Martin has an argument with Gina after she listens to Martin’s radio show and hears his womanizing remarks. When Martin gets home, she calls him into the room and tells him about what she heard. Martin gives her an attitude, so she threatens to leave him. Consequently, Martin gives in. Then, Martin and Gina make an agreement to make up in front of Martin’s friends (Cole, Shawn, Tommy), and make it look like Martin won the argument. But there’s a catch: Martin has to agree to go to a dinner with her that night.
At work, Martin realizes it is his anniversary and he forgot to get Gina a present. Shawn suggests something practical, like jars, and Stan says get her "the gift that keeps on giving", scanty lingerie. Martin says to both Stan and Shawn a true gift comes from the heart. However, at home when Gina gives Martin a nice gift, he rushes out to a lingerie store before quitting time. Martin has doubts, until he sees something that may be of value based on Gina's earlier recollections.
Tommy's new relationship with his new girlfriend Danice prompts Martin to take Gina out for a romantic evening at a dance club, called the Savoy club. Meanwhile, Martin makes insensitive remarks and, as a result, receives numerous calls from his listeners stating that he isn't romantic enough.
When Martin finds out that Gina makes more money than he does, he becomes irate and has major ego problems once the entire city finds out. Now he has to prove to the whole city that he is really the "man" in the relationship.
Martin’s toilet gets clogged, and Gina persuades him to call a plumber to fix it at a time when Martin invited Cole and Tommy over to watch a basketball game. When the plumber is found motionless, the three men worry he may have expired.
Sheneneh wins a date with Christopher "Kid" Reid on Martin's radio show. Kid arrives at Sheneneh's apartment and learns that she is his biggest fan but her hospitality towards Kid makes him uneasy when she serves malt liquor and makes sexual advances at him. Ultimately, Kid flees out of the apartment and resurfaces at Martin's place where Gina convinces Kid to go back and finish the date. (Christopher "Kid" Reid, Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell all starred in the first two House Party films.)
Gina wants Martin to meet her conservative parents but Martin's feeling nervous. Wanting to make a good first impression, he takes advice from Tommy, Shawn and Cole.
Cole's parents interrupts Cole's evening with his girlfriend to demand back rent from their son. Following Martin's advice, Cole stands up to his parents but finds himself homeless when he is thrown out of the house. He is forced to move in with Martin, but soon drives Gina insane with his bad manners and disgusting habits.
On Halloween, Martin and his friends gather at his apartment to share scary ghost stories, but they all get scared out of their wits after they perform a séance to communicate with the dead and call forth the spirit of old man Ackerman.
When Martin's elderly neighbor's apartment is robbed, Martin holds a neighborhood crime watch meeting. When his own apartment becomes the next target, he devises a plan to catch the burglar.
When Gina is sleeping over at Martin’s house, she hears noises in the middle of the night. Thinking it’s a robber, she sends Martin to investigate and finds out it’s a mouse. Martin and Gina go to Gina’s apartment until the mouse is removed, while Martin hires an exterminator (Little Richard). The exterminator tries to get rid of the mouse, but the mouse proves too smart for him, so Tommy, Shawn, Cole, and Martin take it into their own hands.
Stan decides to hire Monica (Kim Fields), a new female co-host for Martin's show to boost the station's ratings. As they work together, Martin finds that he has taken a liking to Monica, and tries to resist the temptation to be with her. Guest appearances by Russ Parr and Wendy Williams.
Note: Martin's voice can be heard in the opening credits from this episode during the show's final two seasons, which was performed by Take 6 singers Mark and Joey Kibble.
Martin reveals a secret on WZUP about Pam that Gina tells him. When Pam, Shawn, Tommy and Cole are angry at both of them when they hear it, Martin and Gina find themselves with only two friends left: Martin’s boss Stan and his girlfriend.
Cole was supposed to play Santa Claus for the Big Brother Christmas party, but an emergency at the airport held him up. With the kids getting restless, Martin decides to dress as Santa and tell the kids the "first Christmas story", in which Martin and his friends are imagined reenacting the birth of Christ.
Martin’s radio fans love it when Gina and Martin have an argument on the show. Stan sees how things get better when Gina is on the show. When Stan wants to permanently hire Gina as Martin’s co host, Martin goes against the idea.
