Punky Brewster

We reviewed Punky Brewster several years ago, but you’ve been wantin g a bit more details on the episodes produced on this 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.

Penelope “Punky” Brewster played by Soleil Moon Frye
Henry Warnimont George Gaynes
Eddie Malvin (1984) Eddie Deezen
Cherie Johnson Cherie Johnson
Mrs. Betty Johnson Susie Garrett
Margeaux Kramer Ami Foster
Mrs. Kramer (1984-85) Loyita Chapel
Allen Anderson Casey Ellison
Mrs. Morton (1984-85) Dody Goodman
Mike Fulton (1985-86) T.K. Carter

Penelope Punky Brewster

Punky Brewster played by Soleil Moon Frye

Season 1

Episode 1: Punky Finds a Home: Part 1
Penelope “Punky” Brewster is an abandoned 8-year-old who wanders into an empty apartment in Chicago. The manager of the building is a 60-year-old curmudgeon named Henry Warnimont, who begrudgingly agrees to let her sleep on his couch until more suitable arrangements can be made.

Episode 2: Punky Finds a Home: Part 2
Henry fails to stop a social worker from putting Punky in an orphanage.

Episode 3: Punky Finds a Home: Part 3
Henry goes to court to get custody of Punky.

Episode 4: Punky Gets Her Own Room/Lost and Found
Punky Brewster and her friends convert Henry’s study room into her bedroom without asking him first. Henry takes Punky shopping and she wanders off.

Episode 5: Walk Pool/Gone Fishin’
Mrs. Johnson finds the task of walking the children to school to be too exasperating, so she turns it over to Henry, who attempts to instill a sense of discipline into them. Henry tries to introduce Punky and her friends to the joys of fishing.

Episode 6: Take Me Out to the Ball Game
As the Chicago Cubs play in their first post-season championship since 1945, proud Cubs fan Henry tries to get tickets for Punky and himself.

Episode 7: Parents Night
As the school’s parent-teacher night approaches, Punky is upset by Margaux’s insensitive comments about foster parents and foster children.

Episode 8: Visit to the Doctor/Go to Sleep
Henry gives Punky a lucky nickel to keep with her while she goes for a booster shot. Punky can’t sleep, so Henry agrees to let her stay up and watch the opera with him on TV.

Episode 9: Miss Adorable
Punky, Cherie, and Margaux compete in a beauty pageant hosted by pop singer Andy Gibb.

Episode 10: Dog Dough Afternoon
Punky and Cherie start a dog grooming business so that they can help make ends meet in their respective homes.

Episode 11: Bye Bye, My
Henry throws out Punky Brewster’s worn-out old doll after the children’s attempt to repair it fails. This upsets Punky, so Henry searches throughout the city to find it.

Episode 12: Yes, Punky, There Is a Santa Claus: Part 1
Christmas is approaching, and the only thing Punky wants is to find her mother.

Episode 13: Yes, Punky, There Is a Santa Claus: Part 2
By playing Santa at school and saying he can do anything if she believes in him hard enough, Henry has inadvertently convinced Punky that Santa Claus will bring back her mother. Now he must find the woman, but the search is fruitless until an antiques dealer provides a possible clue.

Episode 14: Play It Again, Punky
Punky helps her piano teacher get into the music business.

Episode 15: Henry Falls in Love: Part 1
Henry is reunited with a woman he planned to marry in 1941; when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he enlisted in the Merchant Marines and did not see her again until now.

Episode 16: Henry Falls in Love: Part 2
Punky runs away when he learns that when Henry and Maggie are to be married, she’ll be sent to boarding school in Europe.

Episode 17: My Aged Valentine
After getting in trouble for slugging a boy at school, Punky dreams of life 80 years into the future where everyone has found love except for her.

Episode 18: I Love You, Brandon
Henry scolds Brandon for eating several valuable stamps. After that, Punky takes him on a walk, where he is hit by a car. He is rushed to the veterinary hospital, where his prognosis is grim.

Episode 19: Punky Brewster’s Workout
Henry purchases a video camera for his photo studio and firmly warns Punky that she is not to touch it under any circumstances. However, while he’s away, she and her friends make an exercise tape and think he won’t know it – until the camera breaks.

Episode 20: Gals and Dolls
Punky, Cherie, and Margaux all want a highly sought-after doll, but Henry can only find one of them at the toy store.

Episode 21: Fenster Hall: Part 1
Punky catches a boy breaking into her room and stealing from her. Henry takes the boy to Fenster Hall where Mike Fulton, one of the workers there, tries to bond with him.

Episode 22: Fenster Hall: Part 2
T.C.’s criminal mentor, Blade, sends him back to Fenster Hall to steal the money from the upcoming benefit auction.

Season 2

Episode 1: The K.O. Kid
When Punky Brewster bears the brunt of the school bully’s aggression, she asks professional boxer Marvin Hagler for advice on self-defense.

Episode 2: Punky’s Treehouse
Punky wants to build a tree house behind her apartment building, but she has trouble getting people to help her.

Episode 3: Cheaters Never Win
Punky and Allen cheat on their geography test.

