Punky Brewster Boned the Fish When...

[TMC]

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Punky Brewster is an American sitcom about a girl named Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by her foster parent Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes). The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984 to September 7, 1986 and again in first-run syndication from September 26, 1986 to May 27, 1988.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225...ptheshark.com/

• Other Thoughts:
  
  The show didn't last long enough to see Punky develop her famed D cup
  Punky? Punky?
  When Henry sold his photography shop to a large chain, it left the show in a dilemma that not even Punky Power could get it out of.
  When Henry was arrested for developing Kiddie Porn at the Photo shop.
  Puberty was very generous to Punky, but painful to this show.
  When NBC stopped giving out free LSD for regular viewers to take while watching the show.
  This was a weird show, really.
  The one where Cherry got stuck in the refridgerator and Punky saved her. Anyone who wears belts as headbands, deserves to die! PUNKY POWER!
  The animated version of this show was not very good at all.
  The real reason NBC cancelled this show was not because it got a little treacly at times, or because it was on opposite 60 Minutes, but because they realized that naming a dog after the head of programming is a sign of disrespect.
  I don't think Punky Brewster ever jumped the shark, but I take antidepressants so I should keep quiet.
  In the last episode, Brandon married a dog named Brenda. That is absolutely the stupidest thing people can do with their pets; have weddings for them.
  A cult classic. They need to show this in syndication more, instead of the drivel that's on today.
  I loved this show. I mean, it had everything; great cast, decent writing, and Punky can even communicate with her dog (that frightens me just a little bit).
  They almost jumped when Margaux went broke and had to sell everything she owned, but then her father takes stock tips from the butler and everything is back to normal again. "I'm rich; I can afford to hire a hitman."
  This is an underrated show. It was underrated when it was on the air, and it still is today. The writing was good, especially the dialogue between Henry and Mrs. Johnson, and who could ever not like a show that had a live pig on it once?
  When they started telling fat jokes about Nell Carter. For God's sake, the woman almost died from a brain aneurysm, can't you be a little bit sensitive? Then I learned it may be revenge for a line on Gimme a Break, where Nell's mother said, after a catarac operation, that if she went blind, "at least I wouldn't have to watch Punky Brewster." The writers must have turned it off before they could hear her say she actually liked watching this show. All that aside it never really jumped, should have gone on longer (NBC pulled the plug after only 2 seasons, the rest are from first-run syndication; you think it's easy counterprogramming against 60 Minutes, YOU try it some time).
  Not even close to the shark. The last of the great "cute kid" shows.
  I've never seen a show I like better than this. I wish TV Land would put it on.
  When the old episodes were taken off TV and I still want to see them today. There are some that I want to see that I never got to see when It was on TV.
  This show was a lot funnier than people give it credit for; those who dislike it probably had miserable or troubled childhoods and were ugly and had worse color coordination skills than Punky. Sure, it did get interminably sugary at times (mostly on the NBC run), and the anti-drug episode turned into a blatant ad for the Just Say No campaign (it ruined a "Diff'rent Strokes" episode), but if you live in New England or have one of those really big non-digital satellite dishes, you can catch it on WSBK, the UPN station in Boston at 5:00 and 5:30 in the morning Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and see what I mean.
  Overacting Punky and Cherry were playing hide and go seek. So, Cherry decides that she'll hide inside a refrigerator not realizing that she'll suffocate. When Punky can't find her, she screams for George and Cherry's guardian (I can't remember if she was her mother or grandmother). The frantic search continues until they realize, in the nick of time, that she's in the fridge. The moral: Never hide in an appliance. Puleeeeze!
  To the first poster: D cup? She actually developed a DD cup. Why any woman would want to get rid of that is beyond me. I love DD cups. I would have dated her with that DD but not now with that measly C cup.
  when "punky" started to develop she lost her innocent virginal appearance, but sometimes for nostalgia i wear leggings under a skirt, mismatching socks and watch my old tapes of it, it still is on at 4 am on our local tv stations
  I saw her on an E! "Celebrity Profile". Even with the breast reduction, she turned out to be a major babe!!!!
