The BEST episodes of Punky Brewster
Every episode of Punky Brewster ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Punky Brewster!
When 7-year-old Punky Brewster is abandoned by her parents and left alone with her dog Brandon, she decides to crash in an abandoned apartment building in Chicago. The building's manager, a curmudgeon by the name of Henry, discovers her in his building and decides to take her in — and Punky tries in turn to bring some joy into Henry's life.
#1 - Cherie Lifesaver
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/19/1986
Henry's old refrigerator breaks down and can't be used anymore. Later, Mike teaches CPR to his class after sending Allen to the principal's office for repeatedly misbehaving and interrupting the lesson, as Henry is putting the refrigerator outside for the Salvation Army to pick up. Later, at home, Punky and her friends play a game of hide-and-seek. When it starts snowing as Henry is preparing to remove the door from the old refrigerator after buying a new one, Henry tells Punky, Allen, and Margaux to help him and Betty look for Cherie, who still hasn't been found in the game. Henry and Allen are shocked to find Cherie trapped inside of the old refrigerator, and this makes Punky and Margaux thankful that they learned CPR, and makes Allen feel bad that he was sent to the principal's office during the lesson. Henry and Allen decide to learn CPR together after watching Punky and Margeaux save Cherie's life with it.
#2 - Going to Camp
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/29/1988
Punky, Cherie, and Margaux go to summer camp, where they learn about such traditions as T-shirt raids, and the kissing rock, but Punky doesn't seem to have the same romantic visions about these things that Cherie, Margaux, and their roommate Marcie have -- until Punky is kissed by a boy named Jimmy. Also, Cherie is annoyed by Franco Grenolli, a fellow camper who has a crush on her.
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#3 - Changes (2)
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/9/1986
Punky is devastated when Henry tells her that she'll be going to Fenster Hall because Chillings removed her from Henry's custody. Chillings takes Punky to Fenster Hall, where Punky traps Chillings in a closet and escapes. Punky goes to the school to tell Mike what's going on. Mike agrees to help Punky, but he needs to know which DCFS case worker has been handling Punky's case. Punky tells Mike that it's Chillings, who took over Fenster Hall after Mike left Fenster Hall to become a teacher. Mike has a talk with Chillings, and doesn't make any progress with Chillings, who cruelly won't let Punky temporarily stay with Cherie and Betty while Henry is in the hospital, just because Punky wouldn't have her own bedroom in Betty's apartment. Betty rightfully doesn't understand this rule, which means that Punky is not allowed to temporarily share a room with her best friend Cherie at Betty's apartment, but Punky has to share a room at Fenster Hall with four girls that she doesn't even know. Mike
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#4 - Accidents Happen
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/9/1986
Mike tries to help his class understand the Challenger space shuttle tragedy -- especially Punky, whose dream is to become an astronaut, and her classmates think she's crazy, then Mike introduces Punky to famous astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Henry is embarrassed when Buzz sees Henry wearing a dress. Henry is wearing the dress because Betty needed a dummy to put the dress on, so she could work on the dress.
#5 - Passed Away at Punky's Place
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/4/1988
While Henry is in Detroit buying supplies for the restaurant, Punky and Cherie decide to run the restaurant, and they panic when a customer named Ralph falls asleep because of narcolepsy. Punky and Cherie don't realize that Ralph is just asleep. They think Ralph is dead because of the secret ingredient Cherie uses when she makes hamburgers.
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#6 - Wimped Out
Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/23/1988
Cherie thinks she's a wimp after failing to prevent Punky from falling out of the treehouse, and Punky suffers a broken leg as a result. Cherie later regains her courage in a stalled elevator at the hospital with a pregnant woman named Nancy, who goes into labor.
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#7 - Urban Fear
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/5/1986
Punky is absolutely terrified that Henry is going to become the next victim of the "Northside Stalker" -- a killer who has been terrorizing the city. Henry assures Punky that it's okay to be afraid, but it's not healthy to let her fear completely take over everything she ever does.
