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Sassy sitcom centering on radio and television personality Martin Payne. Series focuses on his romantic relationship with girlfriend Gina, her best friend Pam and escapades with best friends Tommy and Cole.
1992
Martin gets in trouble with Gina when she listens in on his radio show and hears his insensitive remarks about women. When Martin gets home, Gina calls him into the bedroom, away from his friends Tommy and Cole. Martin gets chewed out, but give her attitude. So she threatens to leave him. Martin eventually gives in. But then Gina agrees to put on an act in front of Tommy and Cole by pretending that Martin won, if he attends a fancy dinner with her that night.
Martin forgets to get Gina a gift for their first anniversary. Gina is angry. So he runs out to a lingerie shop to get her some intimate apparel. But he ends up getting her a foot stool instead. In the end, Martin learns the importance of gift giving.
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 irrate and has major ego problems once the entire city of Detroit finds out. Now he has to prove to the whole city that he is really the ""man"" in the relationship.
Martin is having trouble with his toilet and tries to fix it himself. After he's made a wreck of things, Gina finally convinces him to hire a plumber to come out and fix it. But the when the plumber seems to be taking a very long time to complete the job, they find his body collapsed on the floor. What should they do now? Can they revive him, or is it too late?
When Sheneneh wins a date with Christopher ""Kid"" Reid on Martin's radio show, Martin soon fears that Kid's career is over. Kid arrives at Sheneneh'a apartment and learns that she is his biggest fan. Sheneneh's 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.
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 and Cole that causes him to act like an idiot.
Martin becomes jealous after learning that his recent radio show guest, Keith Washington, once dated Gina when they were younger.
Cole's mother interrupts Cole's evening with his girlfriend and demands back rent from her son. Following Martin's advice, Cole stands up to his mother but finds himself homeless when he is thrown out of the house. So he is forced to move in with Martin but soon drives Gina insane with his bad manners and disgusting habits. Martin informs Cole to persuade his mother to let him move back home. He comes to a mutual agreement with his mother and returns home.
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 seance 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. But then his apartment soon becomes the next target. So he devises a plan to catch the burglar.
After Gina wakes up in the middle of the night, hearing noises in the kitchen, she wakes up Martin and sends him to investigate. Martin spots a mouse running under the refridgerator. The next day he contacts an 'exterminator' who Stan referred him to.
Stan decides to hire a new female talk show host and place her as co-host of Martin's show, to boost the station's ratings. At first Martin feels threatened by the move and is very stand-offish. But she soon warms him up with her charm, and Martin finds that he has become very attracted to her. Even though he loves Gina, he still feels a strong attraction to Monica, and tries to resist the temptation to be with her.
Martin reveals a secret that Gina told him about Pam on the air which later turns into a big mess when everyone starts revealing past secrets.
Martin shares a unique version of the Christmas story when he reluctantly steps in to play Santa for the kids in Tommy's mentoring program.
Martin's radio listeners love it when he and Gina have an on-air argument. But Martin is against the idea when Stan wants to hire Gina permanently as co-host on the show.
Martin returns to his elementary school to participate in Career Day. He discovers his favorite 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Trinidad, is still teaching there. They decide to go out to eat and catch up on old times. They end up at his apartment where she begins making moves on him, just as Gina walks in. She tells Gina that Martin made the unwanted advance on her, and Gina runs out in anger. The next day, Martin returns to the school to confront his former teacher. She makes another move on him in the classroom, but this time Gina's watching and she's ready to defend her man!
Martin and Gina fight over Gina's unusual Valentine's Day gift, and 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 & Gina now broken up, Pam sets a lonely Gina up with her cousin Leon, who is a minister struggling to keep his fleshly desires under control. Meanwhile, Cole and Tommy take a despondent Martin to a nightclub hoping to cheer him up. While there, he meets a beautiful woman named Nicole, and they begin dating. By coincidence, the 2 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 realize that they both are still in love with their rgeir 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.
Martin gets the flu and he expects Gina to stay at home and take care of him. But Gina gets fed up with him acting like a baby and comparing her with his mother.
Martin and an old friend get arrested for committing credit card fraud. So, Gina and the gang quickly scramble to come up with bail money.