  I just always thought this show was bizarre, but especially when I was in college and ran across some re-runs one afternoon (I think on the Family Channel or something equally wholesome). My friends and I had the same reaction: If a girl in your class in grade school dressed like Punky, all mismatched and weird, she wouldn't have been popular, she would have been mocked routinely and shunned until she dressed more generically. This holds true now, but especially in the label-conscious 80s era. I just didn't get it...
  Speaking of the refrigerator-of-death, I seem to remember that episode was the winning entry in a contest where a viewer had to write a plot or storyline or something. The person who won was some 10-12 year old kid (I am NOT making this up!!!) who was featured on the show with Punky and Henry just before the show began. Anybody want to elaborate on this?
  When Sela Moon Frye started doing porno right after the show ended was too much for me to bare.
  that cartoon with the wookie really killed the original show... i mean, was this girl getting taken away by the adoption agency or fighting bad guys with rainbows? I was like eight... I had a hard time distinguishing storylines.
  definitely when cherrie got stuck in the fridge and they got the idea from some kid who they showed at the end of the episode. but definitely not puberty because she ended up with some huge...ahem...anyway she showed up later on Saved by hte bell as Screech's girlfriend trying to steal his spaghetti sauce money
  Does no one remember the 5 part punky special when punky was taken away from Henry and sent to an orphanage. This was classic TV. As a kid, it introduced me to the dreaded "to be continued. . ." syndrome, in which sitcom makers foolishly believe people have more than a 22 minute attention span when it comes to asinine television. All hail punky's big boobs.
  I watched "Punky Brewster" as a kid. It all became very laughable to me when I heard that cute "little" Punky underwent a mammoplasty (breast) reduction surgery not too long into her kid-career. The tomboy with her freckles and pigtails had her boobs lopped off.
  Yes, the infamous fridge o' death episode... It was a contest where a viewer could write a show and the best one won. I was SO bitter, cause I lost. :-( Yes, the girl who won was featured with Punky and Company. Even at my tender age I thought it was contrived that they just HAPPENED to learn CPR right before Cherie got trapped and almost died. As said above, this was an actual event, just as the above writer wrote.
  I kind of liked this show, but I gotta tell you some of the characters scared me. That guy that was the teacher always made me think that he was some sort of child molester. It was weird. I was scared of him. I thought he was gonna take Punky in another room and see those D cups for himself. Furthermore, it really irked me when Henry would call Punky with his really distorted voice. It was so long ago, but those of you who can recall can remember how weird he sounded when he would say "Punky". It sounded like "Pounkee!". I hated Henry.
  Well, the only thing I have to say is the only episode that I really remember is when that girl gets stuck in the fridge.. I was about 4 years old... I thought she was gonna die... now THAT's captivating television.
  I was very young when this show was on but why the hell did her mom sneak into the apartment late at night and didn't wake Punky up?? It seemed like this happened at least every other episode...the least her mom could have done was wake her up or at least give her a good night kiss...instead she just left thru the fire escape..sheesh! by the way are there any sites with pics of the grown up Punky Brewster????
  How you gonna Diss Henry? He was Commandant Lassard in the Police Academy movies!!! Anyway, this show's memory is and always will be tarnished for me as it was the first place I ever heard Nancy's favorite three words, "Just Say No." That, in itself, is enough to outweigh any redeeming quality this show might have had (and it had none, by the way.) It's pretty grave when TV shows become propaganda.
  I watched this show as a kid and I had the BIGGEST crush on Solieil Moon-Frye. Even to this day I do! But I think I was ruined when 1) I saw her at the age of 15 or so with her very overly-developed breasts (sorry, but I actually felt sorry for her) and 2) When I discovered that she was doing soft porn films. It totally depressed me. The latter I think creates a posthumous jump because it seriously takes away from the cute sweet Soleil that I remember when I was a kid.
  I loved this show!!!!!! No TV stations play it anymore here though :-(. I only remember a few shows....i remember the one where charrie gets trapped...the one where they all go fishing or something....the one where punky goes to the orphan edge, and the one that made me cry was the one where one of the teachers die in that space shuttle accident?!? anyone else remember that one?!?
