Punky Brewster
Encyclopedia
Punky Brewster was an American sitcom
about a girl named Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye
) being raised by her foster parent (George Gaynes
). The show ran on NBC
from September 16, 1984 to September 7, 1986 and again in first-run syndication from October 30, 1987 to May 27, 1988.
) is a warm, funny and bright child, abandoned by her mother. Her father walked out on her family, then her mother abandoned her at a Chicago
shopping center, leaving Punky alone with her dog Brandon. Afterwards, Punky discovered a vacant apartment in a local building.
The building was run by photographer Henry Warnimont (Police Academy
s George Gaynes
), an elderly widowed gentleman who is something of a grouch. 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
), who worked as an RN at the local Cook County Hospital. Henry discovers Punky in the empty apartment across from his, and hears her story.
The relationship between the two blossoms, despite red tape
from social workers, who ultimately rally to Henry's side. As their day in court approached, Punky was forced by the state to stay at Fenster Hall, a shelter for orphaned and abandoned children, which made her realize all the more how close she had grown to Henry. Finally, their day arrived, and the court approved Henry to become Punky's foster dad, and later on her real father by adopting her legally.
Punky's other friends are geeky Allen Anderson (Casey Ellison
) and stuck-up rich girl Margaux Kramer (Ami Foster
). During the NBC
run, Punky's teachers were regularly seen; in the first season, cheerful Mrs. Morton (Dody Goodman
) and in the second season, hip Mike Fulton (T.K. Carter). Mike formed a close relationship with Punky and her friends, and was also portrayed as a social crusader of sorts.
Also in the first season, Margaux's socialite mother, played by Loyita Chapel, appeared on a recurring basis, and there was a kooky maintenance man in the Warnimont building named Eddie Malvin (Eddie Deezen
), who only showed up in the first several episodes.
Beginning in 1984, NBC aired the sitcom on Sundays. 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. Also, NBC felt that showing Punky Brewster later tended to put them up at a time parents may have considered too late for their children.
.
During this time, Betty and Cherie made arrangements for Punky to stay with them until Henry recovered. Unfortunately, everyone's stability was halted when bureaucratic social worker Simon P. Chillings (guest star Timothy Stack
) showed up, found out about Henry's condition and ultimately deemed the worst--not only did he find Betty unsuitable to care for Punky in the meantime (because she was a single woman with long working hours, already raising her granddaughter), but he felt that Henry was unfit to be her legal guardian in the long term, due to his health, age, and uncertain financial future. Chillings made Punky a ward of the state yet again, and she returned to Fenster Hall.
Despite Punky's efforts to escape from Fenster, a trick pulled by Margaux in which she dressed up and pretended to be Punky, and advocacy from Mike Fulton, Chillings ended up placing Punky with a new foster family, the fabulously wealthy Jules and Tiffany Buckworth (Robert Casper and Joan Welles). Things gradually returned to normal though, as Henry was back on his feet following surgery, opened up a glitzy new studio at the local mall and therefore was able to reunite with Punky. At the conclusion of the story arc, Henry officially adopted Punky.
Andy Gibb
guest-starred twice on Punky: once as himself, hosting a pre-teen beauty pageant; and once as a music-instructor hired by Henry for Punky...who persuades the young man to go out for a recording contract. (They run afoul of a con-artist instead, and sic the Better Business Bureau
on him.)
The final episode of the second season was notable for centering around the very recent, real-life Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy. Punky and her classmates watched the live coverage of the shuttle launch in Mike Fulton's class. After the explosion occurred, Punky is traumatized, and finds her dreams to become an astronaut are crushed. She writes a letter to NASA
, and is visited by special guest star Buzz Aldrin
. Although the episode received high ratings, NBC would, in the following weeks, decide to cancel the show.
with his mother, following his parents' divorce. As Punky herself embarked on junior high, her avant-garde
day-glo and multicolored outfits, along with her pigtails, segued into more traditional teenage styles, and her declaration of, and reliance on "Punky Power!" gave way to the realization that intelligence, common sense and a strong will can get one out of any problem. More of her dalliances with boys entered the stories, with the ones she chased and those that tried to pursue her. Punky's spunk and vivacious attitude toward life did remain though, thanks in part to the sunshine brought in by the most important man in her life, her adoptive dad.