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 that can't seem to let her alone. Eventually he and his gang of thugs confront Tommy and beat him up. Martin and Cole go after this angry group of little people to avenge Tommy's beating, by throwing their weight around and bullying the patrons in the little people's bar. But in the end, they almost get beaten up themselves.
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 like a tyrant on the set, and alienates everyone around him, even Gina. In the end, Martin is left to do the whole show by himself, and bombs miserably.
Everybody pools together to get a raffle ticket from Roscoe the snot-nosed kid, 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. Tommy ends up giving a ride Sheneneh, and her 2 friends, Bonquisha and Keylolo. Gina ends up fighting with Jerome, the player, trying to wash her window at an intersection, and breaking off the side view mirror. Cole ends up driving his mother, Mama Payne and a friend around, and crashing into the curb. Pam takes the car to a drive through bank window and gets hassled by Otis the security guard, who takes out his frustrations on the car. 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, 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 Lawrence
Martin Payne
Tichina Arnold
Pamela James
Tisha Campbell
Gina Waters-Payne
Carl Anthony Payne II
Cole Brown
Thomas Mikal Ford
Tommy Strawn
1995
Gina realizes the honeymoon's over when Martin spends their first night back home partying with Tommy and Cole, while she stays home.
1996
Gina thinks she might be pregnant and warns Martin to keep quiet. Within an hour, the whole city knows. Pam drops by, and just happens to have a pregnancy test in her purse. After an anxious Martin destroys the test, he has to go out at midnight and get another one. Meanwhile, Tommy and Cole argue over who will be the godfather.
When Gina learns she is nominated for an advertising award, she asks Martin to attend the awards dinner with her and advises him 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.
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, or else!
Suddenly Gina, Pam and Cole can sing! But their talents are not appreciated by the Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls), who has asked for Martin's help in finding a new background vocalist.
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 before the fun begins. Tommy and Pam each show up at their apartment when things between them are not working out. And Cole has broken up with Big Shirley after catching her with another man. Then he shows up at Martin's apartment, wanting Martin to meet all of his new girl friends, one at a time.
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"". Now the gang has to come up with a plan to save their pal. Meanwhile, Tommy and Pam decide to see other people.
Tommy & Cole get robbed at Jerome's new club, the Shiznitz, after picking up Gina's birthday gift for Martin - an expensive ring. So they get with Jerome to track down the 3 female thieves at their hideaway.
Martin meets with Gina's boss, then gets her fired from the ad agency she's been working for. 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.
When Cole loses his job, Martin manages to get him a job working at the station. A job that Cole fouls up. But then Cole arranges to get Charles Barkley to appear as a guest on Martin's show.
With both Martin and Gina working, they decide to hire a maid. Martin hires a maid that he likes, but when Gina sees her, she fires her. Then Gina hires a male housekeeper, and Martin doesnt like him. They eventually settle on Miss Minnie, a nice older motherly woman on the outside, but makes their lives unlivable with her domineering ways.
Martin agrees to babysit his infant nephew Camaron, when his parents go out of town. But once they get snowed in, and can't return home & get their baby, Martin & Gina have to watch the baby. In the end, Gina has to leave for work, and Tommy & Cole come over to help out. However, even with the three of them, the baby still gets the upper hand.
Gina gets her head stuck in their new brass bed headboard while making love to Martin. They try everything to get her head unstuck. Martin tries sawing it off, Tommy tries a welding torch to get most of it off, but none of their efforts pay off. So Gina must 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 with ties to other 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.
After Gina and Pam witness 2 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 to be the girl's bodyguard.
The Hispanic building superintendant is about to be deported, unless he gets married in a hurry. Pam, who despeately needs cash, so she can pay her back taxes to the IRS, agrees to be the bride -- for a price.
Martin learns that the way to woo a big-shot producer is by flattering his wife — causing jealousies to flare when he and Gina get dinner with them.
Martin finds a bigger and better apartment for half the price they're paying now. So he decides to sublet his old place to a young couple, and move into the new place. But then the deal on the new place falls through, and it's too late to move back. Martin and Gina end up in the street! So they devise a scheme to scare off the new tennants. Tommy, Pam and Cole masquerade as dangerous criminals. The plan works nicely, and Martin gets his old crib back.