  It was the best show growing up! Punky even sent me an autographed picture! It was quality television especially when she was the indian princess!
  the episode with one of punky's friend's (not cherry, as her parents were deceased) father has to admit his alcoholism after drinking and driving and running over some garbage cans.
  Does anybody remember the Punky Brewster cartoon? She had a little imaginary friend named "Glomer" who sounded exactly like "Slimer" from The Real Ghostbusters cartoon. Very, very weird.
  Punky was upstaged by her magical golden retriever "Bandon". You gotta love the husky voice, and the cartoon was used to cover up her heaving breasts of flesh growing beneath!
  does anyone remember the one when punky and cherry were babysitting and the kid drank fabric softener, and they called 911 or something and they didnt know how to read the back of the bottle that said to drink milk if you swallowed any of it? heheh i love that show though, i wish it were still on. those people at Nick At Nite should put it back on.
  when punky said the word "boobs," all it was all over.
  When it became a freaking Saturday morning cartoon, with some lovable furry gremlin or rainbow monster or whatever he was named "Glomer."
  I used to love this damn show. This is embarrassing but my family bought a golden retriever because of Brandon. There was also a kid in the neighborhood named Brandon that we used to make fun of because he was named after a dog. I also had a HUGE crush on Soleil Moon Frye. She was (still is, I guess) exactly the same age as me and I was convinced I was going to meet her eventually and marry her. She might have been my first object of (pre)adolescent lust. Anyway, in light of her mammary developments the episode where Punky and Cherry are in that weird clubhouse (shed? shack? what was it?) trying on bras seems very ironic. Cherry referred to the bra as an "over the shoulder boulder holder". Simply hysterical. Does anyone remember that episode?
  When Henry sings a composition entitled "Just Say Cheese" in order to convince Guest Star Barry Gibb that the guy who is trying to be his agent is just a con artist. The lyrics of Henry's song went "Don't say bananas, don't say tomatoes, say cheese, baby, say cheese!". The agent keeps saying "I swear on my mother's grave, that's the best (song) I've ever heard" and then takes a phone call from Mom.
  Punky Brewster undoubtedly jumped when one episode deeply disturbed me. The horrifing "Magic Cave" episode where Punky and friends wind up in a cave being tormented by demons and a giant spider. I was waiting for Punky to wake up from her nightmare, but she never did, it was real! "Punky" was always a cute show about the trials of a cute orphan and then suddenly a haunted indian cave? The show lost all credibility after that.
  Well, I don't know if "Punky Brewster" jumped the shark on this one "A Very Special Episode", but I do remember that they did an episode when the Challenger blew up and it distressed Punky, who had wanted to be an astronaut. An idea that had been introduced into the episode for just that purpose. We'd never heard of Punky wanting to be an astronaut before...it was just a lame story idea put in to give the episode more relevance.
  The "Very Special Episode" were Punky is terribly traumatized by the Challenger explosion because she wanted to be an astronaut. When did we find this out?? Why...in this episode, of course. This is the worst kind of cheat....when we find out something about a character only for the purposes of exploiting it for a "special episode". Kind of like Alex P. Keaton grieving horribly over the death of a long-time friend we'd never seen before.
  I loved this show, and although I was pretty young, I distinctly remember a lot of episodes. Punky ended up in the orphanage and foster homes after there was a fire and Henry had a heart attack or something. That scared me. I remember dreading the words "to be continued" after that series of shows. I also remember Punky having her rich friend, Margaret, take a psychological Rorschach test for her. I wonder if that's why I'm a psych major now....I just loved this show, and I'm surprised how much of it I remember.
  I was still rather young when the Indian cave episode aired and I don't know why, but I still remember being freaked out by the whole spider/Indian ghost concept. BTW, If anyone's still interested in her acting talents, Solei can now be seen on the new Sabrina: The Teenage Witch on the WB.