Martin returns to his elementary school to participate in Career Day, where he sees his favorite third grade teacher, Ms. Trinidad. They decide to go out to eat and catch up on old times, but Ms. Trinidad (Beverly Johnson) is more interested in putting the moves on Martin.
Martin and Gina fight over Gina's unusual Valentine's Day gift, and the fight escalates out of control until they finally break up. When they try and reconcile, they discover that maybe they are just too different from each other.With Martin and Gina now broken up, they start dating new people. By coincidence, the two couples happen to meet at a restaurant during dinner. Martin is extremely jealous of the fact that Gina is out with another man, and decides to "help" him out when he begins choking on his food.
Martin and his new girlfriend Nicole (Lark Voorhies) realize that they both are still in love with their former lovers, and break up. Billy Dee Williams guest stars on Martin's radio show and convinces him that he'd be foolish to lose Gina. Martin barges in on Gina while she's with another man, and tries to win her back.
Special Note: Prior to the episode's airing, fans had the chance to influence the script by calling in a hotline to vote on who should initiate the reunification, Gina or Martin. The polls were decided that Martin should be the one to apologize.
Martin gets the flu and he expects Gina to stay at home and take care of him. However, Gina gets fed up with him acting like a baby and comparing her with his mother.
After Pam gets dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to go out on a date with somebody "different" out of sheer desperation. She decides to go out with Jerome, the player, even though Cole is trying to ask her out.
Tommy's new girlfriend Shannon has an ex-lover (Bushwick Bill) that won't let her go. Eventually, he and his gang of thugs confront Tommy and beat him up. Martin and Cole go after these grumpy midgets to avenge Tommy's beating, by throwing their weight around and attempting to bully the patrons in the little people's bar. It is up to Tommy to tell everyone that violence produces nothing except more violence.
25
25
"Variety Show"
Terri McCoy
Story by : Martin Lawrence & John Bowman & Bentley Kyle Evans & David Wyatt Teleplay by : Myra J. & Bennie R. Richburg, Jr. & Jane Milmore & Billy Van Zandt
Martin is chosen by his radio station manager to be the producer of a charity variety show for AIDS. But in typical Martin Payne fashion, he lets the job go to his head, acts tyrannically on the set, and alienates everyone around him, even Gina. In the end, Martin is left to do the whole show by himself, but he fails miserably.
Everybody pools together to get a raffle ticket from Roscoe, and wind up winning a brand new SUV. They decide to share it, by assigning each of them to drive on a different day of the week. They all wind up running the vehicle into the ground and have to get rid of it.
Martin and Gina try to expose a crooked preacher, Reverend Leon Lonnie Love (David Alan Grier), as a fraud, after he cons thousands of dollars from his church members, including Mama Payne. To do so, they decide to have Gina lure him to her apartment so she can elicit a confession out of him and then capture it on videotape.
Martin struggles with coming up with a new topic for his show. In desperation, he finally accepts some ideas from the gang. Gina suggests that he talk about how they first met and fell in love at a party. As they go around the room, each of them has a different remembrance of the events that day, with Gina imagining Martin as a shy nerd, Cole imagining Pam madly in love with him, Martin imagining himself as a super fly guy who wowed everyone on the sax, and Pam reimagining the party hijacked by gunmen and Martin holding Gina hostage. Tommy, the only one who has nothing to prove, tells the full story about how he, Cole, Shawn and Martin crashed the school with Young Pam and Gina in attendance. Gina gets to know Martin through this but his saxophone was stinky.
Martin is going to his high school reunion and he wants Gina to be ready for the big day. So he sends her on a day of beauty, but it ends disastrously. But Martin is determined to win the Man of the Decade award at his high school reunion that evening. His pride makes him want to appear to all his old schoolmates that he is rich and famous, and has a beautiful fashion model girlfriend. Guest appearances by Miguel A. Nunez, Jr. and Wendy Raquel Robinson.
When Martin finds out that Gina has to go out of town on business, he, Tommy, Shawn & Cole decide they will go out and have some fun while she is away, Meanwhile, Gina & Pam are having some fun of their own at a company party in her hotel room, complete with a surprise male stripper.
Martin agrees to help host a baby shower for some of Gina's expecting girlfriends at his apartment. But he doesn't expect one of the expectant mothers to go into labor.
Martin decides to become more macho after Stan, as well as Tommy, Shawn and Cole, convince him that Gina has been controlling his life, and that he is 'whipped'. So to prove it, he decides to work double duty at the station just because Gina told him not to.
