227
Family Hero
TV Flash files “Family Hero” as hour 3 of 116 in the TV Flash guide — 227 (1985–1990) on NBC, season 1, episode 3, aired 1985-09-28, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E03: listed hour 3 of 116 in the 227 guide, hour 3 of 22 in season 1. It aired 1985-09-28 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Mary's Brother” (S01E02). Next is “The Refrigerator” (S01E04).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
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. Not to be outdone, Sandra goes to the library and finds out that Mary's uncle Mortecai was actually a "coward" in the war, and deserted his infantry disguised in the flag made to look like a dress. Mary and Lester tell Brenda and she becomes upset. She and Mary talk, and Mary apologizes for making her re-write her paper in the first place. But they decide that since the assignment calls for her to write about her "Most Interesting Relative", she can still turn in the assignment on Mortecai, because although it is embarrassing, it is still interesting. (This episode was taped after the pilot to add additional characters and provide background for those in the pilot episode.)
Viewer FAQ
Where does Family Hero sit in the 227 guide?
S01E03 is listed hour 3 of 116 — hour 3 of 22 in season 1, season 1 episode 3.
When did 227 S01E03 air?
Family Hero aired 1985-09-28 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I need The Jeffersons first?
Only if you want Florence's ghost. 227 is Gibbs's own stoop — working-class D.C., not a continuation. The building is the neighborhood; the uniform stays in the other series.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Marla Gibbs free of Florence's uniform: an apartment-stoop sitcom where the building is the neighborhood and Jackée Harry's Sandra is a walking velvet bomb. Working-class D.C. ensemble comedy with porch gossip as the plot engine. Jackée's supporting-actress Emmy was the official notice; the reruns remain the afterparty — shade, hats, and found family.
The stoop is the silhouette. NBC, 1985–1990: a D.C. apartment building dressed as a neighborhood, Marla Gibbs free of Florence's Jeffersons uniform, Hal Williams as Lester, Jackée Harry's Sandra as a walking velvet bomb. 227 is Jack Elinson's working-class Black ensemble, porch gossip as the plot engine, Alaina Reed Hall in the mix, Regina King starting as a child actor. *Hats that do the talking, shade as tailoring, a velvet look that photographs as a supporting-actress bomb.* Style is the plot. If you only…
Filed against
- Marla Gibbs as Mary Jenkins
Marla Gibbs’s Florence Johnston refused to eat anyone’s dignity on The Jeffersons — deluxe apartment, Lear living-room fight, a theme that still sells real estate — then ran 227’s stoop as neighborhood plot engine. Eleven seasons of…
- Hal Williams as Lester Jenkins
Hal Williams played Lester Jenkins on 227 — Marla Gibbs free of Florence's uniform, an apartment-stoop sitcom where the building is the neighborhood, Jackée Harry's Sandra as a velvet bomb. Working-class D.C. ensemble, porch gossip as…
- Jackée Harry as Sandra Clark
Jackée Harry’s Sandra Clark was a walking velvet bomb on 227 — stoop gossip as plot engine, working-class D.C. as a sitcom neighborhood, Marla Gibbs free of Florence’s uniform. Porch voltage with a laugh that could rearrange a building.…
- Alaina Reed Hall as Rose Lee Holloway
Alaina Reed Hall’s Rose Lee Holloway kept 227’s building a neighborhood — Marla Gibbs free of Florence’s uniform, Jackée Harry’s Sandra as a velvet bomb, working-class D.C. ensemble, porch gossip as the plot engine. Stoop sitcom as civic…
- Regina King as Brenda Jenkins
Regina King’s Brenda Jenkins grew up on 227’s stoop — working-class D.C., porch gossip as plot, Jackée’s velvet bomb in the same building — then carried Watchmen as Sister Night through Tulsa 1921 and mask-as-history. Sitcom kid voltage;…