  Does anyone remember the episode when Jersey Janet was Punky's dance teacher, but Punky couldn't dance, so they made her be the flying bumble bee in the recital? Everyone talks so much about the refrig episode, but the Jersey Janet episode was awesome because Henry developed a crush on her and Punky almost got a mom! Or what about the show when Margaux told everyone you could get a bigger chest by eating cheese puffs, so they all sat around in the treehouse eating cheese puffs. I think Punky ate too many.
  We made a lot of jokes about Soleil Moon Frye, but I believe she's a class act. I grew up in the sixties, what I remember the most was how guys that could look like "Magnum" at 13, or women that developed before 13, were treated like objects by the many of their peers. Some from jealousy, others, who knows? When Soleil Moon-Frye was about 15, one of the tabloid series interviewed her on the Dana Plato scandals. She looked very mature for her age. But her breasts were very large, and I'm sure they did bother her physically. Today, she still looks very attractive, from head to toe. To go through what she did, was very courageous. She made a tremendous sacrifice, but it shows what she has in her heart as a real human being, and her husband is very fortunate to have someone like that in her life. I call Jessica Hahn the "Punky in reverse". Soleil has more character in her little finger, than Jessica Hahn has in her entire body. Actually Jessica Hahn has no character. I walked by a video store the other day, and saw and old video with Jessica Hahn on it. She looks a skinny lady carrying cinder blocks in a bathing suit. Her boobs have no sex appeal, they are like their new owner, disoriented and phony. In fact, Soleil Moon Frye looks better Jessica Hahn does now. She's still getting shots at films and serious acting occasionally. Jessica Hahn, who tried to destroy a religious family, then exploit them for the money to buy her smaller nose and larger breasts, gets no acting. But at least Howard lets her on his show sometimes.
  When Punky wanted to race those cheep RC cars (I think that they were Grasshoppers) but she couldn't due to the fact that she was a girl. So she came back dressed as a boy by wearing a baseball cap and talking in a deeper voice... yet she still hung out with Cherry. Then she won, and in celebrating it was discovered she was a girl. Did they think that there was just some boy with big breasts? Bob from Fight Club? But all was well in the end. Also that teacher was the janitor on Saved By the Bell back when Miss Bliss was on the show.
  I wasn't a Punky Brewster fan during my childhood. I watched it when it came on the Family Channel just to see what all the hype was about back then. I think Punky Brewster JTS in that episode where Punky had to stand up to a bully who gave her a black eye. That must've inspired a lot of nightmares in kids. Punky Brewster became sharkmeat when she and her friends became boy-crazy pre-teens! By then Punky wasn't the sweet little caring tomboy who had brightened people's lives and has fun with her friends. Cherie became cruel and vindictive, and the only thing Punky cared about by then was 'cute guys', and became very apathetic. When I was a preteen, I didn't care about trends or boys. I was still playing with stuffed animals, video games, reading comic books, and watching cartoons! And so were my friends. Punky Brewster shouldn't have lasted until 1988. Oh, and BTW, Soleil Moon Frye didn't go on to do porn after Punky got taken off the air, she went on to do! a show called "Girl Talk". And NBC didn't give any viewers drugs while watching the show. Can "Bully plots" be a new JTS category?
  When Alan left it was pointless for me to watch this show. If that guy from Police Academy wasn't on the show either, this would be the teenage 80's version of The View.
  Does anyone remember the big beauty pageant episode that Andy Gibb hosts? Punky tries to make Brandon jump through a hoop, Margo wears that really pink lacy dress and helps Andy sing "Thank Heaven For Little Girls", and Cherrie does a magic show and wins the whole pageant. When I was little I had it on tape and watched it over and over.
  When Punky got too old to be cute in those multicolored outfits, it was time to call it quits. Thankfully they did so shortly afterward. I LOVED the early episodes, especially the one with the Chiclets and the five-part one where Henry loses the studio in a fire and Punky has to live with the rich people! Punky was a classic mid-80s show.
  This was a very cute show that I enjoyed watching when I was younger. Although it never actually jumped, it came close during the episode in the cave with the huge spider ... that was just too strange!
