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MOMMA THE DETECTIVE (1981) – Happy Mother’s Day to the ladies who brought all of us into this world! Every single one of us alive today was given birth to by a woman, and to help mark their special day here’s my review of a made for tv production about a sleuthing mother in New York City.

This item was the pilot for a potential series to be titled Momma the Detective and is also known as See China and Die, which would have been the individual episode title had this been picked up as a series. The star was the venerable Esther Rolle, most famous for her role as Florida Evans on Maude (1972-1974) and then Good Times (1974-1979).

Rolle starred as “Momma” Sykes, a freelance cleaning woman and cook who works for several well-to-do clients in a New York high rise.

When she discovers one of her clients stabbed to death in his bed one morning, she gets the chance to put to use the detective skills that she has honed through years of reading murder mysteries. (It’s television. Just go with it.)

Momma Sykes’ son Alvin Sykes (Kene Holliday) is a detective with the New York City Police Department and he happens to be the one assigned to this particular case. His gentle exasperation as Momma persistently pursues her own parallel investigation to his sets the tone for what apparently would have been his “Bert Convy in The Snoop Sisters” role if this had gone to series. Continue reading →