- [Jameer] Yeah, they were living in sin, Mom

- From the very first

(jazz music)

- Hey! My name is Jameer Pond, and this is

- Cynthia Graymond Pond

- That's right.

- His mother.

- Okay, okay

- And why you gotta sit so close?

- Well, clearly we're living together and

under these times of social distancing,

because of the coronavirus

- It's interesting, real interesting.

- Real interesting

yeah, we decided to bring some

love and laughter and levity to the situation

- Okay.

- And we're gonna bond.

Are you ready to bond?

- Do you have, like, makeup on or something?

- No, I don't have makeup, Ma

- Your skin looks

- It looks nice?

(laughter)

I wash my face.

- [Cynthia] Oh, that's it then

- I figured that we would watch

one of my favorite shows growing up

- Okay.

- Martin

(crickets sound)

First of all, you don't seem enthusiastic

- Well, I mean, you know

Why?

- Okay.

So Martin Lawrence was just a comedic genius.

He still is a comedic genius, but

in his prime, I mean, to be able to

watch him every week and

be dynamic on this show,

play an assortment of different characters,

so Martin Lawrence's character, Martin Payne

really influenced me, and I just loved the show,

I really did.

- And just thinking about it now, okay

so as a grown man,

what were the underlying concepts of it, cause

you know, I mean,

- Of Martin?

- Yeah.

- Black relationships,

- Right.

- Between men and women.

Friendships.

- The community.

- The community.

And I really

- His village.

- Yeah.

Martin was a wonderful mouthpiece for hip-hop

At the time.

No, it's fine Ma, it's fine

it's the radiator, yes, you can hear the radiator

this is authentic.

- Can't you edit it out?

- No.

- [Cynthia] Oh my goodness.

- Well look Mom, we've got three days

we're gonna go

I know I'm gonna take you away from

Paternity Court and

Judge Mathis, and the National Geographic

- That's right.

- For a little bit

- My animal shows, Swamp People.

- Swamp people.

I'm gonna take you away from that

- A diversion.

- Yeah, and the news of course.

- Okay.

- And afterwards, after the three days,

I'll give you a quiz.

So you gotta put your thinking cap on

- Okay.

- So we're about to watch Martin,

I just figured I'd give y'all a tour of my house.

First of all, Bam, hand sanitizer.

This is baby Jameer,

Why'd you put me in this sailor suit?

- [Cynthia] Because you was cute as hell.

- [Jameer] Welcome to my room, hey Ma.

She keeps the chair in here because

she lets me know,

this is only a pit stop, right?

This is my bedspread, this how you can

really let you know that

- [Cynthia] Dern, Jay

(upbeat jazz music)

- [Jameer] So this is the first episode of "Martin,"

Watching the first episode of "Martin"

- [Cynthia] Wow, they were living together?

- [Jameer] Yeah they were living in sin, Ma.

- Step, step.

(audience laughter)

(screaming)

- That's love, that's love

I don't like how they got their

outside clothes on in the bed, though.

- You're too damn pushy, Gina

- Do not talk to me like that!

- Don't talk to me like that!

- You need to check yourself

- Check yourself, Gina!

I ain't trying to hear all that,

I don't want to hear it, shut up.

- Where's the Emmy?

Where was the Emmy?

- [Cynthia] I wouldn't say it was Emmy

- [Jameer] What?

- In that one episode, was interesting

a lot of,

how can I

themes played out.

- [Jameer] Okay.

- The mother-father issues playing out

and you know

- [Jameer] His mother had a mustache

- Right.

- [Jameer] Yeah.

- And his father had a tight behind, you know

- [Jameer] You can say butt, Mom.

- And then when he told her to shut up,

I was like whoa, you know, okay.

That, he crossed the line.

- [Jameer] Line crosser.

- Don't nobody know me like my homie

- So open up that 40

- Shanaynay a halfway phony

- [Jameer] Hey, get it Ma.

There you go, Ma.

Ay! What move is that?

I don't know.

- [Cynthia] It's entertaining.

- It is entertaining.

(upbeat jazz music)

- So this is day two of "Martin" marathon

with my mother.