  I was in late elementary school/early middle school, and I watched this show all the time. The sad part is, the only episode I remember was the one where they all wanted cabbage patch-like dolls. The girls were all whining, "Butter lettuce head dolls! Aw" or something.
  I will always remember that crappy episode where she had to beat the haunted cave "with love". WTF was that crap about, I mean I know its a cheesy show but come on. Also the episode where she had to dress up as a boy to join the remote control car club... that's a close 2nd for jumping.
  Just one awful episode sticks in my mind, where Punky's friends are trying some coke or speed and tell her "It's only a bit of nose candy." Kind of like those pamphlets that they hand out about how addictive marijuana is. As for that statement about being shunned at school for how she dressed, nothing could be further from the truth. Maybe the producers were trying to make some sort of statement.
  The Indian Cave episode. This episode disturbed me well into my adult years. I can hardly look back on punky with fondness without seeing the disjointed blond boy jigglig evily beneith the giant spider.
  There were many dumb plots on the show, but the Stalker episode takes the cake. The show starts where the tv station makes the stalker look like Hitler and he was anywhere in the city of Chicago and it made him look like he was killing every person in Chicago left to right. Now I understand the background to the story, but dammit, you think they could have made it a little less stupid?
  This show came a little close to jumping mr shark with the cave and the spider things. What was that all about!? Man! I was so confused when I saw that. I thought she was going to wake up and it would be a dream! The show had always been semi realistic.. but that one.. um.. no? Don't get me wrong I loves the show as a little kid I think I saw them all. I remember one where a girl was being abused...how come she was never seen again aftet that one? The one where Punky's friend got locked in the fridge scared me as much (if not more) than the cave one.. I thought she was going to die.. and I couldnt even sit and watch it.. I was so scared.. (lol even in the reruns...okay so i was a little kid.) Great show over all I would like to be able to see it now.
  I was a fan of this show as a kid. I was about the same age as Punky Brewster. It was a good show for kids that don't know any better. I've seen it a few times as an adult and its horrible. Whats worse is that I feel dirty watching it. I lust after the adult Soleil Moon-Frye, so seeing her as a kid feels a little dirty. (Same goes with Alyssa Milano on Who's The Boss reruns) If I need a Soleil fix, I just watch her on that horrible Sabrina the witch show.
  I remember the episode where Cherry gets stuck in the fridge distinctly. I was about 4 at the time I think, and I remember thinking "What a freaking idiot, why the heck does she think it's smart to be in a refrigerator?"
  To hell with all of you who quote the refrigerator episode. The BEST (meaning worst) episode was where Harry lost Punky in the supermarket, and she freaks out because THAT's HOW HER MOM left her. Man, I laugh so hard thinking about that. How much of a loser kid do you have to be to have your mom ditch you in the grocery store? And really, your mom could leave you in much worse places, like, oh, someplace where you're not surrounded by food. If my mom had ditched me and run off to be a crack addict, I couldn't have asked for a better situation than a grocery store. See ya, Mom! I got all the Ho-Hos and Cap'n Crunch I need right here! Punky Brewster...those are two words I say whenever anybody I know tries to tell me how great the 1980s were. It shuts them right up. You can't argue with that logic. Furthermore, Bill Clinton was a much better president than Ronald Reagan. I say this because Bill Clinton didn't let his wife's pet programs get put into insipid sitcoms (see Nancy Reagan). Bill knew Hillary's health care plan had no place on a show like Caroline in the City or Friends. So he kept her under control. Old Ronnie let Nancy wallpaper "Just Say No!" (which worked SO well) all over shows like Punky Brewster. Although, come to think of it, if you're watching Punky Brewster on a regular basis, you probably WILL do anything the government says.
