Synopsis
The scene is a middle-class apartment building in Washington, DC. Our characters are Mary(Marla Gibbs), hard-nosed mother; her best friend and gossip-buddy Rose (Alaina Reed); big-time flirt Sandra (Jackée Harry) and the relevant husbands and offspring. It’s the expectedcollection of wisecracks and Issues Moments in an utterly typical, and I would have thoughcompletely forgotten, sitcom.
Audio
The 2.0 sound may be stereo, but it has no surround pres…nce whatsoever, and in overalleffect is not significantly different from a nicely done mono track. The sound is very clean, andyou’ll catch each line, whether it was funny or not.
Video
A rather typical TV transfer, meaning that the picture quality is substandard. The pixelationis noticeable, and the image is soft. The colours, contrasts and blacks, however, are fine. In otherwords, this looks exactly like a network TV broadcast, no worse, no better.
Special Features
Disc 3 has three featurettes. “From Stage to Screen: 227” is perhaps the most interesting ofthe bunch, as it traces the development of the original stage play, and how it grew into a weeklysitcom. “Three Ladies Remembering 227” is exactly what the title says it is (the three ladiesbeing Gibbs, Reed and Harry). The longest featurette (20 minutes compared to the 6-plus theother two run) is “Stories from the Stoop” — a fairly standard making-of piece and look back.There are some ads for more TV releases. The menu is basic.
Closing Thoughts
Is there really someone out there who wants to preserve this show forever and watch it overand over again? Apparently there must be. I am not one of them.
Special Features List
- “Stories from the Stoop” Featurette
- “Three Ladies Remember 227” Featurette
- “From Stage to Screen: 227” Featurette
- Previews