Editing Punky Brewster (section)

==Synopsis==
Penelope "Punky" Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) is a warm, funny, and bright child. Her father walked out on her family, then her mother abandoned her at a [[Chicago]] shopping center when they were shopping for groceries, leaving Punky alone with her dog, Brandon. Afterwards, Punky discovers a vacant apartment in a local building.<ref name="punky">{{Cite web |title=Punky Brewster's First Scenes | date=18 May 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3DO3zE9zeo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/b3DO3zE9zeo |archive-date=2021-12-11 |access-date=July 15, 2008 |publisher=[[NBC]] |via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The building is managed by 60-year-old Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes), a widowed photographer with a grouchy streak who finds Punky in the abandoned apartment. Punky hits it off with young Cherie Johnson (played by Cherie Johnson), who lives in Henry's building with her grandmother, Betty ([[Susie Garrett]]). Betty works as a [[registered nurse]] at [[Cook County Hospital]]. Henry discovers Punky in the empty apartment across from his. Punky explains things to him and he decides to take Punky in.<ref name="punky" />

The relationship between the two blossoms, despite [[red tape]] from [[social work]]er Randi Mitchell ([[Talia Balsam]]), who ultimately rallies to Henry's side. The state forces Punky to stay at Fenster Hall, an emergency shelter for orphaned and abandoned children, until their day in court. The court approves Henry's wish to become Punky's foster father. Henry legally adopts her in the second season.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Punky Brewster – Season One : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video |url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/10919/punky-brewster-season-one/ |access-date=February 22, 2016 |website=[[DVD Talk]]}}</ref>

Punky's other friends are geeky Allen Anderson ([[Casey Ellison]]) and spoiled 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.

===Season 1 (1984–1985)===
During the first season, Margaux's socialite mother ([[Loyita Chapel]]) appeared on a recurring basis, as did kooky maintenance man Eddie Malvin ([[Eddie Deezen]]). Eddie disappeared after the first several episodes.

Beginning in 1984, NBC aired the sitcom on Sundays. Because the show had many young viewers and was scheduled after [[NFL on NBC|football games]] (which tended to run long), six fifteen-minute episodes were produced. This was done rather than joining a full-length episode in progress, so as not to disappoint children watching the program.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 4, 1984 |title=Truncated 'Punky' episodes |pages=TV–3 |work=[[The Free Lance-Star]] |publisher=[[Berkshire Hathaway|BH Media]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MeVLAAAAIBAJ&pg=2219,4450310&dq=punky+brewster+canceled&hl=en |access-date=February 13, 2013}}</ref>

===Season 2 (1985–1986)===
The second season's February 2, 1986, episode introduced 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 for a time, he seemingly would not be able to recover from the aftermath and resume his career. As a result of his stress, Henry ended up hospitalized for a bleeding [[Peptic ulcer|ulcer]].

During that time, Betty and Cherie made arrangements for Punky to stay with them until Henry recovered. 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 deemed the worst; he found Betty unsuitable to care for Punky because Punky would not have her own room. Chillings also felt that Henry was unfit to be Punky's 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.

Punky's efforts to escape from Fenster included a trick pulled by Margaux, in which she dressed up and pretended to be Punky. Despite advocacy from Mike Fulton, Chillings placed Punky with a new foster family, the fabulously wealthy Jules and Tiffany Buckworth (Robert Casper and Joan Welles), the latter of whom did not take kindly at all to Punky's working-class playfulness. Things gradually returned to normal. Henry, back on his feet following surgery, opened up a glitzy new studio at the local mall; in the process, he reunited with Punky. At the conclusion of the story arc, Henry officially adopted Punky.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Punky Brewster: Season Two : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video |url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/14174/punky-brewster-season-two/ |access-date=February 22, 2016 |website=DVD Talk}}</ref>

The final episode of the second season was notable for centering on the very recent, real-life [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster]]. Punky and her classmates watched the live coverage of the shuttle launch in Mike Fulton's class. After the accident occurred, Punky is traumatized; her dreams of becoming an astronaut are crushed. Her teacher Mike then brings over former [[NASA]] astronaut [[Buzz Aldrin]] to visit Punky.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Margulies |first=Lee |date=February 19, 1986 |title='Punky' Deals With Shuttle Tragedy |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-19-ca-9722-story.html |access-date=August 22, 2010}}</ref> NBC cancelled the show soon after.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Hallaren |first=Bill |date=March 2, 1986 |title=Her show may be a flop but Soleil Moon Frye is riding high on the wave of popularity |pages=2, 15 |work=[[New Straits Times]] |publisher=[[Media Prima]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BdRHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3180,531782&dq=punky+brewster+popularity&hl=en |access-date=December 22, 2012}}</ref>