Tisha Campbell hosts a special retrospective look back at the best of the last 99 episodes. Episode includes many of the special moments from the show, outtakes, and Tisha's own insight into the laughter behind the show, that made it such a success.
Sheneneh crashes a Love Connection show screening, then gets chosen! Chris Rock guest stars as Sheneneh's disrespectful date.
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 (AND, he doesn't tip his barber). But they then turn-the-tables on both Martin and Gina by throwing a huge surprise birthday party at Nipseys.
Gina & Pam have taken roles in an upcoming play to help raise money for needy kids. Martin continually disrupts rehearsal because he doesn't like the Olde English speech being used in the play. But everything comes to a head when Martin finds out the leading man will have to kiss the leading lady (Gina) during the play. He causes the leading man to fall and injure himself, leaving the actors without a leading man. Martin then has to improvise with his own ""homeboy"" interpretation of Romeo and Juliet.
The gang goes on a camping trip in the woods, and Martin and Gina look forward to a special time under the sacred Chippawa Indian waterfalls. But 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 becomes a different person whenever clapping occurs. She goes on a blind date with an artist, at his showing, and nobody realizes that she is still under hypnosis.
After Pam's cousin 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 her voice doesn't cooperate when she gets nervous about singing.
After Martin's drivers license expires, his insurance company cancels his policy. So in a rush to get his license renewed, he goes down to the DMV 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.
On their anniversary night, Martin & Gina are preparing to celebrate a night of quiet romance, when they are interrupted by Tommy and the gang. An argument breaks out over a suitcase that was loaned to Martin, and results in Tommy and Martin 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. This is the first of a 2-part episode.
A major car accident has put Tommy in the hospital. Martin and Tommy had not been speaking to each other. Martin and the gang rush to the hospital to check on their injured friend, but find the man in the room in a full body cast. Martin, now sorry for the feuding, sobs at his bedside and vows to renew the friendship. But can Tommy really hear his plea?
After some misadventures with marriage counselors, bad advice from friends fouls things up even more for the constantly quarreling Martin and Gina.
Gina is all ready for an underwear ad presentation until Cole accidentally erases her computer. She goes to Pam for help, but her friend is too busy with a date. Under pressure during her pitch, 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 she 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.
When Martin announces on his talk show that any man can beat any woman at anything, especially in sports, Gina 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 U.S. women's Olympic gold medal-winning basketball team. The "easy win" quickly turns into a challenging match as the guys begin to understand the girls' point.
While attending a dinner party at an exclusive restaurant, Martin saves the life of an African prince. The prince rewards Martin with lavish gifts and offers him a large sum of money for Gina's services. Martin agrees to the offer thinking that they will be able to use this royal money for their own little palace. All is well in the Payne kingdom until Martin realizes the Prince wants Gina to be his Princess.
When Tommy invites the gang for a ski vacation, they are all in for the ride of their lives. Cole's date Shanise is one ski short of a set; Pam's date Tahiem is one cold headache; and Tommy's date Aquannetta is one big surprise, as she is a white woman. After Martin discovers Tommy has a special announcement to make, he believes that Tommy is going to pop the question. Martin tells the gang and they decipher a plan to put an end to Tommy's engagement to the snow bunny. But after Martin causes everything to snowball, he realizes that the joke is on him.
Cole attempts to entertain a girl at his Mom's house. But Mom shows up and ruins everything. Cole gets his own apartment. But it turns out to be a real dive. Cole and Shanise are happy anyway.
Lessons about the holiday spirit come knocking for Martin through ghosts of the past, present and future. Meanwhile, Jackie Chan pays Sheneneh a visit.
Martin and Gina are planning to have a baby. They plan to have a lunch-time rendezvous to get things going. But a trip to the courthouse with Cole, leads to them finding out that Martin has been ignoring jury duty since 1982. Now, forced to perform his civic duty as a juror, Martin presses for a quick verdict, so he can get home to his ovulating wife.
Martin helps a burglar rob his apartment, because he thinks its 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.
Even though Gina's out of town on business, her mom comes to town for a weekend visit, and wants to spend all her time with Martin, playing boardgames and just getting to know him better. 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.