Henry's photography studio at the mall continued to see much success, so much that by the end of the third season he received an offer from the magnate of Glossy's, a photo studio franchise, for a $100,000 buyout of Warnimont's which also included the offer of Henry becoming manager of the Glossy's location. Henry accepted, but soon found that his creativity and business style was not being appreciated by his new employers. He quit Glossy's, but then decided to give into Punky's and Cherie's dream to run their own teen hangout/burger establishment, and invested into another mall property which ended up being splashed with as much color and originality as Punky's bedroom. All involved, which even included Betty and Margaux, unanimously decided on christening it "Punky's Place". Into season four, much of the action continued to take place at the mall, with Henry, Punky and her friends' efforts to keep their new restaurant afloat and the many teenage misadventures which passed through at Punky's Place.
The final episode, "Wedding Bells for Brandon", had Brandon fall in love with Brenda, a golden retriever who belonged to one of Henry and Punky's neighbors. Their whirlwind romance culminated in a cute wedding ceremony in the courtyard, which was mostly attended by other neighborhood canines.
, could not compete as strongly as they hoped against CBS
' juggernaut 60 Minutes
, and canceled both programs. Like many cult-favorite sitcoms of the time, Punky Brewster was revived for first-run syndication (as was Silver Spoons). Production on Punky went undelayed, and its third season began shooting on schedule. NBC could not co-produce the episodes due to then-existing FCC regulations regarding network involvement in syndicated TV programming. Thus, they made a syndication
deal with Coca-Cola Telecommunications
to co-produce two more seasons of episodes, plus US syndication rights to the NBC-era episodes. Although Coca-Cola held onto the deal during the next two seasons of Punky Brewster, production was moved over to Warner Bros.
in the second syndicated season, whereupon they became a co-producer with Coca-Cola.
and Judy Hart Angelo and sung by Portnoy.
For the three-part episode "Punky Finds a Home", the opening starts out with Punky at a supermarket helping a lady load her groceries into her convertible. We then see Henry leaving his studio. As Punky and Brandon arrive at the apartment building, she and Henry criss-cross but do not appear to notice each other. Punky then climbs up the fire escape and hoists Brandon up in a bag using a rope. The opening sequence was updated for the episode "Lost and Found/"Punky Gets Her Own Room" that uses footage from the opening sequence used in "Punky Finds a Home" and as well as a new shot where we see Punky entering Henry's apartment and everything around her is becoming animated, as well as Punky, Brandon and Henry themselves. The opening sequence for the rest of the season was composed by using footage from several episodes.
For the second season, the opening sequence uses footage from several episodes from the second season, as well as the first. This opening sequence also credits Johnson, Garrett and Carter as series regulars. Also, the word font for crediting the show's stars has been altered.
For the third and fourth season, the opening sequence uses footage from several episodes from the third season, as well as previous seasons. As of this season, Brandon is now a series regular, replacing Carter's credits. The word font has reverted back to its original font used in the first seasons' opening sequences.
named the series after a girl he had a crush on in his own childhood: an older tomboy named Peyton "Punky" Brewster. Before the series aired, NBC tracked her down (by this time, she was married to a lawyer in Connecticut and named Peyton Rutledge) and secured her permission to use her name for the lead character. Rutledge was even hired to do a cameo in one episode as a teacher at Punky's school (in the opening scene of the episode titled "The Search", aired November 10, 1985) so that both the real and fictional Punky Brewster could be on screen at the same time (the teacher even comments "Punky? That's a funny name!"). She is credited at the end of the episode as Peyton B. Rutledge.
The dog that follows Punky around is named Brandon, after Tartikoff himself.
of Punky Brewster. It was originally a one hour episode, but was cut into two shows for syndication. This crossover episode marked the debut of Mike Fulton; T.K. Carter was the intended star of the Fenster Hall spin-off. Mike's history as a longtime resident of Fenster was explained, since he had been an orphan from birth and had been shuffled around to many foster homes before permanently staying at Fenster from the time he was seven. Now as the chief boys' counselor, Mike was saddled with helping new, tough street kid T.C. Finestra (Billy Lombardo) fit in with his group of regular charges, after an incident in which T.C. broke into and stole from the bedroom of Punky Brewster. Punky had a confrontation with T.C. after following him to a shady lair kept by street thug Blade (James LeGros
), who had taken T.C. under his wing and was teaching him how to rob. It was there in which Punky learned of T.C.'s situation, and brought him home to Henry before it was decided that he would be better off at Fenster.