My mother's gone a little crazy,

she's singing negro spirituals

What's the song you were singing?

- [Cynthia] ♪ this might be the last time ♪

- All right, all right,

we don't need,

you're making me nervous.

I'm very happy that "Martin" is bringing us together

in this time of need, so I'm excited

okay, okay.

This is why

you need to get away,

so your mother won't sing negro spirituals.

Not all mothers, okay.

Season two is actually my favorite season of "Martin"

- Really?

- Yeah.

Got a lot of

memorable episodes that people consider classic.

- Okay.

- Lord knows if you had hurt my Ruby,

If you had hurt my baby,

I'd have grabbed your little apple head

and got to slicing and dicing

(laughter)

- [Jameer] Classic moment.

Classic "Martin" moment.

This episode is called "Hollywood Swinging" Part one.

♪ Varnell, man ♪

♪ Did you miss me? ♪

- He only does this once Tommy Davidson?

- [Jameer] It's a two-parter.

- Okay, but the name continues to come up

- [Jameer] Varnell Hill?

It's just synonymous with this show cause

he had such a big impact on this show

from these two episodes.

- Claudine, GTD.

What does GTD stand for?

- What do you think GTD stands for?

- I was thinking it was the name of

cause Claudine is the name of a movie.

An acronym for another movie.

- What does GTD stand for?

- Got the draws, okay?

Got the draws!

- Ma, he got the draws.

(laughter)

- [Jameer] Ma, he got the draws.

(upbeat jazz music)

- Hey, it's day three of the "Martin" marathon.

Still under quarantine, nothing has changed.

I am Martin-ed out,

but I am Martin-ed out, so

I'm gonna grab some wine because

♪ What else is there to do? ♪

Here we go, drip, drip, drip

You ready ma? We're wrapping this up

You ready?

- I is ready.

- You ready?

I'm a savage, ratchet

I'm a savage, Ma.

It's Megan thee Stallion, Ma

you gotta catch up.

- What's happening chief?

(audience laughter)

- What's happening chief? What's up?

- You know my sales' slogan,

You want it, I got it

If I ain't got it, Imma get it

so get it while the getting is good.

- So Tracey Morgan played the character called "Hustle man."

In the spots that he had on "Martin,"

- He made it work.

- [Jameer] Very brief,

- That's right.

- [Jameer] But always a scene stealer.

- That's right.

- [Jameer] Can you give me a Tracey Morgan impression?

I don't know what that

What's happening chief?

You gotta talk like that.

You gotta talk like that when you talk

like Tracey Morgan.

You gotta make that face too.

- [Cynthia] Oh my.

(screaming)

- At Chilligan's island, man.

- [Cynthia] Okay, yeah great

- [Jameer] One of the, look

the physical aspect, the physical comedy

- [Cynthia] Yes, yes.

- Turned all the way up in season three.

- Yes jay, yes jay

- I'm just letting you know.

(upbeat jazz music)

- So we just watched "Martin"

just finished it, how you feel?

Right after, give me a

your point of view

- I really loved it, I loved the

first couple of seasons.

At the end you could see, you know,

like the demise and creativity and the

you know, the energy with

the cast

- Yeah.

- Changed dramatically.

In the first couple of seasons it was like

really hype and special,

and then it was sad, I almost felt like

I was losing a part of the family.

- Doesn't it feel bad, really does.

- [Jameer] All right, so its been three days,

- [Cynthia] Three days.

- [Jameer] We watched "Martin," we bonded

how did you feel about the overall show

going into it, and now that you have watched it,

or most of it, how do you feel?

- I love, I love the experience.

I learned a lot, I learned a lot about that show,

and I learned, you know, a great deal more about

you know, how you

your processing and how you research

- It's a genius level, yeah.

Does it change your mind about anything,

or like any preconceived notions that you might

have had about "Martin" going into it?

- When I watched it way back when,

when I caught glimpses of the show,

even though I did remember some things,

- You were remembering a lot.

- Like it was filed back,

and so I did watch it,

but I just thought it was just a normal, like

you know, tom foolery kind of

- Tom foolery.

- You know, tom foolery kind of sitcom.