Gina accidentally throws away Martin's tickets to a very important professional basketball game. She later finds out that Sheneneh also has a pair of tickets to the same game, and begs Sheneneh for them. She compels Gina to work off the debt in her beauty salon. After she gets the tickets, she discovers they're Martin's.
Gina starts to hang around with a new male friend. Martin gets suspicious and drives him away. But after getting rid of him, Martin realizes he made a mistake when Gina drags him along to shop for ladies' shoes.
Mama Payne leaves her beloved talking parrot at Martin's apartment for the weekend. The talking bird constantly insults Gina, which infuriates her. Gina tries to keep her cool, and cares for the bird anyway. But the bird dies and Martin believes Gina killed the bird intentionally.
Gina convinces Martin that he's putting on weight. So he, Tommy and Cole go on a diet and attend Gina's aerobics class. Martin then decides that he will give up all the rich foods he used to enjoy, and in true Martin tradition, he takes his dieting and exercise to the extreme. Now Gina must figure out a way to bring the old Martin back.
After Gina and Pam get promotions, Martin realizes his job is going nowhere. The breaking point for Martin comes when his ribbon-cutting at a new community center is eclipsed by Varnel Hill (Tommy Davidson) -- a successful TV talk-show host who had been a former deejay at WZUP. After an on-air interview with Varnel, Martin decides to chase his dream of having a successful career by quitting his job, and heading to Hollywood.
In Los Angeles, Martin takes steps to ensure that he gets on Varnel Hill's talk show. Meanwhile, Pam chases after a limo believing Denzel Washington is inside. After a disastrous attempt to crash the stage on Varnel's talk show, Martin and his friends learn that Varnel is not who he makes himself out to be to the public, and Martin is back in Detroit groveling to Stan for his job back, having learned that there is no royal road to success, especially not if it comes at the cost of one's integrity.
Martin wants to keep his relatives away from Thanksgiving dinner, and with good reason, as they are two boors who leer at Pam and Gina and insult Gina's straightlaced parents and Gina's overweight sister. The friction nearly leads to fighting, until Gina plays peacemaker.
After Pam catches Martin and Gina sneaking out of her party to have quickie sex, Pam challenges them to see if they can abstain from having sex for two weeks. Martin and Gina decide to make a bet to see who will be the first one to give in to their primal urges
It's Christmas time and Gina is homesick. Pam convinces Martin to take Gina home to Philadelphia. But instead of flying out of Detroit, Martin decides to take the bus. While waiting to leave, the city bus station gets snowed in.
Martin and Gina admit that they are fighting and arguing too much. So they seek the help of a church Minister for counseling to help them resolve their issues.
After winning a charity boxing match, Martin thinks he is as good a fighter as anyone. Thomas Hearns, who was a celebrity judge at the fight, is friendly to Pam and Gina but Martin thinks Hearns is making a pass at Gina and trash talks him. After Hearns is not heard from after the party, Martin thinks Hearns has brushed it off and left town, only to get a surprise in the ring.
When the small screen TV in the apartment needs to be replaced, Martin decides to use money from his and Gina’s combined checking account to buy a big-screen TV. This infuriates Gina, who makes him take it back, only to later be discovered buying items of her own in the same way.
Pam starts dating an older, wealthy man (Steven Williams) who eventually asks her to marry him. Initially, the gang makes jokes about her old fuddy boyfriend. But soon they all start to enjoy the perks that go along with being in the entourage of a wealthy industrialist, as he is a minority owner in the Detroit Pistons. However, Pam has second thoughts when she learns he puts ex-wives out to pasture.
To avoid trouble with the IRS, Stan sells WZUP to a new owner who in turn changes the format to country. Martin tries to adapt to the new format.
Special Note: Garrett Morris was absent in this episode due to being hospitalized as a result of a mugging. A videotape of him as Stan was filmed while Morris was actually on his hospital bed.
Martin goes looking for a good job, but the only work available are a series of low-paying jobs. Martin believes that his former reputation as the WZUP DJ should have opened more doors for him & he refuses to fathom the thought of people seeing him working minimum wage jobs. With bills piling up, Gina is adamant Martin join the workforce, and he finally accepts the only job opening: buffing the floors at the Center of Employment.