  Punky Brewster never jumped the Shark, It was a Great Show, Appealing to both Kids and Adults alike. It dealt with many Real Life Social Issues the other "Perfect Family" Shows of the Mid-1980's never touched on. Teenage Drug Use, The Pain of Living in an Orphanage, Theft, Stalkers, Oh and Punky's Friend in 1 Episode.... A Young Missing Girl taken on the Run from her Mother by the Dad (Candace Cameron Guest Starred- Pre FULL HOUSE). Unfortunately here in Australia, like in the US we only saw the first TWO Series, The later "Syndication" Episodes (What exactly is Syndication anyway? like a Cable TV thing?) have never Aired in Australia once. Although that B-Grade Cartoon used to Air here Saturday Mornings. P.S. to that above Poster who mentioned the Cave Episode, That scared the Hell out of me too, I was only 10 and Freaked out at the Giant Spider Monster
  I think the Cave episode was the jumping point. When I was a kid, my sisters and I loved this show. It was fun and crazy (to our midwestern standards). However, the cave episode really messed me up and gave me nightmares when I was little. No one's commented on the fact that the monsters and crazy things she interacted during her adventure were all people from her life, specifically her close friends. The blonde haired kid was, I think, Randy or Dusty or something, and Cherrie was another one of the freaky things she ran into. This aspect of the episode was twisted, and messed my head up for a while afterwards. Fortunately, ALF made me feel better. And the cartoon show was kinda neat...not the best, but it was on later in the morning, so you were worn out by the better stuff by then.
  It was weird when I first saw this... I was thinking, "Child actors! Must hate, must hate!" but it was quite good. It really grew on me, Punky Power must really work! But for the record, this is the ONLY child actor with their own show that gets my "Never Jumped" vote.
  Is it just me, or did Punky and the old guy have a special dinner they used to prepare--I think it was called Spaghetti Bow Ties. Apparently, they used to tie EACH and EVERY strand of spaghetti into a bowtie before serving. I am thirty years old now and I remember nothing else about this show. But I know EVERY time I make spaghetti, I can't help but think about the time and effort it must have taken to tie up strands of spaghetti into bowties. And the logistics? I mean, obviously you have to wait until the spaghetti is cooked. And then they have to cool off. But then they get sticky and I'd imagine they'd be hard to tie... Oh god, that's why this website sucks. I'm actually writing down all the wacky thoughts I usually keep inside...Oh dear...
  There's an episode where her dog (Brandon?) gets hit by a car and Punky meets some lady in the waiting room whose dog is also having surgery. Brandon lives, of course, and all seems to be well in the world again until we see the other lady walking forlornly out of the vet office. My mom, sister and I were all bawling as my dad came home from work and, when he realized that we were watching _Punky Brewster_, thought we were nuts.
  I see several people complained about that bizarre Indian Cave episode. But no one's mentioned the thing that scared me the most in that ep: the skeleton version of Brandon the dog! That was horrible!!
  I remember some stupid episode where a bully comes after Punky and she consults Marvin Hagler (who was conviently in town for a training session or fight) for boxing tips and he tells her she sucks, but then I can't recall if she does the "right" thing and talks her way out of it or if she fights and wins somehow. All in all Boxers don't make very good actors.
  Punky gets sent to the orphanage--Christ, that went on forever. I kinda liked the Indian Cave episode. It was scary.
  The episode where Punky dates a rich boy and is invited to a snooty rich-kids party that turns out to be extremely boring, and she livens it up and saves the day by creating a frog-jumping contest. How lame! And what about the episode where Punky and Brandon switch places, and she becomes a dog and Brandon is Punky? That was bunk. Of course, the episode where Margaux's family goes bankrupt and the father takes tips from the butler to recover his fortune was CHEESY to the max. Or the episode where the old Mrs. Peevy hated children and then grew to love children because Punky saved her life and she got a brand-new hip and took Henry out conga-dancing? Another horrid episode was when Henry was trying to overcome his addiction to sleeping pills and was miraculously "cured" when he fell asleep one night without them. What about the episode where Punky and Cherie decide to sell Lady Contempo cosmetics that turn out to be furniture strippers? LAME. Or the episode where the girls compete in a radio show and the competition "steals" their props? What about the time when...
