.
#10 - Come Into My Parlor
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/29/1986
When Brenda meets a cute boy she decides to invite him to her party Saturday night. After getting permission to actually have the party, she then hears Sandra tell a story about how when she was young and wanted to get to know a boy better, she would ""mistakenly"" tell him the wrong day of the party. Brenda tries the idea and invites Ken over for Friday night instead, hoping that when he gets there he will meet her parents and stay for dinner. But Mary and Lester decide to go out to eat and are not home when Ken arrives. Brenda decides to let him come in anyway, just to have a drink, but then Calvin shows up to drop off chairs for the party. When she tells them they need to leave, Mary and Lester arrive home and the boys hide. Mary and Lester eventually catch the boys in the house.
#11 - The Talk Show
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/2/1988
Sandra gets a job on a low budget television station, Channel 87. She tried out for the weathergirl, but bombed! So the station manager gives her another chance hosting her own talk show. Mary, Lester, Rose and Pearl agree to be on the show and talk about various things (bake sale, rummage). But the station manager wants ""Sex In The 80's"" as a topic, which makes them feel uncomfortable (except Pearl).
#12 - Snowbound
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/9/1988
When Mary and Lester's flight to Hawaii is cancelled due to the blizzard, they go home only to find Rose, Pearl, Sandra and Calvin in their apt, which is one of two apts in 227 with working heat. They all stay there, including the Jenkins' cab driver, whose cab was stuck in the snow, for at least two days before everyone starts to get on everyone else's nerves. When they realize how they were acting, and that Mary and Lester had to put up with their attitudes in addition to missing their flight, they decide to recreate Hawaii in the apt for Mary and Lester.
#13 - The New Neighbors
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/20/1988
When Rose is looking for a live-in superintendent, Manny suggests his father, knowing that the Super's family will live with a 50% decrease in rent. When his family moves in, they later find out that he is also the Superintendent, but Alfonso has no skills in that area. Instead, he would rather play concert violin in a symphony. When a try-out conflicts with his job as Super, he decides to complete his job as Super, but Rose allows him one more day to complete his job so he can try out for the Orchestra. He doesn't make it, but vows to put his all into being the Super.
#14 - The Fight of the Century
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/21/1989
When Mary causes Lester to miss a prizefight, they have a bout that could deliver a knockout punch to their marriage. Lester stays with swinging bachelors after a fight with Mary.
#15 - And Baby Makes Three
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/24/1987
When Mary is concerned at Calvin and Brenda's nonchalance about teenage pregnancy, she designs an experiment with their sex education class where the kids must take care of an animal. Brenda and Calvin ""adopt"" a piglet named Alberta and she is a handful. All of the kids in the class realize how hard it is to take care of animals, let alone a baby.
#16 - The Real Decoys
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/7/1989
Sandra gets a job as a meter maid. When Pearl gets her purse snatched while on her way to the bank with Mary and Rose's dues, Sandra and Mary hatch up an idea to stage a stake-out in the park. Rose and Mary pose as elderly women. They become suspicious when a skater continues to skate past them and suspect that he is the mugger. An older man comes and sits on the bench with Mary and Rose. He eventually snatches their purses and the skater, who is an undercover cop tries to handcuff him. Sandra decides to be the hero when she jumps in, but she handcuffs the skater instead and the mugger gets away. When they get home, Pearl realizes that the dues money wasn't in her purse but pinned inside another bra.
#17 - The Sing-Off
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/23/1988
For a choir sing-off, Mary has found housing for all of the competitors except one, and for good reason. He is rude, pushy and impatient. He winds up staying with the Jenkins. He tries everything he can to guarantee that his choir will win, including taking the judges to dinner and bringing in a professional gospel singer. The D.C. choir brings in Brenda, Tiffany and friends to sing with their choir, which gives them a unique, youthful sound. The competition ends in a tie, where both teams will represent the East Coast in the California semi-finals.