Martin auditions for a television job, but finds out he must have an audition tape of himself doing a TV show. So he hurriedly gets the gang together and hires audience members to put on a quick show. But his antics during the taping wind up alienating him from everyone. In the end, he is offered an associate producer's job and must bring in donuts for the staff every morning.
Martin feels his and Gina's relationship is becoming more strained. To remedy this he tries to spend more time with her. But she has a big presentation to do and needs to be alone to work.
After the host of the show "Word on the Street", is arrested and dragged off the set right before airtime, Martin is pressed into service as a last-minute fill-in. And after his advice on the show brings an arguing couple back together, Martin begins referring to himself as the Love Doctor, and begins handing out relationship advice to everyone he meets.
Martin and Gina finally decide to move in together. However, the apartment gets rather crowded when all of Gina's friends get there. The two clash on what to keep, and they end up with two of everything.
Martin is excited when Gina's mother (Judyann Elder), comes to visit them. This is his opportunity to impress Gina's mom and get to know her better. But things go awry when a young boy named Marvin (Marcus T. Paulk) shows up, claiming to be Martin's long lost son. After a DNA test though, Marvin apologizes to Martin for lying to him, admitting he just didn't want to go to Arizona.
Martin wins the Michigan Lottery. He celebrates by going out and buying tons of expensive luxury items and gives money away to his friends, BEFORE picking up his lottery money. But when he does, he finds out that the winning ticket is split - 300 ways!
Nobody knows what Tommy does for a living, so Martin and Gina attempt to find out. So they decide to go undercover and stake him out, only to discover him on the runway at an uptown strip club! Could this be what Tommy does for a living?
Thanksgiving dinner ends up a battle of the sexes when the gang holds a contest to see which gender cooks the best Thanksgiving feast. It only takes a short time for the guys to realize they are over matched, so they resort to some sneaky tactics to win the contest. Guest appearance by R&B/Soul singer Millie Jackson as Florine.
Gina and Martin agree to save money. But then Gina is forced to secretly make a withdrawal from their bank account in order to pay a parking ticket. Martin finds out about the secret withdrawal, and gets even by going on a wild shopping spree.
A deranged man who is distraught over losing his job and his woman, takes over the TV station during Martin's show, with a bomb strapped to his body. Guest appearances by Shirley Hemphill, BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans.
Martin's TV show is doing well, and they are being prepped for nation-wide broadcast, but the show needs to be changed in order to appeal to a wider audience. Gina's company is hired by Martin's production company to advise new changes to for the show. But Gina’s new suggestions don’t sit well with Martin or his audience.
Gina and Pam put their best feet forward to be accepted into an exclusive women's club, but their plans of impressing the women are jeopardized when Sheneneh and Laquita show up and turn their dreams into a nightmare.
Martin becomes angry when his landlord, Mr. Lopez (Luis Antonio Ramos), increases his rent. As a result, Martin refuses to pay the rent which leads Mr. Lopez to send him an eviction notice, and also cut off the heat during a terrible blizzard.
After an argument about whether or not to invite their ex-lovers to the wedding, Martin and Gina decide to arrange a test to prove which one of them would be the most jealous of the other's ex. Guest appearances by Vivica A. Fox, Angelle Brooks and Joseph C. Phillips.
Martin must choose either Tommy or Cole as his best man for his wedding. They both want to be the one chosen, so they bribe Martin with gifts to influence his decision. Meanwhile, Gina, Laquita and Pam search for a bridesmaid dress.
Gina's mother hires a high class wedding planner who promises to arrange the day of Gina's dreams. But Martin wants to seek out a more economical (cheaper) alternative. So he hires his own personal consultant -- Hustle Man (Tracy Morgan).
Gina's conceited college friend, Monique (Merrin Dungey) comes to town. She's so offensive that Martin and Pam call a truce in their never ending fights and team up to expose her lurid past. Later, Martin invites Monique to appear on his TV talk show, and he exposes her to all of Detroit.
Gina is envious when Tommy and Pam plan to celebrate their six month anniversary of being together by going to a luxurious resort. When she complains to Martin about why they never do anything special, Martin takes Gina on a vacation to Chilligan's Island, a dreadful and low-rate resort that was advertised on the back of a cereal box. As the two try to make the best of their stay, they inadvertently run into Tommy and Pam who also are vacationing at the resort.