The primary focus of the episode was on Mike and T.C.'s learning to trust and look out for each other, while many other denizens of Fenster were introduced who would have also comprised the cast of the spin-off. Mike's boss was Rita J. Sanchez (Rosana DeSoto), and his other boys, who he treated as if they were his own sons, were aspiring heavyweight boxer Lester "Sugar" Thompson (Martin Davis
), sweet little Dash (Benji Gregory
), nerdy intellectual Lyle (Gabriel Damon
), who supposedly did Mike's tax forms for him; and huge, hulking Conan (B.J. Barie). When Fenster Hall did not transpire as a regular series by the time of NBC's 1985-86 upfronts, T.K. Carter then continued his role as Mike Fulton on Punky Brewster the following season, now serving as Punky's fourth grade teacher in addition to his work at Fenster. This was perhaps due to Carter's contract with the producers, in addition to the fact that his portrayal of Fulton received positive reception with test audiences and regular ones alike when the Fenster Hall pilot was screened.
It's Punky Brewster!, an animated spin-off
with the original cast appeared on NBC on Saturday mornings. The cartoon was produced by Ruby-Spears. It ran from September 14, 1985 to December 6, 1986, for a total of 26 episodes. However, through reruns, it remained in the regular Saturday-morning lineup through the 1988-89 season. The series was later syndicated by Claster Television as part of a package featuring the DIC
series Maxie's World
(the "lead" program), and Beverly Hills Teens
.
, as well as separate discs that consist of six to eight episodes of the series. All season releases also contain episodes of the spin-off cartoon, It's Punky Brewster.
In Region 4, Umbrella Entertainment
released season 1 on DVD in Australia on April 13, 2011 and season 2 on July 1, 2011. Australian releases do not contain episodes of the animated "It's Punky Brewster".
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
about a girl named Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye
Soleil Moon Frye
Soleil Moon Frye is an American actress, director and screenwriter. Frye is best known for her childhood role as the title character in sitcom Punky Brewster, and as Roxie King in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.-Early life:...
) being raised by her foster parent (George Gaynes
George Gaynes
George Gaynes is a Finnish-born American actor of stage, screen and television.He may be best known as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie,...
). The show ran on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from September 16, 1984 to September 7, 1986 and again in first-run syndication from October 30, 1987 to May 27, 1988.
NBC
Penelope "Punky" Brewster (played by Soleil Moon FryeSoleil Moon Frye
Soleil Moon Frye is an American actress, director and screenwriter. Frye is best known for her childhood role as the title character in sitcom Punky Brewster, and as Roxie King in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.-Early life:...
) is a warm, funny and bright child, abandoned by her mother. Her father walked out on her family, then her mother abandoned her at a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
shopping center, leaving Punky alone with her dog Brandon. Afterwards, Punky discovered a vacant apartment in a local building.
The building was run by photographer Henry Warnimont (Police Academy
Police Academy (film)
Police Academy is a 1984 comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson, and starring Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall and G.W. Bailey. It grossed approximately $146 million worldwide and spawned six more films in the Police Academy series.-Plot:...
s George Gaynes
George Gaynes
George Gaynes is a Finnish-born American actor of stage, screen and television.He may be best known as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie,...
), an elderly widowed gentleman who is something of a grouch. Punky quickly became friends with Cherie Johnson (Cherie Johnson
Cherie Johnson
Cherie Johnson is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on Punky Brewster and the long-running situation comedy show Family Matters, where she plays Laura Winslow's best friend Maxine "Max" Johnson. In 2009, she wrote, starred and produced the independent film I Do... I Did!,...
), a young girl who lived upstairs in Henry's building with her grandmother, Betty Johnson (Susie Garrett
Susie Garrett
Susie Garrett was an American actress, best known for playing "Mrs. Betty Johnson" on the TV series Punky Brewster from 1984 to 1988.-Personal life:...
), who worked as an RN at the local Cook County Hospital. Henry discovers Punky in the empty apartment across from his, and hears her story.
The relationship between the two blossoms, despite red tape
Red tape
Red tape is excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making...
from social workers, who ultimately rally to Henry's side. As their day in court approached, Punky was forced by the state to stay at Fenster Hall, a shelter for orphaned and abandoned children, which made her realize all the more how close she had grown to Henry. Finally, their day arrived, and the court approved Henry to become Punky's foster dad, and later on her real father by adopting her legally.
Punky's other friends are geeky Allen Anderson (Casey Ellison
Casey Ellison
Casey Ellison is a former American child actor best known for his role as Allen Anderson on Punky Brewster.-Career:He had a recurring minor role on Mr. Belvedere. Ellison has also guest starred on episodes of Newhart, 21 Jump Street, and The Wonder Years...
) and stuck-up rich girl Margaux Kramer (Ami Foster
Ami Foster
Ami Foster is a former American child actress. Foster is best remembered for playing Margeaux Kramer on the American television program Punky Brewster.-Biography:...
). During the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
run, Punky's teachers were regularly seen; in the first season, cheerful Mrs. Morton (Dody Goodman
Dody Goodman
Dolores "Dody" Goodman was an American character actress known for her playing the mother of the title character Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman...
) and in the second season, hip Mike Fulton (T.K. Carter). Mike formed a close relationship with Punky and her friends, and was also portrayed as a social crusader of sorts.
Also in the first season, Margaux's socialite mother, played by Loyita Chapel, appeared on a recurring basis, and there was a kooky maintenance man in the Warnimont building named Eddie Malvin (Eddie Deezen
Eddie Deezen
Eddie Deezen is an American character actor, voice actor and comedian, best known for his bit parts as nerd characters in 1970s and 1980s films such as Grease, Grease 2, Midnight Madness, 1941 and WarGames, as well as for larger roles in a number of independent cult films, including Surf II: The...
), who only showed up in the first several episodes.
Beginning in 1984, NBC aired the sitcom on Sundays. Because the show had many young viewers and was scheduled after football games
NFL on NBC
NFL on NBC is the brand given to NBC Sports coverage of National Football League games until 1998, when NBC lost the NFL American Football Conference rights to CBS...
(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. Also, NBC felt that showing Punky Brewster later tended to put them up at a time parents may have considered too late for their children.
Season 2
Many memorable episodes and storylines took place during the second season, which built up the show's popularity among young viewers. The most crucial development of the second season began on the February 2, 1986 episode, the first installment of a five-part storyline. In the five-part episode "Changes", Henry's downtown photography studio was destroyed in a fire, and it seemed for a time that he would not be able to recover from its aftermath and resume his career. As a result of his stress, Henry ended up hospitalized for a bleeding ulcerPeptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...
.
During this time, Betty and Cherie made arrangements for Punky to stay with them until Henry recovered. Unfortunately, everyone's stability was halted when bureaucratic social worker Simon P. Chillings (guest star Timothy Stack
Timothy Stack
Timothy Stack is an American film and television actor and screenwriter.-Life and career:He was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, the son of Joan and Tom Stack. He graduated from the esteemed Philadelphia-area prep school Germantown Academy in 1973 and graduated from Boston College in 1978...
) showed up, found out about Henry's condition and ultimately deemed the worst--not only did he find Betty unsuitable to care for Punky in the meantime (because she was a single woman with long working hours, already raising her granddaughter), but he felt that Henry was unfit to be her legal guardian in the long term, due to his health, age, and uncertain financial future. Chillings made Punky a ward of the state yet again, and she returned to Fenster Hall.
Despite Punky's efforts to escape from Fenster, a trick pulled by Margaux in which she dressed up and pretended to be Punky, and advocacy from Mike Fulton, Chillings ended up placing Punky with a new foster family, the fabulously wealthy Jules and Tiffany Buckworth (Robert Casper and Joan Welles). Things gradually returned to normal though, as Henry was back on his feet following surgery, opened up a glitzy new studio at the local mall and therefore was able to reunite with Punky. At the conclusion of the story arc, Henry officially adopted Punky.
Andy Gibb
Andy Gibb
Andy Gibb was an English singer and teen idol, and the youngest brother of the family whose other male siblings formed the Bee Gees: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb.-The early years:...
guest-starred twice on Punky: once as himself, hosting a pre-teen beauty pageant; and once as a music-instructor hired by Henry for Punky...who persuades the young man to go out for a recording contract. (They run afoul of a con-artist instead, and sic the Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau , founded in 1912, is a corporation consisting of several private business franchises of local BBB organizations based in the United States and Canada, which work through their parent corporation, the Council of Better Business Bureaus .The Better Business Bureau, through...
on him.)