Martin and the gang go on a cruise, which Gina accidentally misses. He later meets a beautiful woman named Ellen who he believes is contemplating suicide. But after a talk with Martin, decides not to kill herself, and begins to develop a romantic interest in him. Tommy and Pam try to just be friends, but their friendship is tested after Tommy meets another beautiful woman. Later that night, stowaway Cole accompanies Pam to the bar, where they begin to drink heavily. The next day Pam wakes up in bed next to Cole and believes that they have slept together. Meanwhile, Martin is awakened by a knock on the door, and finds a half dressed Ellen has come to his stateroom to pay him a visit.
Martin and the gang are on a cruise ship with The Love Boat characters. Martin is doomed to finish the trip without Gina, who missed the boat, and is stalked by a suicidal temptress. Tommy thinks that Pam is suddenly interested in Cole, after finding them in bed together.
Tommy must defend himself in court after his minor dent in Sheneneh's car leads to a lawsuit involving an exorbitant sum.
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.
Martin gives his cuckoo clock to Pam, who finds that it makes too much noise, and donates it to a charity auction. Later, Martin & 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.
Tommy's ex-marine father, Sgt. Strawn, shows up and tries to make his son a man by showing him up in front of his friends.
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.
Pam becomes upset over the fact that she has been recently fired from her former job. Tommy, Cole and Martin stop by Pam's apartment along with their high school buddy Trey Foster who happens to work at a record company called Keep It Real Records as an successful A&R. Trey tells Pam of a job opening for an A&R position. Pam, who has a passion for music, decides to visit Keep It Real Records. While there, she meets Donna, the sassy receptionist, Clyde, the messenger, and Tony the creative director who tries to flirt with Pam. Trey shows up late for work and receives a message from Donna that their boss, CEO Sterling Sweets, wants to see him as soon as possible. Sweets urges Trey to locate new talent or Trey will have to search for new employment. Pam tells Trey that she may be able to help him if he can get her the A&R position. He agrees. Dante, Pam's typist/assistant from work, brings her the rest of her belongings from her old office. Dante begins to play the piano and sings. Pam be
Pam's twin cousin Tammy escapes from a mental ward and comes to stay at Pam's house, but everyone mistakes her for Pam.
Martin's talk show is picked up by the network, and is slated to air to a nation-wide audience. The only problem is that if Martin wants the show, he must move to L.A. where the show will be taped. Gina, who also has news of a new job offer prepares to break the news to Martin and the gang.
Martin and Gina must say good-bye to Detroit and all their friends including Tommy, Pam and Cole. New job offers in Los Angeles for both Martin and Gina, prompt them to move. As they prepare, they gather the gang and recall past good times.
1993
Martin struggles with coming up with a new topic for his talk show. In desperation, he finally accepts some ideas from the gang. Finally, Gina suggests that he use as a topic, the circumstances of how they first met and fell in love. As they go around the room, each of them has a different remembrance of the events of that night.
After a painful toothache, Gina has a bad experience at the dentist's office. She has had novacaine, her face is swollen and bruised all over, she's drooling uncontrollably, and her speech is badly slurred. She looks like a mess! 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 brag to all his old schoolmates that he is rich and famous, and has a beautiful fashion model girlfriend. If anyone saw what his girlfriend really looked like, it would completely shatter his contrived image.
When Martin finds out that Gina has to go out of town on business, he, Tommy & Cole decide they will go out and have some fun while she is away. Meanwhile, Gina & Pam are having fun of their own at a company party in her hotel room, complete with a surprise male stripper. When Martin calls the room to talk to Gina, Bob, the white guy, answers the phone and tells Martin they are having a wild party, with strippers. Martin then drives the 500 miles in the middle of the night, and tries to catch Gina in the act of being unfaithful to him.
Martin invites a crowd of friends over to watch boxing on TV, but can never get to watch it, because he is constantly interrupted by his guests. Cole's new girlfriend Tasha, takes a liking to Tommy, and comes on to him in the back room, causing friction with Tommy and Cole. Pam and Sheneneh argue in the hall, and Bro' Man irritates Martin as well.
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. With the help of Tommy and Cole, Martin safely delivers the baby. Meanwhile Gina and Pam can't make it to the shower because they're broken down in an alley, while a lyrically challenged mechanic sings to them and works on their car.