  Cute, cute show. It's a bummer we never see Solei Moon Frye anymore. She deserves a comeback here soon. Anyway, this was a fun show, even if it was really uneven. The Indian Cave show? Bizaare. Any show where Punky dreams was a miss: Punky and Cheri were parents and Henry was the kid? Worse: Punky was Brandon the Dog. Too weird. I also noticed something else about this show: It was facts of life for tweeners. Margeaux was the Rich, Blair clone. Cheri was the best friend a la Tootie. Punky was the Tom boy, Jo character. Allen was the goofy Natalie clone.
  This show didn't jump the shark until the end-- I remember the last several episodes the writers ran out of ideas. It was like they had to finish out the contracts with no new plots! Henry and Punky would be 'cleaning' and run across things in the attic which would trigger... FLASHBACKS! I swear the whole last season was FLASHBACKS! There's nothing worse than a great show that starts the series of memory flashback shows! Oh, and the flashback episode to kill all episodes-- when the dog gets married! Give me a break! The only good thing about that show was when I was watching the reruns, I knew the first episode was up next, and the plots wouldn't be as cheesy for a while!
  When Punky and the 'ol Man (her adoptive dad, whatever) spent a day at Wrigley Field in Chicago (the 1984 Cubs). I'm a die-hard Cubs fan. Don't insult my intelligence or the passion I have for the Northsiders (and their ballpark) and for the game in general by having cast members from a dumb show like this do a "baseball episode" at that hallowed monument to baseball parks. Now the cast of "Seinfeld" leaving NY for the weekend to perhaps come to Chi-town and visit Wrigley? THERE'S some endless possibilities for good Schtick -- but never happened. Punky (et al) at Wrigley was the Jump of Jumps for a show that really, truly Jumped the Shark when the basic CONCEPT of the Show was BRAINSTORMED! The producers should have waited a few years to do a "reunion episode" once the show had originally ended in order for a post-puberty Punky to go up to the press box at Wrigley and "visit" Harry Caray in the TV Announcers Booth. Now THAT might have been worth watching! Hmmmmm. HOLY COW !!
  I cannot BELIEVE no one mentioned this... Punky referring to Cherie as not her best friend, but as her BAST FROND. Like she's a palm tree or something. My mom banned me from watching it after I decided that I'd like to have a room like Punky's and sleep in an old flower cart. It's enough to push a southern woman over the edge.
  I loved this show- I don't think it ever jumped-- it was corny but it was fun to watch---Henry and Betty were always bickering with each other--I think that's why I really watched it--and to clear it up-- it was Andy Gibb who was tricked from the con artist in the piano episode-not Barry (although it doesn't matter!!)-- I have the series- good break from reality....And when Brandon married that female dog--that was so ridiculous-- That's when it jumped IMHO..
  I'm surprised few have mentioned that the show was off for like a year and then came back in syndication, with the children noticeably aged. Those episodes weren't the best (although I really liked the one about the blonde rich girl losing her money, and the one about Cherie's aunt visiting), but they weren't bad. I think the show ran as long as it could, even if their not having a finale was annoying (the last episode was when the guy who went on to host Supermarket Sweep married Punky's dog and another dog). Aside from the incredibly depressing Challenger episode, the one that always bothered me was when Punky's hefty friend came to visit. She was always making fun of herself, because she felt that hurting herself was better than having others hurt her. Punky got her to accept herself. And then at the end she came back and had lost a ton of weight. The message seemed to be that as long as you think happy thoughts you will become really thing.
  I loved Punky. I wanted to BE Punky. But for some reason, I cannot remember watching any episodes past the second season. Lots of people mentioned the refrigerator episode, and the stalker episode, but does anyone remember the Christmas episode where Punky asked for Santa to bring her mom back? And then there was the episode where the cleaning lady at school was mentally challenged and everyone made fun of her (except for Punky, of course). But it turned out that she was a really good violin player. For the record, Henry didn't have a heart attack-he had an ulcer attack. He got ulcers after his studio burned down.
