I bring this up because, there was of course the episode (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-19-ca-9722-story.html) from Season 2 that discussed (https://www.everything80spodcast.com/was-punky-brewster-too-intense-for-a-kids-show/) the then recent (https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2011-02-11/when-sitcom-sincerity-attacks/) fallout from the Space Shuttle Challenger (https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/challengerdisaster) disaster (https://www.kqed.org/arts/13885763/your-memories-of-the-1986-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster). I was a tad bit older when 9/11 happened but I would assume that many young kids were somewhat shielded from watching those events throughout the day. In comparison, with the Challenger, the focus of the PR WAS for young kids to watch a teacher (https://chellebelle416.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/the-space-shuttle-challenger-punky-brewster-and-me/) go into space. As a result, millions of kids nationwide likely watched (https://tvatemybraindotcom.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/throwback-thursday-punky-brewster/) the tragedy unfold in real time.