Martin decides to become more macho after Stan, as well as Tommy 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. And as usual, Martin takes things overboard and his antics to prove that Gina is not in control of his life cause other men to disrespect their women also, which leads to a big show-down at the radio station.
Gina accidentally throws away Martin's tickets to a very important professional basketball game. She tries to get them out of the trash chute and replace them before Martin finds out, but is unsuccessful. She later finds out that Sheneneh also has a pair of tickets to the same game, and begs Sheneneh for them. Sheneneh, who doesn't like Gina and enjoys watching her suffer, decides to make it difficult for Gina to get the tickets. She compels Gina to work off the debt in her beauty salon.
Gina starts to hang around with a new male friend. They go shopping together alot. Martin gets suspicious. So he threatens the guy 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 Mama Payne 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 where they meet a tough physical trainer. 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. Especially after he meets Varnel Hill -- the successful TV talk-show host. So 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. During a performance by Jodeci, Martin crashes the stage and tries to join the group in singing. Then on the street, Martin runs into Michael Jackson and gets beat down. Elsewhere, Pam believes that she has tracked down Denzel Washington.
Martin's crazy relatives and Gina's parents arrive at Martin's house for Thanksgiving dinner. When Mama Payne hears the news, she panics trying to get away fast, and jumps out of the window. Gina can only watch from the window as Mama Payne soars to the ground.
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. Martin tries lure Gina into giving in by using soft music & candles, but Gina wears her sexiest blue dress to entice Martin to give in.
It's Christmas time and Martin is ready to spend the holidays with Gina, but Gina isn't happy. She wants to be with her family in Philadelphia. Pam convinces Martin to take Gina home. But instead of flying out of Detroit, Martin decides for them to take the bus. While waiting, the bus gets snowed in, Martin fights with Miss Gerri, Gina beats up the station attendant, and the couple gets their luggage stolen.
Martin gets a simple traffic ticket for running a stop sign. But he turns it into a Federal case when he decides to fight it in court and accuses the officer of civil rights violations, etc. As usual, Martin ends up botching the case and tries to resort to an insanity plea.
Martin's new CD Walkman disappears. Stan convinces him that one of his friends must have taken it since they all have keys to his apartment. Martin goes around to each of his good friends and accuses them. Then it turns out he's wrong when the real taker of the Walkman innocently returns it to Martin.
Gina is offered a job in New York and Martin, taking advice from Stan, tells her to take it. Meanwhile Gina, taking advice from Pam and Sheneneh, decides to leave on the assumption that Martin will stop her from leaving and ask her to marry him. Part 1 of two.
With Gina out of his life, Martin reconsiders his decision to let her go to New York to move on with her life, and he sets out to win her back. (Part 2 of 2)
Martin and Gina admit that they are fighting and arguing too much. So they seek the help of a church Minister for counselling to help them resolve their issues. They end up being invited by the Minister to a weekend Marriage counsel session with other troubled couples at a mountain retreat.
After winning a charity boxing match, Martin thinks he is as good a fighter as anyone. And after Tommy Hearns makes advances towards Gina, Martin challenges the boxer to a 10-round grudge match, with potentialy disastrous results.
When the small screen TV in the apartment needs replacing, Martin is enticed into buying a big-screen TV, and uses the money from Martin & Gina's combined checking account to purchase it. 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 who eventually asks her to marry him. Initially, the gang was concerned about he and Pam, because of the age difference. But as time went by, they began to enjoy the perks that go along with being in the entourage of a wealthy industrialist: skybox tickets to games, New shoes for Martin, exotic trips to far away places. But once Pam breaks her engagement, Martin's hope of winning fame and fortune are dashed.
While sleeping in bed with Gina, Martin repeatedly finds himself at the center of his worst nightmare: a night of passion with Pam.
Pam throws Martin and Gina an engagement party attended by Snoop Dogg, but the couple's childish argument threatens to make them miss it.
Stan is getting busted by the IRS for 20 years worth of back taxes, so he must sell the radio station. The new owner takes over and turns it into a country & western station. Martin tries to adapt. He buys a big cowboy hat, boots and tight jeans, but he's just not good at country & western.
Martin has quit his job at the new country radio station. He tries his had at working odd jobs to make money to make ends meet, but nothing seems to work out. Sad and depressed, he leaves Detroit. But he doesn't tell Gina where he's going. He only says that he will return when he finds himself. She can only contact him via his pager, but . . . This is a season ending cliffhanger.