Episode 4: Baby Buddies, Inc.
With Mrs. Johnson’s assistance, Punky and Cherie go into the babysitting business. A woman leaves her baby with them, but when the three of them take it out for a stroll, they return home with another infant.

Episode 5: Tap Your Troubles Away
The children enroll in a tap dancing class taught by Jersey Janet, a former Broadway dancer. Punky is not very good, and she quits the class when her skills do not improve.

Episode 6: The Perils of Punky: Part 1
Punky Brewster and the gang go on a camping trip. When the children get lost in a cave, Punky tells a ghost story about an evil spirit who threatens the lake.

Episode 7: The Perils of Punky: Part 2
The children do battle with an evil spirit, when the ghost of an Indian princess appears to tell Punky that it must be fought with love.

Episode 8: Just Say No
Punky and Cherie are admitted into a clique, only to find that they use drugs and want them to do so.

Episode 9: The Search
Punky Brewster has something in common with her teacher, Mike Fulton: they were both abandoned by their mothers. They work together to try and find the whereabouts of their respective families.

Episode 10: Love Thy Neighbor
On Halloween, Punky raises the ire of Mrs. Peevey, a cantankerous old woman who lives in the building, simply by trying to be her friend.

Episode 11: The Gift
Punky befriends the school janitor who, in spite of her learning disability, is a gifted violin player.

Episode 12: Milk Does a Body Good
Punky and Cherie learn that a girl who moved into the building recently was kidnapped by her divorced father, and they are both living in the building under assumed names.

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Episode 13: Christmas Shoplifting
During the Christmas shopping season, Punky sees a friend shoplifting merchandise and decides to steal a present she can’t afford for Henry. She regrets this when she accidentally switches bags with Mike, who ends up in prison.

Episode 14: Urban Fear
Punky is afraid that Henry will be the next victim of a widely publicized murder spree.

Episode 15: Girls Will Be Boys
Punky receives a remote-controlled race car as a gift. She wants to take it to the racing track, but they do not allow girls to compete there.

Episode 16: Cherie Lifesaver
Henry reluctantly buys a new refrigerator and puts the old one in the backyard. Mike teaches CPR to the children in

class. Allen goofs off and is sent to the principal’s office. When the children are playing Hide and Seek, Cherie hides in the fridge and suffocates. Allen doesn’t know what to do, so it’s up to Punky and Margaux to save their friend’s life.

Episode 17: Changes: Part 1
Henry’s studio burns down; with no insurance and a mountain of bills he can’t pay, he suffers a bleeding ulcer and is hospitalized.

Episode 18: Changes: Part 2
Just as Henry was planning to adopt Punky, a Fenster Hall bureaucrat named Simon P. Chillings rescinds his custody citing his age, his illness, and his lack of a steady income. Mike Fulton tries to change his mind but to no avail.

Episode 19: Changes: Part 3
Punky’s friends visit her at Fenster Hall. Hoping that Simon Chillings won’t notice (and by taking his glasses), Margaux impersonates Punky so that the real Punky can visit Henry in the hospital.

Episode 20: Changes: Part 4
Simon Chillings performs a Rorschach inkblot test on the fake Punky, and based upon the results, he places the real Punky with a wealthy family. However, she does not take to high society very well.

Episode 21: Changes: Part 5
After a tearful reunion between Punky and Henry, the Buckworths plan to move to Europe. Henry, however, is working as hard as possible to rebuild his business and win Punky back.

Episode 22: Accidents Happen
Punky’s dream is to become an astronaut when she grows up. When she sees the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle on TV, she is devastated.

Season 3

Episode 1: Reading, Writing and Rock & Roll
Punky wants to see the rock group DeBarge in concert, but Henry is more concerned with her education.

Episode 2: Punky’s Big Story
Punky writes a gossip column for the school newspaper.

Episode 3: Tons of Fun
Punky’s overweight cousin Louise wants to lose weight.

Episode 4: Divorce Anderson Style
When Allen’s parents file for divorce, his mother moves to Kansas and takes him with her.

Episode 5: Beer and Buffalos Don’t Mix
Punky believes one of Henry’s lodge buddies has been drinking and driving.

Episode 6: Hands Across the Halls
Punky tries to help an elderly woman in the building.

Episode 7: Open Door, Broken Heart: Part 1
Brandon runs away after Cherie leaves the apartment door open.

Episode 8: Open Door, Broken Heart: Part 2
The boy who finds Brandon refuses to give him up, even when his parents tell him that they’re moving to California.

Episode 9: Best Friends
Punky is angry when Cherie falls for a boy.

Episode 10: It’s a Dog’s Life
After Henry scolds Punky for not taking better care of Brandon, she dreams that she’s a dog and Brandon’s a person.

Episode 11: The Metamorphosis
Henry goes shopping for a brassiere for Punky Brewster.

Episode 12: Fighting City Hall
Punky and Henry campaign to turn an empty field into a city park, but Henry’s fear of public speaking gets the best of him.

Episode 13: The Matchmaker
Punky sets Henry up with the school librarian, while Mrs. Johnson goes on a dating game show.

Episode 14: My Fair Punky
Punky tries to fit in at a high society banquet.

