227

Sandra has moved to New York, but finds herself jobless after she finds out that the film company that she works for specializes in porn films! So once she find her apt., she meet a woman who tells her about a job opening at her job. Sandra goes with her the next day and gets the job at the spa. Sandra finds out that her new friend's boyfriend is using her, but when she tells her, she doesn't believe Sandra. Finally, when she hears it for herself, she cuts the boyfriends loose and her and Sandra are back on good terms.

Lester hires a young ex-con from the persuasion on Mary. They both admit that he is doing a great job and are happy with him until he asks Brenda out. They object and eventually tell Mike that he is not allowed to see Brenda. He feels dejected and decides he may as well not take the GED test as planned, because people will always see him as an ex-con. The real Joe Clark of the ""Lean on Me"" fame comes and gives him words of encouragement and he decides to take the test. The Jenkins apologize for the way they treated him.

Both Mary and Sandra get commissioned to the same murder trial. There are 11 votes guilty and 1 vote not-guilty, Sandra choosing not-guilty. After hours, she still has not changed her vote and Mary is annoyed because her anniversary is that night. They vote one last time, and this time the 1 not-guilty vote is from Mary. The judge sequesters them for the evening in a hotel and Mary is going to miss her anniversary dinner with Lester. Lester sneaks into the hotel room and brings Mary caviar and champagne. The next day, Mary presents her theory of what actually happened (pertaining to the ""murder"" on the boat) and the jury agrees and they all vote not-guilty. Their verdict was the right one, because later the ""murdered victim"" was found on the French Riviera with her husband's best friend, which was stated in a voice-over.

Sandra's new boyfriend keeps showering her with gifts. When everyone meets him, they are surprised-- he is Pearl's age! He asks Sandra to marry him and gives her a day to think about it. She tells him no, and he has a heart attack. In the hospital, Mary and Sandra pose as doctor and nurse because the rude desk nurse will not let them see him. Sandra decides to tell him that she will marry him, since she thinks that he is on his death bed and it would make him happy. The next day when they return to the hospital, Abner has made a recovery. It turns out that his ""heart attack"" was gas, and he says he is ready to get married to the nurse that raised his spirits. He thinks that nurse was the rude desk RN, nurse Grubb, and Sandra doesn't object. Meanwhile, Brenda, Calvin and Alexandria are trying to raise ticket money for a Prince concert.

When Sandra goes on the Love Connection, she chooses Gary because he is the owner of a jewelry store. When he arrives, Mary is in Sandra's apt to greet him, because Sandra has gotten Mary's phone glued to her fingernail. They decide not to eat out, and Gary says that he will cook for Sandra. The problem is, Sandra doesn't have any food in her apt, so she goes to the Jenkins' to ""borrow"" food. While in the kitchen, Lester arrives with the loan officer. It turns out that the loan officer is Gary's ex-wife! Mary tries to keep Sandra and Gary in the kitchen until Cynthia leaves. When she finally leaves, the coast is clear...until Cynthia comes back and sees Gary in the apt. She tells Lester that the deal is off and throws a pie in Gary's face. She later returns to apologize for being unprofessional, but once again runs into Gary, this time kissing Sandra. She calls the deal off once again, and the entire group gets into an argument outside 227. Sandra later finds out that Gary is the owner

Sandra asks Rose to take her place on a blind date. Little does she know that her blind date is a Prince! The ladies each take turns trying to impress him, but it's Brenda who catches his attention. She agrees to marry him, thinking that maybe her parents won't think that her proposed trip to Europe that summer isn't so bad after all. The Jenkins decide to let her go through with the plan, but instead Calvin will be in a masked costume. They were thinking that Brenda will stop the ceremony before it's complete. But Brenda hears that plan and also decides not to stop the ceremony. The Prince finds out about the plan and his chauffeur grabs Calvin while the Prince takes his place in the ceremony. After the ceremony is complete everyone finds out that Brenda actually married the Prince. The Jenkins are furious, and so is Brenda. She apologizes for saying that she'd marry him just to make her parents mad, and they get a divorce.