A nervous Martin and Gina try to enjoy their respective bachelor/bachelorette parties, but instead find themselves victims of their friends' bad advice and both imagine married life five years down the road.
As Martin and Gina are making final preparations for their wedding, a visit from Martin's wacky relatives and Gina's conservative parents and overweight sister results in both families constantly bickering & fighting. At the last minute, Martin and Gina decide to elope.
Martin and Gina flee to the Bahamas from their bickering families with Tommy and Pam to elope. Cole was expected to join them, but he got on the wrong flight. As they prepare, Martin gets stuck in an elevator with Tommy, while Pam accidentally ruins Gina's wedding gown. After the disasters have passed, Martin and Gina are free to take part in their long-awaited Oceanside wedding. Guest appearance by Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds.
After coming home from the honeymoon, the newly married Martin spends his first night back playing pool with Tommy and Cole. The downside is he suddenly gets hustled by a female pool shark and has to come home late and explain to his new wife Gina.
Mama Payne overhears Gina discussing life insurance policies and she assumes that Gina is plotting to kill Martin for his insurance money. Of course, Martin believes his mom, and now he must be very careful around Gina, and not let her get too close to him.
Note: This is the final onscreen appearance of Mama Payne (Martin Lawrence). Her voice is later heard in the Season 5 episode "Scrooge".
Tommy and Cole explain to Martin that his wedding ring frightens off single women. After taking off his ring, and seeing all the attention he gets from beautiful women, he realizes they are right. But it's Martin who's running scared when he loses the ring and has to figure out how to tell Gina about it.
Martin and Gina decide to have a quiet night at home to rekindle their love passion. But they are constantly being interrupted by their friends before the fun begins.
After breaking up with Big Shirley, Martin convinces Cole to get back into the dating scene. At the club, Cole falls for a pretty woman who has just appeared on America's Most Wanted.
Tommy, and Cole get robbed at Jerome's new club, the Shiznitz, after picking up Martin's anniversary gift for Gina - expensive earrings. So they get with Jerome to track down the 3 female thieves at their hideaway.
Note: This is the final appearance of Jerome (played by Martin Lawrence).
Martin meets with Gina's boss over her long hours, then gets her fired. Now that Gina is unemployed, she spends her time rearranging the house, and painting the walls. So Martin tries to convince her boss to take her back.
Martin and Gina decide to hire a maid. They both disapprove of the maids each other has chosen. They eventually settle on Miss Minnie (Marla Gibbs), a nice older motherly woman on the outside, but who makes their lives unliveable with her domineering ways.
Martin agrees to baby-sit his infant cousin-in-law Cameron when his parents go out of town. But once they get snowed in, and can't return home & get their baby, Martin and Gina have to watch the baby. In the end, Gina has to leave for work, and Tommy and Cole come over to help out. However, even with the three of them, the baby still gets the upper hand. Guest appearances by Victoria Dillard and Mushond Lee.
Note: This episode marks the final appearance of Reginald Ballard as Bruh-Man.
Gina accidentally gets her head stuck in their new brass bed headboard while making love to Martin. They try everything to get her head unstuck; Tommy uses a welding torch to get most of it off. But Gina must still attend an important board meeting with the brass headboard, still stuck around her head, but hidden under a big wig and shawl.
The Paynes’ are invited to attend a Christmas party, given by some influential people who may be able to help Martin in his career. But little does Martin realize that at the party, the guests are swapping more than Christmas gifts, and Martin may have both his hands full. Guest appearance by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs.
After Gina and Pam witness bank robbers leaving the scene of the crime, they must enter witness protection because the criminals are notorious for making their witnesses disappear. And since the police are afraid of the bank robbers, they arrange for Otis (played by Martin Lawrence) to be the girls' bodyguard.
The Hispanic building super is about to be deported, unless he gets married in a hurry. Pam, who desperately needs cash, so she can pay her back taxes to the IRS, agrees to be the bride -- for a price.
Martin and Gina find a bigger and better apartment for half the price they're paying now. So they decide to sublet their old place to a young couple (Kristoff St. John, Tembi Locke) and move into the new place. But then the deal on the new place falls through, and it's too late to move back.
Sheneneh crashes a Love Jones Connection show screening (a parody of Love Connection), then gets chosen. Guest appearances by Chris Rock and Donnie Simpson.
