Punky Brewster (1984–1988)

Punky Brewster is a show about a girl named Penelope "Punky" Brewster. She is abandoned with her dog, Brandon, in a supermarket by her mother. She doesn't want to stay in an orphanage, and ... See full summary »

Creator:

David W. Duclon

Stars:

Soleil Moon Frye, George Gaynes, Cherie Johnson

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Soleil Moon Frye	...	Penelope 'Punky' Brewster (88 episodes, 1984-1988)
George Gaynes	...	Henry Warnimont (86 episodes, 1984-1988)
Cherie Johnson	...	Cherie Johnson (85 episodes, 1984-1988)
Susie Garrett	...	Betty Johnson (84 episodes, 1984-1988)
Ami Foster	...	Margaux Kramer (53 episodes, 1984-1988)
Sandy	...	Brandon the Wonder Dog (44 episodes, 1987-1988)

Storyline

Punky Brewster is a show about a girl named Penelope "Punky" Brewster. She is abandoned with her dog, Brandon, in a supermarket by her mother. She doesn't want to stay in an orphanage, and finally befriends Henry Warnimont who adopts her.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | girl | foster care | absent mother | little girl | 

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Genres:

Family | Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Punky, a Levada da Breca

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Coca-Cola Telecommunications, Lightkeeper Productions, NBC Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (88 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

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, and showing it later tended to put them up at a time parents may have considered too late for their children.

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Goofs

During the opening credits you will occasionally see palm tree reflections in the windows. The series is set in Chicago, so that would be highly unlikely.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Penelope 'Punky' Brewster: Grossaroo!

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Connections

Referenced in Charles in Charge: U. F. Oh No! (1987)

User Reviews

Wow, I thought it had a few more episodes than 88.

Punky Brewster is a strange little show. Sure it is the typical kid moves in with a person or persons. Usually it is a long lost parent like in "Silver Spoons", some other relative like an aunt or something, or in the strange case of "Different Strokes" an employer. This one has a little girl who calls herself Punky living by herself in a vacant apartment. Well she is soon discovered and starts living with the elderly old curmudgeon and begins to melt away the ice around his heart. Of course that is how it would go, I would not be much of a television show had he sent her away to live in an orphanage where she in turn escaped and begin a life of crime. Well that may have made for an interesting show, but it would have to be one of those shows that HBO or Showtime puts out. Well the girl makes friends and tries to teach the kids at home valuable lessons such as do not go in abandoned refrigerators. Granted that lesson is rather pointless today as any child who can not escape today's magnet fridges is probably special and should never be left alone. She also teaches the importance of not going into old caves with your friends otherwise they end up looking horribly stupid saying "Punky" in a sinister voice while fighting strange glitter men. Okay, so the lessons are rather lame for the most part. The show had some good episodes to it though as there is an excellent story arc of her getting adopted by some evil rich woman and her put upon husband, but there are lots of stupid episodes too. It is also kind of funny that the guy playing the curmudgeon is also the head of the police academy in "Police Acdemy", the one that got the special surprise under the podium.