===Syndication (1987–1988)===
After two seasons, NBC saw that ''Punky Brewster'' and its principal Sunday night stablemate, the four-year-old ''[[Silver Spoons]]'', could not compete as strongly as they hoped against [[CBS]]' juggernaut ''[[60 Minutes]]'', and cancelled both programs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelley |first=Bill |date=November 8, 1985 |title=NBC'S PROBLEM: WHERE TO PUT TWO NEW SHOWS |page=8E |work=[[Sun-Sentinel]] |publisher=[[Tronc|Tribune Publishing]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rothenberg |first=Fred |date=May 15, 1986 |title=NBC ADDS SITCOMS TO FALL LINEUP |page=52 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |publisher=Affiliated Publications}}</ref> Like many cult-favorite sitcoms of the time, ''Punky Brewster'' was revived for [[Broadcast syndication|syndication]] (as was ''Silver Spoons''). Production on ''Punky'' went undelayed, and its third season began shooting on schedule. While the show was in production throughout the 1986–87 season, it did not return to the air via syndication until October 30, 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 24, 1986 |title=SHOWS REVIVED FOR SYNDICATION |page=24 |work=[[The Wichita Eagle]] |publisher=[[Knight Ridder]]}}</ref> Beginning on that premiere date, ''Punky'' was packaged such that new episodes would air 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 8, 1987.

By the syndicated run, the storylines 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 becoming their comic foil and source of friction. Early in the third season, Allen moved away to [[Kansas]] with his mother, following his parents' divorce. As Punky herself neared [[junior high]], her [[avant-garde]] day-glo and multicolored attire, along with her pigtails, segued into more traditional teenaged 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.

[[File:Punky brewster piano lesson.jpg|thumb|[[Soleil Moon Frye]] as Punky Brewster|right|175px]]

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 were not being appreciated by his new employers. He quit Glossy's, but then decided to give into Punky 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.

From December 10, 1987 to April 26, 1988, reruns from the third season were added to the ''Punky Brewster'' syndication package. On April 27, 1988, new episodes resumed for the fourth season, and ran every weekday for a month until the series finale aired on May 27, 1988.

The final episode, "Wedding Bells for Brandon", features Brandon falling in love with Brenda, a golden retriever that belonged to one of Henry and Punky's neighbors. Their whirlwind romance culminated in a wedding ceremony in the courtyard, which was attended mostly by other neighborhood canines.

According to Cherie Johnson, "Wedding Bells for Brandon" was not intended to be the series finale; that particular episode came along in the midst of the [[1988 Writers Guild of America strike]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rossen |first=Jake |date=January 25, 2016 |title=Oral History: Punky Brewster's Refrigerator Danger |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/74018/oral-history-punky-brewsters-refrigerator-danger |website=Mental Floss}}</ref>

===Revival (2021)===
In June 2019, [[Universal Content Productions|UCP]] announced plans for a new ''[[Punky Brewster (2021 TV series)|Punky Brewster]]'' series starring Soleil Moon Frye. The series revisits Punky as a single mother of three “trying to get her life back on track when she meets a young girl who reminds her a lot of her younger self.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=June 4, 2019 |title='Punky Brewster' Reboot Starring Soleil Moon Frye In Works At UCP |url=https://deadline.com/2019/06/punky-brewster-reboot-sequel-soleil-moon-frye-star-ucp-1202626648/}}</ref> The series also features Cherie Johnson, returning to the role named after her, as well as [[Freddie Prinze Jr.]] as Punky's ex-husband.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Todd |date=November 21, 2019 |title=Cherie Johnson Opens Up About 'Punky Brewster' Reboot, Business Ventures Outside Acting |url=https://www.parlemag.com/2019/11/cherie-johnson-interview/}}</ref> In early 2020, NBC confirmed the revival consisting of a ten-episode first season that will air on its new streaming [[Peacock (streaming service)|Peacock]] network.<ref name="Variety-Reboot" /> The revival premiered on February 25, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramos |first=Dino-Ray |date=January 6, 2021 |title='Punky Brewster' Revival Sets Premiere Date, Peacock Reveals First Look |url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/punky-brewster-revival-peacock-premiere-date-first-look-soleil-moon-frye-cherie-johnson-freddie-prinze-jr-quinn-copeland-noah-cottrell-oliver-de-los-santos-lauren-lindsey-donzis-1234665774/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref> In August 2021, the series was canceled after one season.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=August 19, 2021 |title='Punky Brewster' Sequel Canceled By Peacock After One Season |url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/punky-brewster-canceled-peacock-one-season-1234818510/ |access-date=August 19, 2021 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref>