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.

The Big Deal

Marla Gibbs

Hal Williams

Alaina Reed Hall

Jackée Harry

Regina King

Helen Martin

Curtis Baldwin

Barry Sobel

Countess Vaughn

Paul Winfield

Stoney Jackson

Al Gordon

Gerren Keith

The New Neighbors

The Roommate

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.

Men's Club

When Sandra is dating a man who wants to open a sleazy 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 in reality).

Low Noon

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.

There Goes the Building

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.

And Baby Makes Three

Bull's Eye

When Sandra meets Brenda's math teacher at the Jenkins' apt., they begin dating and he gets more serious than Sandra. Then, Sandra comes by the Jenkins' with her new rich date, while Mitchell is visiting. To get Sandra back, he spends all his money trying to wine and dine her. One night at the Piano Bar he announces that he is going to begin working as a computer executive, thereby making more money. Mary talks to Sandra and says that Mitchell loves being a teacher and is only giving it up for Sandra and to make more money. He and Sandra talk and the show closes with Sandra announcing their engagement.

Teach Me Tonight (1)

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.

Teach Me Tonight (2)

Mary and Sandra go to court over song royalties.

See You in Court

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).

The Honeymoon's Over

Calvin and his friend Eddie are in danger of failing history, so the Jenkins, Rose, and Pearl try to tutor them. After failing the test the first time, they get a second chance to take the test.

After Brenda returns from a rap concert, Mary gets the idea that maybe they should study in rap form, since they seem to know so many rap lyrics. They do and they pass the test a second time.

Rapture

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.

The Facade

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).

The Talk Show

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.

Snowbound

Mary catches Lester dancing with his old girlfriend.

Shall We Dance?

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.

The Sing-Off

When Calvin asks Brenda to his basketball ball, she is not able to go because she is still one week away from being 16 years old. She sulks because she can't go.

The next week, she has a sweet sixteen party and when Sandra asks what she will do now that she is 16, she announces that she is going to go on her first date, and NOT with Calvin. This shocks her parents and Calvin.

When the Jenkins meet her date they drill him before finally allowing them to leave. Around 11 o'clock, the Jenkins go outside the building to spy on Brenda and Durell. Brenda tells him that she is not ready to kiss him. And Calvin, who was hiding by the garbage cans, asks her out for next Friday night.

Sweet Sixteen

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.""

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.

Brenda's grandfather arrives with a Wailing Eddie record in tow. While letting Brenda listen to it, she accidentally scratches it and her grandfather is devastated. She doesn't understand what's so special about the blues anyway.

Mary and Lester find another rare copy, and it too is ruined accidentally by Brenda.

This episode is cut with scenes of Sandra and Rose singing the blues and narrated by Brenda. Towards the end of the episode, she finally understands what the blue is all about, because she has them. Her grandfather is upset with her and everyone is coming down hard on her about the broken record. She and her grandfather reconcile and Pearl gets Wailing Eddie to come to the Jenkins' and sing.

Blues

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.

The Butler Did It

When a movie is being shot outside 227, Sandra asks the director if there is any role not yet filled. He gives her a line to say (""Officer, he went that way""), but she cannot say it as naturally as Mary, so he recasts Mary in the role. Sandra is upset.

Mary is so nervous, she practices the line day and night until finally she becomes so stressed that her back goes out. Rose brings a chiropractor to her house to relive her stress and straighten her up (she was bent over before).

When it comes time to say her line she does it well. Sandra winds up with a role after all-- the dead homeless person on the apt. steps.

My Aching Back

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.

Country Cousins

When Mary's high school friend comes to visit, everyone is excited to meet her because she is a famous writer, psychologist, and romance adviser (like Dr. Ruth). Mary imagines what it would be like to be that famous and well liked. She begins to get jealous when Brenda tells her that she wants to be like Dr. Butler. She tells Lester how she feels and he admits that he thinks Thelma may be jealous of Mary and her stable life.

Mary and Thelma get in an argument about who is jealous of whom and they bring up a lot of things that happened in the past. They wind up laughing about how silly they were acting and make up.

Best Friends

A housewife sits on the stoop of her apartment building in a black neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and discusses all manner of things with her neighbors.

The Big Deal

Seasons5

Season 3 Episodes24

Cast11

Crew2

Discussion

Episode Summary