Despite the presence of Marla Gibbs as a sardonic, level-headed wit on both shows, "227" is not a spinoff "The Jeffersons."

Gibbs played Flo, the housekeeper, on all 11 seasons of the classic sitcom "The Jeffersons" from 1975 to 1985. The year it was canceled, "227" premiered, starring Gibbs as the matriarch of a family that was part of the community living in a mid-rise apartment building in Washington, D.C.

Gibbs produced and co-created the latter, slice-of-life sitcom, placing herself in the straight-woman role, commenting on and grounding the wackier antics of those around her — much like her role on "The Jeffersons," but there was no direct story connection. In fact, "227" was based on a stage play of the same name (though the play was set in Chicago instead of Washington).

Ironically, one more piece of evidence proving that Gibbs' two sitcoms are separate is the fact that the great Sherman Hemsley also appeared in both — he starred in "The Jeffersons" as hot-headed dry cleaning magnate George Jefferson, but played a totally different character, an arrogant client of Gibbs' character's husband, in a third-season episode of "227."

It was still a fun callback to "The Jeffersons," though. Not only were Gibbs and Hemsley together again, but they were also allowed to repeat the hilariously tense relationship they built up on "The Jeffersons."

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