The final episode of the second season was notable for centering around the very recent, real-life Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy. Punky and her classmates watched the live coverage of the shuttle launch in Mike Fulton's class. After the explosion occurred, Punky is traumatized, and finds her dreams to become an astronaut are crushed. She writes a letter to NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, and is visited by special guest star Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
. Although the episode received high ratings, NBC would, in the following weeks, decide to cancel the show.
First-run syndication
By the syndicated run, however, the show had clearly started to mature. Many more of Punky and Cherie's friends were seen (although most only made a handful of guest appearances each), with Margaux ever more becoming their comic foil and source of friction. Early in the third season, Allen moved away to KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
with his mother, following his parents' divorce. As Punky herself embarked on junior high, her avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
day-glo and multicolored outfits, along with her pigtails, segued into more traditional teenage styles, and her declaration of, and reliance on "Punky Power!" gave way to the realization that intelligence, common sense and a strong will can get one out of any problem. More of her dalliances with boys entered the stories, with the ones she chased and those that tried to pursue her. Punky's spunk and vivacious attitude toward life did remain though, thanks in part to the sunshine brought in by the most important man in her life, her adoptive dad.
First-run syndication scheduling & series finale
While the show was in production throughout the 1986-87 season, it did not return to the air via first-run syndication until October 30, 1987. Beginning on that premiere date, Punky was packaged such that new episodes would air once every weekday (usually late in the afternoon on independent stations). The entire third season (1986–87) aired in the five-days-a-week format through December 7, 1987. The following Monday, reruns of the third season took over on weekdays, while the episodes shot during the 1987-88 season were completing. On April 27, 1988, new episodes resumed for the fourth season, and ran every weekday for exactly a month until the series finale aired on Friday, May 27, 1988.The final episode, "Wedding Bells for Brandon", had Brandon fall in love with Brenda, a golden retriever who belonged to one of Henry and Punky's neighbors. Their whirlwind romance culminated in a cute wedding ceremony in the courtyard, which was mostly attended by other neighborhood canines.
Production companies
The show was produced by Lightkeeper Productions and NBC Productions during the network run. After two seasons, NBC felt that Punky Brewster and its principal Sunday night stablemate, the four-year-old Silver SpoonsSilver Spoons
Silver Spoons is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982 to May 11, 1986 and in first-run syndication from September 15, 1986 to March 4, 1987...
, could not compete as strongly as they hoped against CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' juggernaut 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, and canceled both programs. Like many cult-favorite sitcoms of the time, Punky Brewster was revived for first-run syndication (as was Silver Spoons). Production on Punky went undelayed, and its third season began shooting on schedule. NBC could not co-produce the episodes due to then-existing FCC regulations regarding network involvement in syndicated TV programming. Thus, they made a syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
deal with Coca-Cola Telecommunications
Coca-Cola Telecommunications
Coca-Cola Telecommunications was a short-lived first-run syndication unit of Columbia Pictures Television created in 1986 that was a merger between CPT's first-run syndication department and The Television Program Source...
to co-produce two more seasons of episodes, plus US syndication rights to the NBC-era episodes. Although Coca-Cola held onto the deal during the next two seasons of Punky Brewster, production was moved over to Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
in the second syndicated season, whereupon they became a co-producer with Coca-Cola.
Opening sequences
The theme song for Punky Brewster is "Every Time I Turn Around", written by Gary PortnoyGary Portnoy
Gary Portnoy is a singer/ songwriter from New York, best known for co-writing and singing the theme songs to two U.S. television sitcoms:*Cheers Theme: "Where Everybody Knows Your Name"*Punky Brewster Theme: "Every Time I Turn Around"...
and Judy Hart Angelo and sung by Portnoy.
For the three-part episode "Punky Finds a Home", the opening starts out with Punky at a supermarket helping a lady load her groceries into her convertible. We then see Henry leaving his studio. As Punky and Brandon arrive at the apartment building, she and Henry criss-cross but do not appear to notice each other. Punky then climbs up the fire escape and hoists Brandon up in a bag using a rope. The opening sequence was updated for the episode "Lost and Found/"Punky Gets Her Own Room" that uses footage from the opening sequence used in "Punky Finds a Home" and as well as a new shot where we see Punky entering Henry's apartment and everything around her is becoming animated, as well as Punky, Brandon and Henry themselves. The opening sequence for the rest of the season was composed by using footage from several episodes.
