‘227’s’ Regina King, Marla Gibbs Talk ‘Southland’ Reunion

"Southland" -- Marla Gibbs and Regina King in "Underwater" / Episode 402

*Regina King was just 14 when she started playing Brenda, the daughter of Marla Gibbs’ Mary Jenkins on NBC’s “227.” Two decades later, King is taking care of 80-year-old Gibbs in the Jan. 24 episode of TNT’s “Southland.”

“This is the first time we’ve acted together since 227,” Gibbs tells TVGuide.com. “But Regina’s still my daughter. I just love her.”

Gibbs, all recovered from a stroke she suffered a few years back, plays the grandmother of a falsely accused suspect. “My character has a little Alzheimer’s, so I call Regina ‘Brenda,’ thinking she’s my grandson’s ex-girlfriend.”

King was touched to reunite with her former TV mom. “It was just like old times,” she says. “She’s as sharp-witted as she was 20-plus years ago.”