Editing Punky Brewster (section)

===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>