When Mary and Lester are on their way to the airport their tickets are stolen by a pick pocket who is running from the cops. As Lester and the police officer go after the man Mary waits in the cab and imagines their lives as the movie Casablanca. In the end, Lester gets the tickets back and they go off to the airport.

Alexandria doesn't celebrate Christmas so everyone tries to get her to feel the spirit of the holiday. Sandra meets a Santa on the street and brings him upstairs to meet Alexandria. But when everyone leaves the room, he steals all of their presents. Mary, Lester, Sandra, Rose and Pearl each decide seperately to dress up as Santa and bring gifts to make Alexandria think that Santa had a change of heart. However, since the police is looking for Santa thieves, they all end up in jail as suspects. Brenda, Calvin and Alexandria come to the precinct to get them all out and the real Santa is caught. He still has their presents. And Alexandria realizes how far everyone went to get her into the holiday spirit and she appreciates it.

Lester and Raymond decide to buy a Jaoanese Restaurant together. Pearl and Rose each put in $500 and receive a stock of the restaurant. When the deal is sealed, the kitchen staff all quit, right before a Japanese tour group arrive to eat. They all hustle to try to serve them but it is a disaster, as Pearl cannot cook (or understand) Japanese food and the ladies are horrible waitresses. The chef returns and decides to buy the restaurant from Lester and Raymond at the same price they bought it for.

Brenda is a star track star and her coach comes over to the Jenkins' for a cup of coffee and brings a friend of his-- Willie Amakye from Ghana. Willie needs to raise money to stay in America and train for the Olympics so Mary suggests a neighborhood marathon. He even gets his friend Florence Griffith Joyner to participate. Mary solicits all of the sponsors, but when Brenda loses a track race, she loses her confidence also. She decides not to run and Flo Jo tries to convince her that you can't give up because of one loss. When the snow causes all runners to quit, Willie continues runninig because he says he has to raise the money. When Brenda sees his determination, she decides to run alongside him.

Sandra is the PR director for the Miss Teen Washington Pageant and she encourages Mary to let Brenda enter. After Mary checks everything out, she allows Brenda to enter. But then next day, the head of the pageant adds a new competition that Mary disapproves of: Bikini Aerobics. She goes down to talk to Justin and he says that he can't get rid of that portion of the show or the cable company won't air it. When she and Brenda go backstage, they find out that the other girls feel as though that portion of the show is embarrassing and degrading. They decide to boycott, with the help of Bert Parks (the host) and Sandra, who feel as though she has been cheated by Justin. Sandra, Mary, Pearl and Rose are ""the teens"" who are in the pageant, and when the time arrives for the bikini competition, the cable guy and Justin tear the contract up, saying that they didn't want to see a senior citizen in a bikini! They go on with ""Plan B"" which is where the teens actually come out on stage for the eveni

Mary is the director for the church production of ""The Wiz"" and her cast is edgy. Meanwhile, the Jenkins' have a house guest. A college student who will be staying with them for a year. They are all surprised when 11 year old Alexandria shows up. She gets on everyone's nerves with her know-it-all attitude. She reveals to Mary that she wants everyone to like her and she thinks that no one does at that moment. Mary tells her to just be herself, even if it means acting her age.

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.

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.

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.

When the daughter of Lester's friend comes to stay with the Jenkins until the dorms at Howard University open, she gets a taste of the big city first hand. Sandra is behind on rent for three months and she decides to get a roommate. Sweet, shy, quiet Donna becomes her roommate after the dorm overbooked. She takes a lesson from Sandra and begins dressing, walking, talking, and acting like her. She steals Sandra's boyfriend and when Mary talks to her about the new Donna, she gets upset and leaves. Then her parents show up to check on their ""baby."" Mary stalls until finally Donna comes back. They talk privately and Donna apologizes and admits that she was not ready for ""life in the fast lane.""

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.

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.

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.