#18 - There Goes the Building
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/17/1987
Sandra introduces her boyfriend to the ladies, the same man that audited the Jenkins. Mary still does not like him, however he charms everyone and eventually wins Mary over. Rose decides to sell 227 to him because she is efficient with his building (across the street) and he handles some of the 227's problems. The next day, a man shows up saying that he is going to demolish 227, but the only one who sees him is Mary. She blames Mr. Stone and tells the other residents. When Rose confronts Mr. Stone, he calls the deal off before Rose can say anything about the demolition, but Mr. Stone sends a building inspector around to persuade Rose to sell again. When Rose agrees to sell, all of the tenants meet in the basement, Mary and Sandra both sign the contract as witnesses, and Mr. Stone admits his true intentions to demolish 227 and build expensive high rise condos. The contract ends up being void because Mary did not sign her actual name, but instead signed as ""Daffy Duck."" Rose remains the
#19 - Low Noon
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/1987
When Sandra is dating a man who wants to open a sleezy night club down the street, Mary starts a petition to keep it from opening. Meanwhile, Brenda is working on an assignment about black cowboys. While reading about he historical figures, Mary dreams that they all live in the old West. Mary is ""2-Gun Mary,"" the fastest gun in the West. Lester is the marshall and Brenda-Sue is his daughter. Rose is a school marm turned cocktail dancer, Pearl is a dancer, and Sandra owns the saloon. When bad-guy Jessie comes into town, the town bands together to defeat him (which is what Mary would like to do iun reality). When she awakens from her dream, she finds out that the petitions were successful and the club will not open.
#20 - Pick Six
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/8/1986
While reading the newspaper, Rose and Pearl choose 6 numbers related to an article that is in it. However, Mary thinks the lottery's a waste of time and money. But with a big jackpot, Rose & Pearl don't care. Mary preaches to the girls what a waste of time it is, so the girls agreed. Lester buys Mary a scratch off ticket and she wins $10. However, while waiting in line to redeem it, she gets a lottery play slip and gets numbers from the same newspaper article. Sandra spots her and then she know she's in trouble. Rose & Pearl enter Mary's apartment and were mad that after she preached about the evil of playing the lottery, she buys a ticket for herself. So she offers to split any winnings should it be a winning ticket. The Pick 6 is a winning ticket and that not only Mary won, but many people in the 227 apartment building won, as well as much of Washington DC! The big jackpot turns out to be worth $266 & that Mary, Rose & Pearl will each get $88.67!
#21 - Pilot
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/26/1985
When the landlord dies, everyone believes that Sandra will become the new landlord, including Sandra. She assures Mary that once she becomes the new landlord that Mary will have to find a new place to live after her lease runs out. The tenants all go to the will reading and it is dicovered that he actually leaves the building to Rose. However, when Mary thought that Sandra would get ownership of the building, she called a building inspector to check out 227. He states that 227 is in need of numerous repairs, more than the tenants can afford.
#22 - Washington Affair
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/1/1986
Mary invites Sandra and her date, an eligible Congressman, to a dinner for Brenda's teacher who is attracted to the legislator.
#23 - Author, Author
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/13/1986
Sandra is writing a romance novel whose characters resemble the residents of 227: Marie, Rosita, and Pearlie Mae. With Mary up against Emma Johnson for the presidency of the Ladies' Auxiliary, she becomes nervous when Emma receives a copy of Sandra's book. She and the Rev. come to the Jenkins' home when Sandra drops by and gives Emma the newest chapter of her book, introducing a new character: Emily (who resembles Emma). Emma changes her mind about blabbing to the Rev. and resigns from the running for president. Mary becomes president.
#24 - Honesty
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/1985
On the way home from running errands, Mary hits a BMW, breaking the tail light. From the persuasion of Rose, she decides to leave a note on the car. The next day, after no one has arrived to see the car, Mary wants to remove her note. However, another car comes by and nearly totals it, but then drives away. Before Mary can get to the car and remove her note, the owner comes out of an apartment and sees her note. Sandra tells Mary that she needs to use her ""femininity"" to get out of paying for the total damages. Mary says that she can't do that, so Sandra poses as Mary when the owner comes by to talk to Mary about the damages. Everything goes well until Lester comes home and their lie unfolds. Everything gets straightened out between Mary, Lester, and the car owner (Marvin), ending with a date for Sandra and a new friend for the Jenkins. Meanwhile, Mary tells Brenda that she cannot go skating with Calvin because she lied.
#25 - Football Widow
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/23/1985
Mary is upset that whenever Lester watches the football game, she doesn't get any attention. So she gets two tickets from Sandra for her and Lester to go to the game, with the hopes that he can teach her about the game and she'll get some attention. At the game, Mary insults the other fans and cheers for the wrong team. She and Lester end up having to leave early to avoid a fight.