For the second season, the opening sequence uses footage from several episodes from the second season, as well as the first. This opening sequence also credits Johnson, Garrett and Carter as series regulars. Also, the word font for crediting the show's stars has been altered.
For the third and fourth season, the opening sequence uses footage from several episodes from the third season, as well as previous seasons. As of this season, Brandon is now a series regular, replacing Carter's credits. The word font has reverted back to its original font used in the first seasons' opening sequences.
Origin of the name
NBC programming chief Brandon TartikoffBrandon Tartikoff
Brandon Tartikoff was a television executive who was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, ALF, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, Knight Rider, The A-Team, St...
named the series after a girl he had a crush on in his own childhood: an older tomboy named Peyton "Punky" Brewster. Before the series aired, NBC tracked her down (by this time, she was married to a lawyer in Connecticut and named Peyton Rutledge) and secured her permission to use her name for the lead character. Rutledge was even hired to do a cameo in one episode as a teacher at Punky's school (in the opening scene of the episode titled "The Search", aired November 10, 1985) so that both the real and fictional Punky Brewster could be on screen at the same time (the teacher even comments "Punky? That's a funny name!"). She is credited at the end of the episode as Peyton B. Rutledge.
The dog that follows Punky around is named Brandon, after Tartikoff himself.
Cast
- Soleil Moon FryeSoleil Moon FryeSoleil Moon Frye is an American actress, director and screenwriter. Frye is best known for her childhood role as the title character in sitcom Punky Brewster, and as Roxie King in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.-Early life:...
as Penelope "Punky" Brewster - Brandon as Brandon the Wonder Dog
- George GaynesGeorge GaynesGeorge Gaynes is a Finnish-born American actor of stage, screen and television.He may be best known as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, and to television fans as the curmudgeonly Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster, in which his wife, Allyn Ann McLerie,...
as Henry Warnimont - Susie GarrettSusie GarrettSusie Garrett was an American actress, best known for playing "Mrs. Betty Johnson" on the TV series Punky Brewster from 1984 to 1988.-Personal life:...
as Betty Johnson - Cherie JohnsonCherie JohnsonCherie Johnson is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on Punky Brewster and the long-running situation comedy show Family Matters, where she plays Laura Winslow's best friend Maxine "Max" Johnson. In 2009, she wrote, starred and produced the independent film I Do... I Did!,...
as Cherie Johnson - Ami FosterAmi FosterAmi Foster is a former American child actress. Foster is best remembered for playing Margeaux Kramer on the American television program Punky Brewster.-Biography:...
as Margaux Kramer - Casey EllisonCasey EllisonCasey Ellison is a former American child actor best known for his role as Allen Anderson on Punky Brewster.-Career:He had a recurring minor role on Mr. Belvedere. Ellison has also guest starred on episodes of Newhart, 21 Jump Street, and The Wonder Years...
as Allen Anderson (1984–1987) - Eddie DeezenEddie DeezenEddie Deezen is an American character actor, voice actor and comedian, best known for his bit parts as nerd characters in 1970s and 1980s films such as Grease, Grease 2, Midnight Madness, 1941 and WarGames, as well as for larger roles in a number of independent cult films, including Surf II: The...
as Eddie Malvin (1984) - Dody GoodmanDody GoodmanDolores "Dody" Goodman was an American character actress known for her playing the mother of the title character Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman...
as Mrs. Morton (1984–1985) - Loyita Chapel as Mrs. Kramer (1984–1985)
- T. K. CarterT. K. CarterThomas Kent Carter better known as T. K. Carter, is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Michael "Mike" Fulton, an elementary school teacher, on the NBC series Punky Brewster and Mylo Williams on the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss as a supervisor, whose...
as Michael 'Mike' Fulton (1985–1986)
Fenster Hall
The final episode in Season 1 titled "Fenster Hall" (aired March 31, 1985) was a failed attempt to create a spin-offSpin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of Punky Brewster. It was originally a one hour episode, but was cut into two shows for syndication. This crossover episode marked the debut of Mike Fulton; T.K. Carter was the intended star of the Fenster Hall spin-off. Mike's history as a longtime resident of Fenster was explained, since he had been an orphan from birth and had been shuffled around to many foster homes before permanently staying at Fenster from the time he was seven. Now as the chief boys' counselor, Mike was saddled with helping new, tough street kid T.C. Finestra (Billy Lombardo) fit in with his group of regular charges, after an incident in which T.C. broke into and stole from the bedroom of Punky Brewster. Punky had a confrontation with T.C. after following him to a shady lair kept by street thug Blade (James LeGros
James LeGros
James LeGros is an American film and television actor. He is known as a star of independent films with a diversified body of work in the early to mid 1990s.-Personal life:...
