MovieChat Forums > 227 (1985) Discussion > Mary: The Queen of Nag

Mary: The Queen of Nag

posted 10 years ago by plum-62557
21 replies | jump to latest

I remember watching reruns when I was younger and always got a chuckle out of it here and there. Well, when I began watching it again as an adult, I realized what a drag Mary was. She nagged everyone to death. She butted in to everyone's business and always thought she had the right answer.

If you look at the series as a whole, probably two-thirds of the episodes involved Mary running her mouth and making a mess of the given situation. Poor Brenda for having a mother who never seemed to want to allow her to be a normal teenager.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that the show tried to celebrate a strong, sassy character, but she really ended up coming across as a bitch more often than not.

Sandra was the best part of the show and the main reason I would often watch an episode. She was so fun and, as someone else pointed out, Mary was so obviously jealous of her.

[–] Brian_and_the_Revolution 10 years ago

Agreed! Mary stayed telling grown people what to do. Mary was always blocking Rose and Pearl from getting their "freak" on, got on her high horse when it came to Sondra, bitched and whined at Lester, prevented Brenda from having any kind of innocent teenage fun, and bullied random people.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2288050/board/thread/236193626?d=236193626#236193626

[–] SmokyBrownEyes 10 years ago

Mary was always blocking Rose and Pearl from getting their "freak" on

So Mary was a cock-blocker .

There's nothing like you and I baby.

[–] Brian_and_the_Revolution 10 years ago

That time when Rose was going out with some man during the first season and was about to go to New York with him, Sondra and Pearl was telling her to go ahead and Mary was the usual killjoy. The next season Pearl was seeing some dude she met at a nightclub and yet Mary once again was cock blocking as usual. Also, when Rose was signing up for a video date and there was Mary bitching and whining about it. No wonder Rose kept Warren a secret from Mary...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2288050/board/thread/236193626?d=236193626#236193626

[–] SmokyBrownEyes 10 years ago

Sandra was the best part of the show and the main reason I would often watch an episode. She was so fun and, as someone else pointed out, Mary was so obviously jealous of her.

Mary: She sure likes to flaunt it.

Pearl: Don't you wish you had it?

There's nothing like you and I baby.

[–] Brian_and_the_Revolution 10 years ago



Yes, Mary stayed jealous of Sondra and was always throwing uncalled for comments towards her. Rose was neutral towards Sondra though. I didn't know how Lester stayed with Mary, that woman was a complete nag. I didn't know who's worse, Mary Jenkins or Florida Evans.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2288050/board/thread/236193626?d=236193626#236193626

[–] KoolBlackKat 10 years ago

I agree with you. I posted the same thing on another message board. Mary Jenkins was the black Alice Hyatt.

"Go To Hell, Devil!"

[–] Brian_and_the_Revolution 10 years ago

^LMFAO! I'm convinced that Lester was having affair with Rose, he was always jumping up to fix things in Rose's apartment. I mean, if you had a wife like Mary wouldn't you? She just straight nagged everybody she came across. I really wanted someone besides Sandra to tell her off one time.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2288050/board/thread/236193626?d=236193626#236193626

[–] KoolBlackKat 10 years ago

Here's my thread on another message board from a few years ago. I hope it's clickable:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?+=300941

Go To Hell, Devil!

[–] Katiedidd 8 years ago

It's not clickable. [url] [/url] has to surround the link. You reminded me of Sitcoms Online though! Haven't been there in years. I need to ask the admin to give me a new password. I can't get into my 15-year-old account. :/

[–] mizzbee1975-1 10 years ago

I totally agree..... Always the Debbie Downers..

[–] Brian_and_the_Revolution 10 years ago

Mary was permanently on menopause......

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2288050/board/thread/236193626?d=236193626#236193626

[–] smithandjones-50726 10 years ago

She was quite the busybody. :D

[–] smithandjones-50726 10 years ago

I can't believe Marla Gibbs was 53-54 in the first season! She definitely looked ten years younger!

[–] kartoon-1 9 years ago

She was at her supreme worst in the two-part Atlantic city episode.

She drags her kids to a casino where there was nothing for them to do because everything was adults only and Mary just smugly and cheerfully blew Brenda's protests off.

So when she lost ALL of her money at the roulette table I roared out;
"SERVES YOU RIGHT! Karma just tore you a new one!!!"

[–] mizzbee1975-1 9 years ago

I definitely agree.... From the first episode she was so annoying... How did Lester say married to her... With Sandra walking around...

[–] tooclosetothetv 9 years ago

In the play 227 is based on, Lester ends up with Sandra in the end.

I loved me some Mary, though.

[–] Brian_and_the_Revolution 9 years ago

^LMFAO!!!! Wow....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2288050/board/thread/236193626?d=236193626#236193626

[–] SmokyBrownEyes 9 years ago

Wow, tooclose. Very interesting and that explains everything .

[–] Katiedidd 8 years ago

Yes it does! Interesting bit of info.

[–] jamjohnx3 9 years ago

Mary was a bully too. If you notice through the years, they started writing less and less quips and comebacks for Sandra to the point where it just became this one-sided thing with Mary saying nasty things to her and she would just take it, which is completely out of character for Sandra.

[–] Strannger (2007) 8 years ago

I was watching the episode last night where Brenda finally got her comp paper done only for her too make her rewrite it on a family ancestor who served. Turns out he was a coward and ruined the while thing. It may be new to me, but i must be getting close to the eps your refering to.