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PAYNE, Martin &
Gina Waters
(Martin)
Apartment #42
East 23rd Street
Detroit, MI
Martin is a talk show host at WZUP radio and
later a TV talk show associate producer/host
on Channel 51‘s “Speak Out“ [retitled “Word
on the Street.”]. He is single, opinionated,
and often very loud. He shares an apartment
with his girlfriend, Gina Waters, an
attractive marketing executive.
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Martin's personality is all about living large,
waving his arms, puffing his chest and acting
all macho. But deep down inside he's a sensitive
man, but he avoids showing that side to anyone
else but his girlfriend, Gina. When Martin is
with his male friends, he's the King of his
Castle and he lets his pals know that Gina knows
better than to mess with him. Of course, Martin
makes sure that Gina's not home when he's
spouting such nonsense.
Sometimes, while on-the-air Martin will share
his philosophy about women but he forgets that
Gina might be listening and that when he gets
home, he'll have hell to pay for his opinions.
In the end, however, Martin and Gina have a
"Honeymooners" kind of relationship. They might
get into shouting matches with one another, but,
at the end of the day, Martin and Gina do the
"Baby, you're the greatest!" thing and kiss and
makeup.

Gina Waters, the love of Martin's life
Martin's friends include his pal, Cole Brown, a
janitor at an airplane hanger [he lives with his
mother and has a girlfriend named Big Shirley
who is never seen above her chest]; Tommy
Strong, Martin's tall, bald best buddy; Pam
James, Tommy’s girlfriend and Gina’s best friend
and secretary (whom Martin detests); and Stan
Winters, the owner of the WZUP radio station.
Besides their close friends (Cole, Tommy & Pam)
Martin and Gina have to contend with a number of
quirky neighbors including Sheneneh Jenkins, a
goofy female who lives across the hall in
apartment #41 (her catchphrase is “Oh no you
didn‘t“); Brother Man a.k.a. "Bro-Man," a
harmless neighbor from the 5th floor who enters
and exits through Martin's apartment window via
the fire escape, raids his refrigerator and
borrows stuff from him (when asked what he is
doing in the apartment Bro-Man usually says "Nothin'...just
chillin'"); Hustle Man, a con artist who is
always looking to make a fast buck; Dragon Fly
Jones, a Black karate expert with no real
martial arts ability; Otis the building's
big-mouthed fat-bellied security guard; Ms.
Geri, a sassy senior citizen a.k.a. "Miss
Geritol" (what Martin calls her); Roscoe, the
Snot-nosed 10 year-old kid who has a crush on
Gina; Buckwhite, a six-foot tall white boy with
an Afro; Elroy the Mechanic, a wanna-be
rhythm-and-blues singer with a lousy singing
voice, and Jerome, a.k.a. "Player of Players"
who is always hitting on Gina when Martin's
nowhere around to defend his woman.
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Some Classic Martin -
Pam Put downs |
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Martin: |
Pam, do you
prefer to be called "Ms. or Mr."?
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Pam: |
Do you prefer
"Jack" or "a**"? |
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Martin: |
Pam, is that
your breath smellin' like boiled bologna?
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Pam: |
No, that's yo'
feet eatin' through those shoes again. |
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Martin: |
Pam, your hair
is so nappy Wilson couldn't pick it!
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Pam: |
At least I'm
tall enough to get on the rides at
Disneyland, Martin! |
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Gina: |
Martin,
where's Pam? |
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Martin: |
I don't know,
probably in a river somewhere swattin'
fish! |
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Gina: |
Martin, stop
it! |
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Martin: |
Nah, nah, it's
ok Gina. I mean, Martin did climb all the
way down from that wedding cake to make
this toast. |
Martin’s relatives included a
boisterous, oversexed Uncle Junior who had a
patch over his left eye; a pilfering crook of a
cousin named Sonny who acts like Eddie Murphy
and Martin’s deeply religious mother, Emma who
doesn‘t like Gina. But that didn't keep Martin
and Gina from getting married in the spring of
1995. Gina's parents, Nadine and Dr. Cliff
Waters, live in Philadelphia, and attended the
wedding.
When Martin is on-the-air he uses the boisterous
catchphrase “Whazz UuuuP!” with his listening
audience. When upset he says “Daaaaammm!!’ or
“Get ta Steppin‘!” when throwing people out of
his apartment.
Continued next page
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