Gina attempts to arrange a surprise birthday party for Martin. But she runs into some unexpected difficulties when all his friends, including Tommy and Cole say they're not interested because of Martin's rude and obnoxious attitude. But they then turn the tables on both Martin and Gina by throwing a huge surprise birthday party at Nipsey's. (Cameo appearances by Halle Berry, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Brian McKnight, Donnie Simpson, Chris Rock, Salt-n-Pepa, Robert Townsend, Will Smith, and Shaquille O'Neal).
Gina, and Pam have taken roles in an upcoming play to help raise money for needy kids. But an accident on set causes the leading man to fall and injure himself, leaving them without a leading man. Martin then has to improvise with his own "homeboy" interpretation of "Romeo and Juliet". Guest appearance by Dorien Wilson.
The gang goes on a camping trip in the woods, and on a nature walk, Pam sprains her ankle, and Martin has to help her back to the cabin. The two get lost in the woods, just as darkness falls, and nobody knows how to find them.
After undergoing hypnosis at the dentist's office for an aching tooth, Pam has a split personality whenever clapping occurs. She goes on a blind date with an artist, and nobody realizes that she is still under hypnosis.
After Pam's cousin, Alesha (played by Nichole Gilbert of the R&B group Brownstone) wins an open mike contest with her powerful singing voice, Martin only sees dollar signs, and decides to become her manager. But things go awry when she loses her voice at her audition because of practicing all night.
After Martin's driver’s license expires, his insurance company cancels his policy. So he goes down to the DMV to get it renewed, and experiences first hand the horrors of a day spent waiting on long lines, filling out reams of paperwork, DMV clerks with bad attitudes, and meeting up with an assortment of strange characters. Guest appearance by Sherman Hemsley.
An argument breaks out between Tommy and Martin over the condition of a loaned suitcase and results in Tommy and Martin ending up not speaking to each other, and eventually deciding to end their life-long friendship. Martin is determined not to have Tommy in his life as a friend, until Cole comes by to deliver some bad news. Guest appearances by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Adele Givens.
Gina is nominated for an advertising award, and she tells Martin not to play basketball with the boys because his back has been bothering him. He decides to play anyway and ends up disabled. With the help of Tommy and Cole, Martin goes to a chiropractor who helps him make it to the event in time. But once he's there, the pain really begins to set in.
Under pressure during her pitch for an underwear ad presentation, Gina is incoherent, forcing Pam to step in and save the day. The clients are so impressed that they put Pam in charge, causing Gina to feel betrayed. Pam struggles to pull it off, but in the end Pam has to rely on Gina to win the account.
The prospect of owning a home gets scarier when Martin and Gina buy their "dream house" on Halloween, but soon find that the place is a haunted, calamity-filled horror. Guest appearance by Mr. T.
When Martin announces on his talk show that any man can beat any woman at anything, especially in sports, Gina, Laquita and Pam challenge him to a girls-against-guys basketball game. Martin and the guys think it will be easy to beat the girls, until they discover the girl's secret weapon: the Women's Olympic gold medal-winning basketball team (Teresa Edwards, Rebecca Lobo, Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes).
While attending a dinner party, Martin saves the life of an African Prince (Ernest Lee Thomas). The Prince rewards Martin with lavish gifts and offers him a large sum of money for Gina's services. Martin agrees until he realizes the Prince wants Gina as one of his wives.
When Tommy invites the gang for a ski vacation, they are all in for the ride of their lives when they realize Tommy's date is a white woman. After Martin discovers Tommy has a special announcement to make, he believes that Tommy is going to pop the question. Guest appearance by Shaun Baker.
Cole attempts to entertain a girl at his Mom's house. But Mom shows up and ruins everything. Martin convinces Cole to get his own apartment. But it turns out to be a real dive.
Martin and Gina are planning to have a baby. They plan to have a lunch-time rendezvous to get things going only until a pregnant Gina goes into labor. But a trip to the courthouse with Cole leads to them finding out that Martin has been ignoring jury duty since 1983. Now, forced to perform his civic duty as a juror, Martin presses for a quick verdict, so he can get his pregnant ovulating wife to the hospital.
Note: This episode marks the final appearance of Tisha Campbell as Gina Waters-Payne until the series finale. Campbell quit the series in episodes 120-130 due to claims that co-star Martin Lawrence sexually harassed her off the set of the sitcom. However, she does make a brief appearance in the stakeout episode in a scene with Pam and Martin as Elroy and then again in episode 128, with herself and Lawrence seen together on a split screen having a phone conversation.
