Punky Brewster can be pretty dark and scary as well

[james scott]

punky brewster can mostly be slap stick comedy at times but it also has some pretty dark tone scary episodes like the fenster hall 1 hour special episode where mike tries to help a boy who is working for that knife carrying crook blade. and the fight scene with mike and blade nearly scared me half to death while mike was fighting off blade unarmed while blade had his knife.

did you know that eddie the electric repairman is the voice of mandark on dexter's laboratory?

[Moonlit_Suburb]

If you thought that Fenster Hall episode was scary, "The Perils of Punky" will give you nightmares for weeks, lol. That's the one where Punky and her friends go inside this cave, and they come across a gigantic spider with huge fangs, and this strange, ghostly spirit with red eyes and sharp blades for fingers. And how about that disembodied head, whose arms and legs were hanging from the cave walls? (That was Mr Hand from the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High!) Also, at one point in the episode, Cherie, Allen and Margeaux turn into ghosts and demons...even Brandon becomes a skeleton dog. This stuff totally freaked me out as a kid, lol. I can't wait to see this 2 part episode again. I think its a second season ep, so it'll be on the next Punky Brewster DVD set, coming up next year.

[james scott]

yeah, i forgot all about that episode, yeah, that episode nearly scared the h#ll out of me, i can't beleive that the producers would actually put stuff like that in a kids show, and i always thought resedent evil games were scary.

[JoJoNet]

Omg... "The Perils of Punky" literally gave me nightmares for years as a kid. Looking back on it, everything looked so fake, but as a kid it can be traumatizing! everybody says they were scared of that one.

A few months before the DVD came out, I was looking to see if I had any Punky episodes of tape, and I was so happy when I saw that I had one. I fast forward, and what do you know, it's the "Perils of Punky", my least favorite episode ever. Scared the crap outta me. The worst part of it is that I only had half of it on the tape, right up to the part where they meet Mr. Pieces, lol

[Howdoulikemenow333]

i remember the one that Cherie got locked up in an old frig. That taught me a lesson,never play in empty refridgator.

[catlover79]

Some of those episodes were very dark and creepy, especially for a kids' show.

[Corkys-Place]

The Episode with a young blonde Candance Cameron as a child living in hiding with her Father was pretty out there. Child custody dispute gone wrong.

The Episode with the Serial Killer was scary.

Maybe not in the Dark & Scary category but quite sad was the Episode when Brandon was hit by a Car and almost died.

[glickmam]

Originally Posted by Moonlit_Suburb

If you thought that Fenster Hall episode was scary, "The Perils of Punky" will give you nightmares for weeks, lol. That's the one where Punky and her friends go inside this cave, and they come across a gigantic spider with huge fangs, and this strange, ghostly spirit with red eyes and sharp blades for fingers. And how about that disembodied head, whose arms and legs were hanging from the cave walls? (That was Mr Hand from the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High!) Also, at one point in the episode, Cherie, Allen and Margeaux turn into ghosts and demons...even Brandon becomes a skeleton dog. This stuff totally freaked me out as a kid, lol. I can't wait to see this 2 part episode again. I think its a second season ep, so it'll be on the next Punky Brewster DVD set, coming up next year.

Actually, that was Mr. Vargas, not Mr. Hand.

[glickmam]

Originally Posted by Corkys-Place

The Episode with a young blonde Candance Cameron as a child living in hiding with her Father was pretty out there. Child custody dispute gone wrong.

The Episode with the Serial Killer was scary.

Maybe not in the Dark & Scary category but quite sad was the Episode when Brandon was hit by a Car and almost died.

I wonder why the producers never showed the car driver on camera. Did they feel that it would too depressing for children and their parents?

[Marvo301]

Don't forget the episode where they dealt with the Space Shuttle explosion. a real life scary event!

[glickmam]

Originally Posted by james scott

punky brewster can mostly be slap stick comedy at times but it also has some pretty dark tone scary episodes like the fenster hall 1 hour special episode where mike tries to help a boy who is working for that knife carrying crook blade. and the fight scene with mike and blade nearly scared me half to death while mike was fighting off blade unarmed while blade had his knife.

did you know that eddie the electric repairman is the voice of mandark on dexter's laboratory?

I couldn't agree more. This show was definitely meant to be darker and grittier than creator and executive producer David W. Duclon's other best known show, the perennially cheery and optimistic Silver Spoons, which is shown through their respective theme songs.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by JoJoNet

Omg... "The Perils of Punky" literally gave me nightmares for years as a kid. Looking back on it, everything looked so fake, but as a kid it can be traumatizing! everybody says they were scared of that one.

A few months before the DVD came out, I was looking to see if I had any Punky episodes of tape, and I was so happy when I saw that I had one. I fast forward, and what do you know, it's the "Perils of Punky", my least favorite episode ever. Scared the crap outta me. The worst part of it is that I only had half of it on the tape, right up to the part where they meet Mr. Pieces, lol

Inside 'The Perils of Punky,' the 'Punky Brewster' episode that scarred you for life

[TMC]

There's a discussion currently going on Reddit that reinforces the notion that Punky Brewster was a pretty dark show given its target audience and time period. There's one where she is worried about the local murderer and another one where she is being forcibly being removed by the state. And there's the one where her friend, Cherri gets locked in a fridge and has to have CPR performed on her. On the same token, there are also some longer story arcs, which wasn't really normal for a sitcom of it's time.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Howdoulikemenow333

i remember the one that Cherie got locked up in an old frig. That taught me a lesson,never play in empty refridgator.

I was just reading comments on Reddit, and somebody pointed out that the idea of a child being locked (well, trapped) inside a refrigerator was an artifact of America between 1950 and 1980, owing to latches on the outside of the refrigerator and children deciding that airtight discarded refrigerators were a good place to play hide and seek.