227
We the People
TV Flash files “We the People” as hour 17 of 116 in the TV Flash guide — 227 (1985–1990) on NBC, season 1, episode 17, aired 1986-02-01, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E17: listed hour 17 of 116 in the 227 guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 1. It aired 1986-02-01 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “A Young Man's Fancy” (S01E16). Next is “Redecorating Blues” (S01E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Lester's old boss, Gus (Lou Albano) comes to visit the Jenkins from Hawaii. While there, Rose hires him as the building repairman and lets him live in an efficiency on the third floor. Pearl begins to notice that people go up to visit Gus and never return. She and Mary investigate and find out that Gus is homeless and his homeless friends are the ones that have come to live with Gus. It turns out his business in Hawaii went belly-up, and Gus 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 Gus the chance to get back into business again.
Viewer FAQ
Where does We the People sit in the 227 guide?
S01E17 is listed hour 17 of 116 — hour 17 of 22 in season 1, season 1 episode 17.
When did 227 S01E17 air?
We the People aired 1986-02-01 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;…