THE ROVING PECKER PRESENTS: "Let’s Revisit '227'" by SaucyKitty!

Greetings, Manor Hors! Periodically, "The Roving Pecker" presents urgent missives from filthy esteemed guest writers. Today's is from SaucyKitty!

Hey, y’all. As a filthy esteemed guest-writing Pecker - ahem, Peckerwoodian - I was hoping to enlighten you with my insights and whatnot while rewatching some of my favorite TV shows from childhood, in this case, 227, which led me to realize:

1) I’m getting old;
2) They sure don’t make ‘em like the used to;
3) My memory is not that fantastic;
4) Also, my thinking was that by re-watching some of my childhood favorites, I could justify it by writing about it for you, yes you, my loyal readers (y’all can be loyal readers after two blog posts, right?).

Now hold up, I can hear your from here. “Why the hell are you covering 227?” you holler. “Why not The Golden Girls?!” (hail Rose, Dorothy, Blanche, and Sophia, full of grace, cheesecake, and 80s floral patterns) Well, dear reader, the answer is simple; if you truly are a full-fledged Pecker, then you don’t need to revisit The Golden Girls, because you watch it every night and have memorized The Great Herring War scene. If you have not, please let our Bouncer Bendy Boy™ show you the Manor door. Or just watch this clip.

Now on to 227. I recalled correctly that the series originally focused on Mary, Lester, and Brenda Jenkins, portrayed, respectively, by Marla Gibbs (formerly on The Jeffersons), Hal Williams (formerly on Private Benjamin), and Regina King (she only needs a Tony award to EGOT). The Jenkins family and their neighbors lived in building 227 on some random street Washington, D.C. in mid-1980’s (for such a random street, it certainly had a number of famous visitors, including FloJo, RUN-DMC, and other notables of the time).

Supporting characters/neighbors included landlord Rose Halloway (Alaina Reed Hall, who played ½ of my favorite Sesame Street couple as Olivia), nosy neighbor Pearl Shay, and her dippy grandson and Brenda’s love interest, Calvin Dobbs. And lest we forget, sexy man-eating neighbor Saaaaaandra (that’s how she pronounced it; don’t argue with me on that), portrayed by Jackée Harry (Lily Mason on Another World). Later stars – in a last-ditch effort to boost ratings – included Paul Winfield, Stoney Jackson, and Barry Sobel.

I’ll be honest, except for Marla Gibbs, Hal Williams, and Alaina Reed Hall, I was too young and possibly TV-deprived to know of the fame and excellence of the full cast of 227. I also found out (just now!) that the TV series was actually based on a 1978 play by Christine Houston about a group of Black women in a 1950s Chicago apartment complex. Marla Gibbs starred in the aforementioned play in Los Angeles, and the Hollywood machine decided it was such a good fit that they adopted the play as a TV series and make it a vehicle for her.

One thing I hadn’t forgotten was Brenda’s friend and Rose’s daughter in season one, Tiffany (Kia Goodwin, who had a fair amount of commercials and a role in the tour of Annie under her belt). After the first season, Tiffany/Kia abruptly left the show with nary a comment. Where’d she go? Like so many other sitcoms, the writers used the trick of, “She just never existed! Never! Nope, never on the show. Tiffany whooooo?” After season one, Rose was always a single, childless woman, and Brenda’s friends were rarely seen. At least they didn’t do that other TV trick of replacing her with an actor who only bore a slight resemblance to her (I’m looking at you, two Beckys of Roseanne!).

As the show’s main character, Mary was often found trying to remedy situations after putting her foot in her mouth via gossiping or just biting off more than she could chew. But there were a few episodes which addressed serious topical issues, such as teenage pregnancy, apartheid in South Africa, and homelessness. Lester was the supportive, yet sometimes stern, husband, while Brenda was the typical teenage daughter, seeking independence, yet frequently reigned-in by – and rebelling against – her parents’ rules.

Starting in season four, the show’s writers/producers/whomever Cousin Oliver-ed the series after casting Countess Vaughn as Alexandria, an 11-year-old, emotionally unintelligent prodigy and houseguest of the Jenkins. She was so prodigy-like, in fact, that she tutored Brenda on her high school subjects. Fortunately, she left after one season (seriously, what is it about casting kids in overly-annoying roles? Most of the time, they’re not even that annoying in real life!). Note, too, that Vaughn was hired after an appearance on Star Search. When asked by host Ed McMahon what her favorite show was, she replied, “227.” So for some reason, the show’s creators decided that would be enough to cast her as an annoying, unexplained brat.

I also forgot about Barry Sobel’s role as dorky-but-good-at-his-job high school teacher Dylan McMillan. In his premiere on 227, he’s the good-guy teacher who assigns no homework and makes up raps, songs, and other tricks to help his students learn history. Of course, Mary doesn’t approve of his teaching methods, so she gets him fired, much to the dismay of Brenda and Calvin. Dylan McMillan later went on to become somewhat of a fool’s role, pulling off such capers as trying to convince RUN-DMC to play at Brenda’s high school prom after he gambles away all the prom money. Honestly, it’s pretty bad, or, looking at it another way, 1980’s sitcom humor at its finest. Doubt me? Watch it here. 

Overall, I have to say that 227, which is now airing on Hulu, lived up to my SaucyKitten memories: it was funny and sassy, with strong female characters, and could often treat a serious subject with the gravity it deserved while ending the show on a good note (also, they used the term GOAT in an episode, which I totally thought was fairly recent slang) (sometimes, you can learn things from fictional TV series!). Which is to say that it’s a pretty typical 1980s sitcom. The show ended in 1990 after 5 years on the air. There was a spin-off, Jackée, the pilot of which did well; alas, it was not picked up and that episode was incorporated as an episode of 227. If you love you some 1980s witty nostalgia and have memorized every episode of both the Golden Girls and Golden Palace, try 227!

Photo Credits: NBC Universal/Hulu