When Lester's cousin and his wife come to visit the Jenkins, Mary brags about how they are the perfect couple who never argue and still begave like Honeymooners after five years of marriage. When they arrive, Sherry reveals to Mary that Ed is stiffling her and is too overprotective and she says that she is going to leave him that night. Once Ed finds out that she left, he becomes depressed and there is nothing that the Jenkins or residents of 227 can do to cheer him up. Sherry decides to come back and Mary coaches Ed on what to say, and tells him that he should change; he should be less overprotective. Sherry takes him back (or rather they take each other back).

Sandra overhears how Mitchell interacts with his students and she tells him that he needs to continue teaching because he needs the kids and much as they need him. Sandra and Mitchell confide in the Jenkins separately that they are not ready to get married. When the minister asks if anyone objects, they both raise their hands. They decide that they are not the that the other should marry and need more time to decide whether or not they are ready to get married. Meanwhile, the ladies try to teach Sandra how to cook.

A man with a knife rents an apartment.

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 The Owls Men's Club is giving Lester an award, Mary is excited until she finds out that women are not allowed in the club. Mary decides to dress up like a man (and Sandra has the same idea) and go to the ceremony. After Lester gives his speech, Mary (still disguised as a man) runs up and kisses Lester! That's when she reveals who she is. Before she is escorted out, she gives a speech that says they should allow women into the club on special occasions like that one. They vote and agree on it.

Upset when Brenda comes home from University Day wanting to attend Northwestern, Mary anticipates an empty nest by demanding that Lester give her a job at the construction site --and gets fired on her first day. Mary takes a job at a travel agency (with Sandra), where her boss finds her so invaluable that he wants her to accompany him on a trip. The boss comes on to Sandra, who then quits and tells Mary not to go on the trip. She goes anyway, and Sandra then tells Lester about their boss. He surprises Mary in Philadelphia and jumps to the worng conclusions when he finds a man's suit and bathrobe in Mary's closet. He finds out that Mary bought them for him as a surprise.

When Lester goes to watch the game at a friend's house, Mary and the ladies decide to have a girl's night out. They go to a club/bar where Pearl meets man. They hit it off. When Pearl comes home, she tells Mary that she and Felix are engaged. Mary seems to be the only one concerned about it, while Rose and Sandra want to throw her a bridal shower. Mary thinks that he is after Pearl's money. Pearl doesn't care what Mary thinks, and she and Felix get married any way. When she returns from her honeymoon, Mary apoligizes, but Pearl has bad news. Felix passed away. She admits to Mary that they knew that he was dying. Because she loved him and didn't want him to be lonely, they married so soon.

When Sandra comes to show the ladies the new ring that her boyfriend gave her, Mary notices an article in the newspaper that mentions a robbery at the same jewelry store where Sandra and her beau first admired the ring. Mary suggests that Sandra contact the police. The police put a bug in one of Sandra's earrings so they can record her convo with her boyfriend. While he is there, he shows Sandra some bracelets and neckalaces. Just then, the police come into her apt, but Justin gets away. Sandra is afraid that he may come back, so she asks her friends to keep her company and sleeps on the Jenkins' couch. The next day when she returns to her apt fearless, Justin returns with all the ladies there, but the police come in and arrest Justin. They reveal that they were surveilling Sandra's apt.

Mary and Lester go to a toy store to purchase toys for kids in the hospital. When they get there, the guy lets them in even though the sign on the door says closed. The Jenkins discover that he is attempting to rob the place. Pee Wee Herman comes into the store to purchase some things, so he is taken ""hostage"" along with Mary and Lester. Later on, Sandra comes and she is also escorted to the back of the store. The entire gang is tied up. They think of ways to escape. Their plan for Sandra to entice the robber changes courses a little when Pee Wee actually saves the day by throwing bubbles into his eyes.

When Ms. clark uses her feminine wiles to get Brenda a part-time job at Billy Bob's Burgers, Brenda's parents are divided: she wants Brenda to study full time, while he is delighted at her new sense of responsibility.