1994
Gina searches for the missing Martin. But a canceled check leads her and the gang to find him. Martin has joined a cult.
Martin escapes from the Monastary after learning that the cult leader is a sado-masochist psycho who is just after his body, and returns to Detroit. But once home, he discovers that Gina has completely redecorated his apartment in his absence. He also discovers that Gina has new plans for their relationship.
Martin goes looking for a good job, but his pride won't let him take just any job. He has his reputation to maintain. As the bills begin to pile up, and he begins to get more desperate for work, he lands a series of low-paying, part-time positions.
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. Martin then convinces Pam to get Gina over to his apartment that night. Martin thinks Gina is not coming, then she comes in the apartment while he is not looking. They sing Fire and Desire together.
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. Little does he know though, that his advice to Tommy would pay such high dividents for Tommy and Pam, yet leave his shocked and speechless.
Martin and Gina finally decide to move in together. However, the apartment gets rather crowded when all of Gina's belongings get there. The two clash on what to keep, and they end up with two of everything. In the end they compromise on what to keep and what to give away to charity. Meanwhile, Pam and Tommy are glad Gina has moved out of her old apartment, so they can have a chance to ""do things"" once she is gone.
Martin is excited when Gina's mother, his future mother-in-law 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 shows up, claiming to be Martin's long lost son. Now he must confront Gina and her mom with the news, and take on some new and unexpected responsibilities.
Martin wins the Michigan State 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 a tie, and must be split - thousands of ways!
Martin and Gina attempt to discover information about Tommy's mysterious job. Nobody knows what Tommy does for a living, and when asked direct questions about his occupation, Tommy gives evasive answers, and questionable body-language. 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.
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.
Martin's new TV show is doing well, and they are being prepped for nation-wide broadcast, but the show needs an overhaul in order to have wider audience appeal. Gina's company is hired by Martin's production company to recommend some changes to the show. Martin is distressed over the changes Gina recommends, and Gina ends up regretting it too, because Martin's personality begins to change as well.
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, increases his rent by 5%. 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. As Martin and the gang suffer through the weather together, Martin attempts to settle his dispute with Mr. Lopez but discovers the landlord in a compromising situation with another tenant's wife. Martin informs Mr. Lopez that he will keep quiet only if Mr. Lopez reduces the rent and turns the heat back on.
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. They decide to go out to dinner with Gina's ex, Derrick, and Martin's ex, Tanya. Meanwhile, Pam decides that she and Tommy should not see so much of each other, so that when they do see each, it would be ""HOT"".
With a beloved local theater on the verge of closing, Martin hosts a fundraiser at Nipsey's celebrating Black film and television stars of the 1970s.
Martin must choose between Tommy or Cole to decide who will be the best man at his wedding. They both want to be the one chosen, so they bribe Martin with gifts to influence his decision. Meanwhile, Gina and Pam search for a bridesmaid dress.
Marting finds out from the D.A. that a criminal (named ""Mad Dog No Good"") that Martin helped put away, is getting out of jail on parole. The criminal has been watching Martin on his T.V. show, and calls Martin live-on-the-air and tells him he's getting out and wants to meet with him face-to-face. Martin tries to get encouragement from all his friends, but when they find out that Mad Dog No Good is coming to get him, they all desert him and run.
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.
Martin and Gina bite off more than they can chew when they invest all their money in a restaurant, (named Martin's Meatloaf & Waffles), that becomes more popular than they anticipated. The problem is that neither one of them knows how to run a restaurant or manage the finances, AND they take on Stan as a partner, which leads to lots of hilarious situations along the way.
Gina's conceited college friend 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 at 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 inadvertantly 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' 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 results in both families constantly bickering & fighting. At the last minute, Martin and Gina decide to elope. Mama Payne becomes furious and throws a fit in the chapel. Part 1 of 2.
Martin and Gina flee to the Bahamas with Tommy and Pam to escape their families constant bickering. As the couples make last minute preparations, Martin gets stuck in an elevator with Tommy, while Pam accidentally ruins Gina's wedding gown. After the diasters have passed, Martin and Gina are free to take part in their long-awaited oceanside wedding.
