Punky Brewster

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Punky Brewster

Cast of "Punky Brewster", starting from the bottom-right going counter-clockwise: Soleil Moon Frye, Casey Ellison, George Gaynes, Susie Garrett, Cherie Johnson, Brandon the Wonder Dog, and (center) Ami Foster.
Genre Situation Comedy
Running time approx. 0:24 (per episode)
Creator(s) David W. Duclon
Starring Soleil Moon Frye
George Gaynes
Susie Garrett
Cherie Johnson
Ami Foster
Casey Ellison
Brandon (VI)
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Original channel NBC
Original run September 16, 1984–May 27, 1988
No. of episodes 88

Punky Brewster was an American sitcom which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1986 and again in first-run syndication from 1987 to 1988. Overall, there were a total of 88 episodes produced. The show had an extended life in reruns until it stopped airing after September 27, 1996.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Penelope "Punky" Brewster (played by Soleil Moon Frye) is a warm, funny and bright girl, abandoned by her parents at the age of 7. Punky's father walked out on her family. Soon after that, Punky was abandoned by her mother who took her to a Chicago supermarket and disappeared. Punky was alone with her only companion, and faithful dog, Brandon. Afterwards, Punky discovered a vacant apartment in a local building.

The building was managed by photographer Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes), an older bachelor. Punky quickly became friends with Cherie Johnson (Cherie Johnson), a young girl who lived upstairs in Henry's building with her grandmother Betty Johnson (Susie Garrett). Once Henry discovers Punky in the empty apartment adjacent his, he hears her story. The relationship between the two blossoms, and Henry eventually adopts Punky.

Her other friends are geeky Allen Anderson (Casey Ellison) and stuck-up rich girl Margeaux Kramer (Ami Foster).

One of the most memorable episodes was built around the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in which Punky hears about the deaths and her dreams of being an astronaut are nearly quashed. In the end, however, her schoolteacher and Henry, along with guest star Buzz Aldrin, both tell her that she should still follow her dreams.

[edit] Production companies

The show was produced by NBC Productions during the network run. When the show was revived for first-run syndication, NBC could not produce the episodes due to then-extant FCC regulations regarding network involvement in syndicated TV programming. Thus, they made a syndication deal with Columbia Pictures Television to produce two more seasons of episodes, plus US syndication rights to the NBC-era episodes. As of 2006, US TV distribution for all episodes belongs to Sony Pictures Television, while NBC Universal Television Distribution controls the non-US distribution rights. Seasons one, two, and three of Punky Brewster are currently available on DVD in Region 1. Season three was released on July 25, 2006.

[edit] Theme song

The theme song for Punky Brewster is "Every Time I Turn Around", written by Judy Hart Angelo and Gary Portnoy. It is sung by Portnoy. The duo also wrote the theme song to Cheers (which Portnoy also sang).

[edit] Cast

Soleil Moon Frye starred as Punky Brewster in the hit 1980s television sitcom.
Enlarge
Soleil Moon Frye starred as Punky Brewster in the hit 1980s television sitcom.
Additional/Guest cast (in decending order of number of appearances)

[edit] Spin-off

Punky Brewster and Glommer from the cartoon series It's Punky Brewster!
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Punky Brewster and Glommer from the cartoon series It's Punky Brewster!

The episode "Fenster Hall" was a failed attempt to create a spin-off of "Punky Brewster". It was originally a one hour episode, but was cut into two shows for syndication.

It's Punky Brewster!, an animated spin-off with the original cast appeared on Saturday mornings. The cartoon was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions in association with LBS Communications. It ran from 14 September 1985 to 5 September 1987, for a total of 26 episodes.

This series included the addition of one new animal character known as Glommer; a creature that came from a world at the end of the rainbow (perhaps a cross between a juvenile leprechaun, with reddish goatee, and a teddy bear). Glommer had various magical powers and one of them was the ability to transport Punky and her friends, Margaux, Cherie, and Allen, to any part of the Earth instantly.

[edit] Trivia

  • The title character was named after a childhood crush of then-NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff. The real-life Punky was tapped to play a teacher in one episode.
  • Punky's dog Brandon is named for Tartikoff.
  • Fred Gwynne auditioned to play Henry, but lost to George Gaynes. Gaynes later became well-known as the elderly, bumbling commandant in the Police Academy movies.
  • The show launched the Just Say No anti-drugs campaign, following from an episode where older children offer Punky drugs.
  • Because the show had many young viewers and was scheduled after football games which tended to run overtime, six fifteen-minute episodes were produced. This was done rather than joining a full-length episode in progress, because that would disappoint children watching the program, and showing it later tended to put them up at a time parents may have considered too late for their children.

[edit] External links

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