Episode 15: The Anniversary
Punky is concerned about the way Cherie always seems to act every year on the 9th of May; she soon learns that it was the

day Cherie’s parents were killed in a car accident.

Episode 16: Tangled Web
When Punky pretends to be an elderly woman and sneaks into an R-rated movie, Cherie and Margaux cover for her truancy at school.

Episode 17: Punky’s Porker
Punky enlists the aid of Cherie and Margaux in kidnapping a pig to save it from being slaughtered.

Episode 18: This Spud’s for You
Spud threatens to jump off a building if Punky won’t go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with him.

Episode 19: So Long, Studio
Photo developing tycoon Matt Glossy offers to buy Henry’s studio for $100,000. When he accepts the deal, he ends up working for him. Dissatisfaction quickly sets in, so Henry quits his job. Since his contract with Mr. Glossy forbids him from opening another studio for several decades, he opens a restaurant instead.

Episode 20: Help Wanted
Punky convinces Henry to let her work at Punky’s Place, the new restaurant named for her. However, she screws things up tremendously and is quickly fired.

Episode 21: Remember When
A blackout prompts the gang to reminisce on old times (in clips from previous episodes).

Episode 22: Unhooking Henry
Henry tries to break his addiction to sleeping pills.

Season 4

Episode 1: The Nun’s Story
Punky believes she has donated an urn containing Henry’s Aunt Mabel’s ashes to a convent.

Episode 2: Crushed
Punky has a crush on an older boy.

Episode 3: Going to Camp
Punky, Cherie, and Margaux go to Camp Kookalookie.

Episode 4: Poor Margaux
Margaux believes that Punky and Cherie won’t want to be her friends anymore because her family has gone bankrupt.

Episode 5: Brandon’s Commercial
Punky pushes Brandon into doing a TV commercial for dog food.

Episode 6: Passed Away at Punky’s Place
Punky and Cherie believe that a man has died at Punky Brewster’s Place. When a newspaper’s restaurant critic eats there, they fear that this will hurt the restaurant’s reputation.

Episode 7: Christmas Hero
During the Christmas season, Punky finds a briefcase full of stolen money.

Episode 8: Cosmetic Scam
Punky and Cherie make money selling cosmetics with unexpected side effects.

Episode 9: See You in Court
When Henry teaches Mrs. Johnson how to drive, mutual lawsuits result because of an accident. The judge hears contradictory testimony from both of them.

Episode 10: Radio Daze
Punky, Cherie, and Margaux perform a radio drama.

Episode 11: Aunt Larnese Is Coming to Town
Betty’s sister Larnese, a world famous singer, asks Cherie to come live with her in France.

Episode 12: Dear Diary
While Henry tries to throw out souvenirs he has collected over the years, Punky tries to read Cherie’s diary. After it accidentally goes out with the garbage, Punky and Margaux search the dumpster to try and find it.

Episode 13: The Reading Game
Cherie’s cousin Paula is a talented artist. When it is suggested that she enters a contest, she balks at filling out the entry form because she doesn’t know how to read.

Episode 14: Ouch
Punky is afraid to undergo an appendectomy.

Episode 15: No No, We Won’t Go
When Margaux’s father buys the apartment building, Mrs. Johnson can’t afford the rent increase he has proposed. Punky, Cherie, and Margaux protest the rent increase by going to his office and chaining themselves to his desk.

Episode 16: Bad Dog
Brandon’s behavior receives complaints from other tenants.

Episode 17: Vice Versa
In Punky’s dream, Henry and Mrs. Johnson are the children while she and Cherie are the parents.

Episode 18: Wimped Out
Punky – who has a broken leg – and Cherie are stuck in an elevator with a pregnant woman in labor.

Episode 19: One Plus Tutor Is Three
Punky has a crush on her math tutor, who is more interested in Margaux.

Episode 20: The Dilemma
Punky Brewster tries to juggle two dates at the same time.

Episode 21: What’s Your Sign?
Punky befriends a deaf girl.

Episode 22: Wedding Bells for Brandon
Though Henry finds it ridiculous, Punky arranges for Brandon to get married to Myron’s dog Brenda.

In all there were 88 episodes over 5 years and 4 seasons, each season screening 22 episodes. Each episode of Punky Brewster lasted for about 22–24 minutes. Since the initial mid 80s show Punky Brewster and Glomer appeared in a cartoon series called “It’s Punky Brewster!”

6 thoughts on “Punky Brewster

  1. Dear Skooldays,

    I don’t know how to contact you at your website and I know that my post here has nothing to do with”The Punky Brewster Show”..so I hope that you forgive me for contacting you this way.

    Next month will mark the 50th anniversary of the debut of”The Dick Tracy Show”(The UPA TV Cartoons that were created and produced for national syndication).I noticed that your website doesn’t have these cartoons in the 1960’s Saturday Morning TV section.

    if it is permissible? Could I send some info about these films..so that you might be able to create and present a new addition to The 1960’s Saturday Morning TV section of your
    website?

    If this is permissible..please contact me at Stanbabe@Bellsouth.Net?

    Thank You For Your Time And Considerations,

    Yours Truly,

    Kevin Butler.

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