), who had taken T.C. under his wing and was teaching him how to rob. It was there in which Punky learned of T.C.'s situation, and brought him home to Henry before it was decided that he would be better off at Fenster.
The primary focus of the episode was on Mike and T.C.'s learning to trust and look out for each other, while many other denizens of Fenster were introduced who would have also comprised the cast of the spin-off. Mike's boss was Rita J. Sanchez (Rosana DeSoto), and his other boys, who he treated as if they were his own sons, were aspiring heavyweight boxer Lester "Sugar" Thompson (Martin Davis
Martin Davis
Martin David Davis, is an American mathematician, known for his work on Hilbert's tenth problem . He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1950, where his adviser was Alonzo Church . He is Professor Emeritus at New York University. He is the co-inventor of the Davis-Putnam and the DPLL...
), sweet little Dash (Benji Gregory
Benji Gregory
Benji Gregory Benji Gregory Benji Gregory (born Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg on May 26, 1978 in Panorama City, California (IMDB reports that Mr Gregory-Hertzberg was born in Encino, California) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Brian Tanner on ALF (1986)...
), nerdy intellectual Lyle (Gabriel Damon
Gabriel Damon
Gabriel Damon , is an American actor born in Reno, Nevada.-Biography:He was exposed to the performing arts as early as 3 years old, when his parents and family moved to Los Angeles, California. After doing more than 100 commercials, his first role was in the 1984 TV series Call to Glory...
), who supposedly did Mike's tax forms for him; and huge, hulking Conan (B.J. Barie). When Fenster Hall did not transpire as a regular series by the time of NBC's 1985-86 upfronts, T.K. Carter then continued his role as Mike Fulton on Punky Brewster the following season, now serving as Punky's fourth grade teacher in addition to his work at Fenster. This was perhaps due to Carter's contract with the producers, in addition to the fact that his portrayal of Fulton received positive reception with test audiences and regular ones alike when the Fenster Hall pilot was screened.
It's Punky Brewster
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
with the original cast appeared on NBC on Saturday mornings. The cartoon was produced by Ruby-Spears. It ran from September 14, 1985 to December 6, 1986, for a total of 26 episodes. However, through reruns, it remained in the regular Saturday-morning lineup through the 1988-89 season. The series was later syndicated by Claster Television as part of a package featuring the DIC
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
series Maxie's World
Maxie's World
Maxie's World is an animated cartoon series about a teenage girl named Maxie in Surfside High School in California. Maxie was a straight A student who produced and hosted her own TV show part time...
(the "lead" program), and Beverly Hills Teens
Beverly Hills Teens
Beverly Hills Teens is an animated children's television program which debuted in 1987, animated by DiC Entertainment. The namesake teenagers have exaggerated wealth, and face stereotypical teenage concerns. They represent a variety of European backgrounds. There are sixty-five episodes all in one...
.
DVD releases
All four seasons have been released on DVD in Region 1 by Shout! FactoryShout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
, as well as separate discs that consist of six to eight episodes of the series. All season releases also contain episodes of the spin-off cartoon, It's Punky Brewster.
| DVD Name | Ep# | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Season One | 22 | June 1, 2004 |
| Season Two | 22 | February 8, 2005 |
| Season Three | 22 | July 25, 2006 |
| Season Four | 22 | February 26, 2008 |
In Region 4, Umbrella Entertainment
Umbrella entertainment
Umbrella Entertainment is an Australian owned, independent all-rights feature film, documentary and television program distribution company that was set up in 2001 by Jeff Harrison...
released season 1 on DVD in Australia on April 13, 2011 and season 2 on July 1, 2011. Australian releases do not contain episodes of the animated "It's Punky Brewster".