When Mary and Rose come home from the movie theater, they see JoJo spray painting his gang tag underneath Pearl's window. Pearl hits him with her pillow, Rose grabs the spray can and accidentally sprays his shirt, and Mary grabs hims, but tries to talk sense into him. JoJo tells his mother everything that happened, while leaving out the part about him spray painting on the building. They decide to sue the ladies, and use Sandra as a witness, who was in the car on a date. When they get in court, his mother and the Judge eventually find out the truth and JoJo is made to clean up his damage. His mother apologizes to the ladies and the ladies are fined 10 cents each.

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.

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.

Mary is in charge of the church's charity show, and it's like divine providence when the Temptations show up at her door.

Mary invites Sandra and her date, an eligible Congressman, to a dinner for Brenda's teacher who is attracted to the legislator.

Mary and Sandra become contestants on ""Wheel of Fortune"" and wind up competing against each other.

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!

At their vows renewal ceremony, Mary's parents are in the middle of the argument and are not talking to each other. Lester talks to his father-in-law, and Mary talks to her mother to encourage them to make up and go through with the ceremony. Meanwhile, Sandra meets a man who turns out to be married, and Rose has a peculiar conversation with another man: it turns out that both her late husband and his late wife both used to vacation in Vermont for one week out of the year, to go "fishing" and "writing poetry," respectively.

Lester's old boss comes to visit the Jenkins from Hawaii. While there, Rose hires him as the building repairman and lets him live an efficiency on the third floor. Pearl begins to notice that people go up to visit Lou and never return. She and Mary investigate and find out that Lou is homeless and his homeless friends are the ones that have come to live with Lou. It turns out his business in Hawaii went belly-up, and Lou lost everything. Mary has sympathy for them and feeds them, while trying to keep the news from Rose, because she would have to put them out based on the housing codes that they are breaking. Lester finds out about an abandoned building that his company will fix-up so the homeless people will have some place to live. This will also give Lou the chance to get back into business again.

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 daughter, 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.

When their church loses their land lease, the tenants must find another lot to place their church on. They enlist Lester's company's help to move the church to its new spot. Everything is ok, until the church comes up missing. Everyone is worried because they will have no place to have their Christmas pageant. They decide to build a large manger on the empty lot to hold the service. They later find out that the church was placed at the wrong lot.

Brenda desperately tries to get Calvin to notice her. When Mary doesn't seem to help Brenda out, she seeks romantic advice from Sandra. This ultimately upsets Mary when she finds out that Sandra alters Brenda's appearance.

When Sandra tells Mary how she can't keep a job because of jealous wives, Mary asks Lester if he knows of any job openings. He admits that his company needs a receptionist for their main office and Sandra gets the job. However, Pearl and Rose worry Mary so much about Sandra working with Lester that Mary becomes suspicious and jealous.

The tenants have a sidewalk sale to pay for the repairs needed to fix up 227. Lester asks Mary not to sell his aunt's old, ugly lamp, but she does anyway, for $5. When Lester finds out, he is upset, but for more reasons than one. The lamp is where he hid the profits of the sale. The tenants get upset with Mary and outcast her. Luckily for her, the wife of the gentleman who bought the lamp comes by her apartment to give it back to Mary, because she did not like the lamp either. They buy it back from the couple for $50 and got the money back to save 227.

News of the breakup of her neighbors' marriage has Mary worried that the same thing could happen to her and Lester. Mary plans an evening of romance for her and Lester. Lester buys flowers (at Mary's suggestion) and they try to force romance by going out to eat, dimming the lights, and playing romantic music. But they realize that they only think that works is by letting it happen naturally and reminiscing about the past. Meanwhile, Sandra has to babysit her 6-year-old niece Susie while her sister Harriet and her husband visits his sick mother. She solicits Mary's advice on what to feed her and how to get her to fall asleep.

For an assignment that requires her to write about her "Most Interesting Relative", Brenda asks her parents for help. Lester suggests his aunt Lucy who was a woman brakeman. After Mary hears about Sandra's supposed relative who was a Moroccan prince, she searches through an old trunk to find information about an interesting relative of hers. What she finds is that she had an uncle, Corporal Mortecai Hurley, who was in the Civil War's 54th Infantry. She persuades Brenda to re-write her paper on Mortecai.

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.