  I love Punky Brewster, if fact I thought I was her when I was little. My friends still talk about it. Whenever the subject of Punky Brewster comes up I always asked it people remember the cave episode. It scared the crap out of me, I think it actually traumatized me a little since I had such an obsession with the show when I was little. But no one ever remembers it. I was so distraught by the episode that I actually wrote a letter to the network. I have no idea if my mom ever sent it. But, seeing here that other know it exists really makes me feel better. I was starting to this I was crazy (well more than usual). I still really want to see the episode again to see if it really was that scary.
  When Andy Gibb appeared as himself it was bad enough, but understandable because shows always do this, but when, that same season but towards the end, Gibb appeared as a piano teacher, that did it for me. he resembled a lion-lollipop. he had this totally skinny body and a large head w/ a half-permed wavy-feathered hairdo. and we HAD to hear Gibb play a song on the piano and THEN later on he played the same song again on his acoustic guitar. but when he'd played the song on the piano it was really awful because Brandon walked into the room, and instead of covering his head with both paws (this happens when handlers put the poor dog's paws over his head and then rewind the film later as the dog takes his paws down off his head - a cruel trick that happens on every show with dogs) he sat there and actually had an expression as if he were enjoying the song. and as for the character Alan - in real life he lived next door to my friend and he actually chewed us out for smoking near his house (rather, his parent's house) - we were on my friends driveway - i swear this is true, it took place in La Palma, California in the mid-eighties. anyhow, Andy Gibb was the jumper for me but i have to admit, i still watched the show. Punky, even as a kid, was hot, hot, hot
  I loved this show when I was a kid and looking back at it, it was so innocent and wholesome. Now I have season 1 on DVD and the first few episodes were lame, except when they tried to take Punky away from Henry, those were sad, but I remember this one episode, I don't know if it is mentioned here, where Punky is in a hospital with someone who is sick, and I don't remember who it was, maybe it was Henry. But all I remember is crying, and I also remember that cave epsiode, that freaked the hell out of me when I was a kid! I was seriously scared of giant spiders hiding under my bed so when I turned off my light, I would jump half way across the room so that no one or whatever was under the bed couldn't get me. Maybe that also had a lot to do with the movie "Little Monsters"......but anyways, Punky never jumped the shark in my opinion because the episodes were so good for younger children to watch. I never did see the last episode, I guess from what I have read that Brandon the dog got married to another dog or something like that. Also, now that I have Punky on DVD, I watch it with my little cousins and they love it too. Generational "Punky Power!"
  As a kid Soleil Moon Frye was my first childhood crush, so I seemed to watch only for that reason. But as the show went into syndication, she and Margaux and Cherie became older, Allan left, and odd storylines came in. Even though I still LOVED Soleil, I felt the show was too DULL, by Season Four.
  This was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid and have recently bought both the season 1 and 2 dvd sets. However, as I've read thru all the comments, I can certainly see that I wasn't the only one who was frightened by that haunted cave episode! OMG, I was about 6 when I first saw that, and even if I had seen it as an adult it would have disturbed me! I remember it was a Sunday night, and it was all I could think about. My mom asked me what was wrong and for some reason I didn't want to tell her that an episode of Punky Brewster scared the heck out of me. I then began to have nightmares about ppl in MY life turning into freaky night-marish images. What in Heaven's name were the writers thinking? I'm 26 now, and even though I've seen more than my fare share of scary movies and whatnot, I simply refuse to watch that episode.
  Two stupid concepts in one: a pet wedding and a clip show. Still, if you must jump the shark, your last episode is probably the time to do it.
  This show jumped the shark when DeBarge guest starred to convince Punky that reading is cool. Henry dressed in leather and pretended to be rock reporter "Henry the Hipster" and convinced the band to come visit Punky at home. They showed and they painfully lip-synced their way through 2 ear-shattering songs played back on a cassette tape. This was also the first show of the syndicated season when Punky lost her pigtails. Oh and Mrs. Johnson fainted repeatedly (and unfunnily) in the same fashion.

[robby76]

I'm gonna say it never boned - I was pleasantly surprised by the later seasons. The show did loose a little something when Casey Ellison (Allen) left, but it was still fine.