Martin helps a burglar (Method Man) rob his apartment because he thinks it's part of a scheme Pam put together to get back at him for all his pranks. It's only after he's been robbed that he realizes the awful truth. Guest appearance by Erik Estrada.
Even with Gina out of town on business, her mom comes to town for a weekend visit, and wants to spend all her time with Martin. But Martin has plans to hang out with Tommy and Cole at a new club that just opened up. Somehow he has to figure a way to get away from Gina's mom, so he can go out and have a good time. Guest appearance by Tone Lōc.
Martin and his friends go on a cruise, except Gina who missed the boat. While on the cruise, Martin meets a beautiful woman named Ellen (Lynn Whitfield) who he believes is contemplating suicide. Martin convinces her not to kill herself, and she begins to develop a romantic interest in him. Meanwhile, Cole hangs out with Pam at the bar, where they begin to drink heavily. The next day, Pam and Cole wakes up in bed next to each other and believe that they’ve had sex. Ellen arrives at Martin’s door half dressed, to put the moves on him.
Still on the cruise ship with his friends, Martin is stalked by Ellen. Tommy thinks that Pam is suddenly interested in Cole after he sees them in bed together. And to make it all worse, Cole attempts to marry Pam.
Note: Whitfield and Lawrence previously co-starred together in the film A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. Guest appearances by The Love Boat cast members Ted Lange, Lauren Tewes. Bernie Kopell and Jill Whelan.
Tommy decides to act as his own legal representative after Sheneneh sues him for hitting her car. Mark Curry guest stars as Ronnie Cochran, a spoof of Johnnie Cochran.
Note: This is the only episode that Martin Payne (played by Martin Lawrence) does not appear in physically. However, his voice is heard on speakerphone and he eventually appears as Sheneneh Jenkins. In addition, this episode also marks the final appearance of Sheneneh.
Martin takes Pam back to Jamaica where he married Gina when he learns that his marriage to Gina is invalid and that he's actually married to Pam. David Alan Grier returns as Reverend Leon Lonnie Love from the season 1 episode, "Checks, Lies and Videotape".
Martin gives his cuckoo clock to Pam, who finds that it makes too much noise, and donates it to a charity auction. Later, Martin and Tommy realize that the clock he gave away might be a very valuable antique, and worth a lot of money. They then begin to come up with ways to get the clock back.
The police want to use Pam's apartment for a stake-out, to keep surveillance on a suspect named Dynamite Willie. Martin comes up with an idea to capture the suspect himself, and cash in on the $100,000 reward. Guest appearance by Keith Sweat.
Pam gets fired from her job, and she gets the inside track to a newly open A&R position at Keep It Real Records. She finds a new talent Dante (Tyrese Gibson), and gets the job. Guest appearances by Dondre Whitfield, Jenna von Oÿ, Anthony Johnson and Phil Morris.
Note: This episode was a backdoor pilot for a spin-off of the same name starring Tichina Arnold, but the series never came to fruition. In this episode, Martin only appears in the teaser.
Pam's crazy twin cousin Tammy (portrayed by Tichina Arnold in a dual role) escapes from a mental ward and comes to stay at Pam's house, but eventually Pam ends up imprisoned in the same mental ward after being mistaken for Tammy. Meanwhile, everyone thinks that Tammy is Pam.
131
23
"California, Here We Come"
Gerren Keith
Story by : Barry Vigon & Tom Walla Teleplay by : Michael Carrington
Martin's talk show is picked up by a national network. The only problem is that he must move to Los Angeles, where the show will be taped. Gina also has been offered a new job that is also in L.A., but she doesn’t know how to tell Martin. Eventually Martin and Gina must say good-bye to Detroit and all their friends including Tommy, Pam, Shanise, and Cole. As they prepare, some of Martin's old friends stop by and they gather the gang at Nipsey's and recall past good times. Cole proposes marriage to Shanise and she accepts. Guest appearances by George Clinton, Lisa Leslie, Thomas Hearns and Lou Rawls.
Note: Tisha Campbell returned to the series following a ten-episode hiatus, after settling a sexual harassment lawsuit against Martin Lawrence. As a condition of her agreement to return, Martin and Tisha's scenes were filmed at different times to prevent them from meeting each other; this results in the both of them not appearing in the same scenes together.
References
^Gable, Donna (September 2, 1992). "Storm blows in CBS' favor". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (September 9, 1992). "Murphy Brown' puts CBS on top again". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (September 16, 1992). "Football kicks off ABC win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (September 23, 1992). "CBS wins with some old friends". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (September 30, 1992). "'Murphy' wave carries CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (October 7, 1992). "Monday lineup bolsters No. 1 CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Donlon, Brian (October 14, 1992). "Rankings omit Perot' paid ad". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (October 21, 1992). "Baseball hits big for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (October 28, 1992). "Baseball cleans up for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (November 4, 1992). "Politics, Halloween scare up an ABC win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (November 11, 1992). "Election news, football kick up ABC's ratings". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (November 18, 1992). "'Jacksons,' solid gold for ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (November 25, 1992). "Jacksons help as-easy-as-ABC win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (December 9, 1992). "ABC's Tuesday lineup ends up rosy". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Donlon, Brian (December 23, 1992). "Early Christmas gift for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Donlon, Brian (January 20, 1993). "ABC gets a Thursday night boost". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (January 27, 1993). "Inaugural gala helps carry CBS to top". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (February 17, 1993). "King of Pop and 'Queen' rule the ratings". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Donlon, Brian (February 24, 1993). "'Queen' rules in CBS' royal sweep". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (March 3, 1993). "Grammy show a winner for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (March 24, 1993). "Waco standoff lifts CBS' '48 Hours'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (April 7, 1993). "An Oscar to ABC for week's best ratings". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Donlon, Brian (April 28, 1993). "'Walker' kicks in for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (May 5, 1993). "'Fried Green Tomatoes' gives NBC sizzle". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Donlon, Brian (May 12, 1993). "Sturdy 'Home' helps lift ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (May 19, 1993). "'Cheers' nudges NBC to No. 1". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Wong Briggs, Tracey (August 25, 1993). "Newsmagazines take five of Top 10". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (September 1, 1993). "NBC's 'Now' jumps right into top 10". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (September 8, 1993). "'John Larroquette Show' off to high-flying start". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (September 15, 1993). "Smooth start for 'seaQuest DSV'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^Gable, Donna (September 29, 1993). "'Dave's World,' 'Harts' help CBS to victory". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^Gable, Donna (October 13, 1993). "New shows pick up steam in ABC win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Graham, Jefferson; Gable, Donna (October 20, 1993). "'Home Improvement' powers to No. 1". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (October 27, 1993). "World Series earns CBS a win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^"Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 10, 1993. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (November 17, 1993). "Walters gives ABC a special boost". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (November 24, 1993). "CBS sweeps back to top". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (December 15, 1993). "Midler's 'Gypsy' coming up roses for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (December 22, 1993). "ABC on top for 2nd week". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (January 12, 1994). "'Improvement' leads ABC charge". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (January 19, 1994). "'Columbo' on the case for ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (February 9, 1994). "Lilith brings ratings to 'Frasier'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^Moore, Dennis (March 2, 1994). "CBS' Olympic sweep". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (March 16, 1994). "Premieres give ABC pull". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (March 30, 1994). "Winner ABC can thank the academy". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^DeRosa, Robin (May 11, 1994). "ABC keeps hammering away". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^DeRosa, Robin (September 14, 1994). "CBS' 'Boys' off to good start". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Gable, Donna (September 21, 1994). "'Girl' helps ABC start fall season on top". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^Graham, Jefferson (October 12, 1994). "CBS edges into No. 1 spot, but can it stay?". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (October 26, 1994). "'Grace' leads ABC to tie with CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (November 9, 1994). "'Cagney & Lacey' makes winning return". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (November 16, 1994). "CBS' 'Scarlett' sweeps to No. 1". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (November 23, 1994). "'Scarlett,' CBS' sweeping epic". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^DeRosa, Robin (November 30, 1994). "Reason for CBS to love 'Rockford'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^DeRosa, Robin (December 21, 1994). "ABC's winning way with comedy". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^DeRosa, Robin (January 25, 1995). "'ER' helps NBC to No. 1". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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^Graham, Jefferson (September 20, 1995). "A scrambling CBS slips behind Fox". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^Graham, Jefferson (September 27, 1995). "NBC Sunday starters stumble". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
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