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#8 - Changes (3)
Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/16/1986
Henry is rushed into emergency surgery after his collapse. At Fenster Hall, Mike brings Cherie, Margaux, and Allen to visit Punky, and they have a plan to help Punky sneak out so she can visit Henry at the hospital, and they get help from Punky's roommates Anna, Liz, Millie, and Weezie. They disguise Punky as Margaux and disguise Margaux as Punky. To make the plan work, they make sure Chillings can't wear his glasses. Mike goes along with the plan and takes Punky to visit Henry, who is unconscious. While Punky is in Henry's room, Punky overhears Mike telling Betty that Punky may not be coming back home to Henry because Chillings wants to put her with new foster parents. Sometime after Punky's visit, when Henry wakes up, there is a note from Punky, and the note tells Henry what Punky overheard Mike say to Betty, and Punky thinks it's her fault that Henry collapsed, because Henry was worried about how to regain custody of Punky. After reading Punky's note, Henry looks like he's about to
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#9 - Love Thy Neighbor
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/17/1985
On Halloween, Punky tries to play a trick on Isabelle Peavy, because Punky wants to get even with Isabelle for the way Isabelle treated Punky, Cherie, and Allen. Isabelle is a mean old lady, and Punky's friends think Isabelle is actually a witch. When Isabelle sees Punky trying to play the "flying foamie" trick on her, Isabelle takes Punky inside her apartment, and a terrified Punky runs back out, unintentionally leaving Brandon behind in Isabelle's apartment, and Isabelle may not want to give Brandon back. Punky gets Mike to go to Isabelle's apartment to get Brandon, and Isabelle explains to Mike the reason why she is so mean...she absolutely loved dancing. 12 years ago, in 1973, Isabelle was on her way to the Starland Ballroom to do some dancing, but before she got to the ballroom, a kid on a bicycle collided with her and didn't even stop, and ever since then, Isabelle hasn't been able to dance, and she has hated kids ever since that day. Isabelle becomes angry at Mike's attempts to
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#10 - Henry Falls In Love (2)
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/3/1985
Punky runs away when he learns that when Henry and Maggie are to be married, she'll be sent to boarding school in Europe.
#11 - Bad Dog
Season 4 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/18/1988
Punky and the gang want to know why Brandon is acting so strange lately, then Brandon is accused of biting a new neighbor, Ms. Jenner, and as a result, Ms. Jenner wants Brandon to be put to sleep (euthanize), so Brandon is taken to an animal shelter for examination.
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#12 - Tap Your Troubles Away
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/13/1985
When it comes to tap dancing, Punky dances like she has two left feet, so she decides to quit tap dancing so she can keep from being embarrassed, especially after Jersey Janet, the instructor, calls her a klutz. Henry, who looks like he's falling for Jersey Janet, helps Jersey Janet find a role for Punky in a recital that Jersey Janet's class has been preparing for -- wearing a bee disguise and swinging over the other students, who are disguised as flowers in the recital.
#13 - Changes (4)
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/23/1986
Henry spends much of the day trying to call Chillings. When Henry finally does get Chillings on the phone, Chillings tells Henry that Punky has been placed with new foster parents -- Tiffany Buckworth and her husband Jules Buckworth , who live in a mansion with a butler named Cuthbert, and Punky doesn't like this at all, because she wants to be with Henry, and while Jules is a kindly man who is always nice to Punky, Tiffany is snobby and mean. Two weeks later, after Henry is released from the hospital, Punky goes to the apartment building to visit Henry. When Punky tells Henry that she wants to return to Henry, Henry vows to regain custody of her.
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#14 - Christmas Shoplifting
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/15/1985
Misled by schoolmate Richmond Matzie, Punky shoplifts a winter scarf for Henry as a Christmas present, and unknowingly switches bags with Mike -- and an innocent Mike is put in jail, but Punky and Henry get Mike out when Punky explains everything.
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#15 - Henry Falls In Love (1)
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/27/1985
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.
#16 - Fighting City Hall
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/13/1987
Henry tries to overcome his fear of public speaking when he helps Punky petition city council to turn a vacant lot into a park -- but another man, Mr. Arnold, wants to put a mall in the lot, not realizing that Chicago has too many malls already. Henry does speak for Punky in front of the city council, and the city council decides to turn the vacant lot into a park.
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#17 - The Anniversary
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 11/17/1987
In a saddening episode: Henry has bought tickets to the circus which is scheduled for the next day, May 9th. When Cherie starts acting strange and says she can't go to the circus, Punky remembers that Punky's diary says that Cherie acted the same way on May 9th of last year too. Punky wants to know why Cherie likes to be alone on May 9th of every year, so Punky decides to follow Cherie around on May 9th -- and discovers that May 9th is the anniversary of the day Cherie's parents, Ronald George Johnson and Elizabeth Marie Johnson, died in a car accident in 1981, and Cherie is still having problems coping with the tragedy, because she feels guilty, thinking that the accident was her fault because her parents were on their way to pick her up from school. Punky talks to Betty, who says that Cherie never talks about her parents, not even to Betty. Cherie has never even been to the cemetery where Ronald and Elizabeth were buried. Cherie has kept her feelings about the deaths all balled up in
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#20 - Help Wanted
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 12/3/1987
When Henry's most valuable employee, Stanley, quits his job, Henry tries to find a replacement for Stanley, but to no avail. Punky tells Henry that she needs money to pay her own way into summer camp, so Henry hires Punky, then promptly fires Punky for wrecking havoc in the restaurant, starting a feud between Punky and Henry. Henry believes Punky should have taken the time to learn how to do some of the things that she made mistakes doing, while Punky just wanted to do a good job for Henry.
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#21 - Girls Will Be Boys
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/12/1986
Punky wants Henry to stand up for her rights when Richmond Matzie and his father and the boys won't let Punky race the new remote control car that she won, just because she's a girl. It turns out that Henry feels the same way the boys do, until Mike has an eye opening talk with Henry, convincing Henry to stand up for Punky against Mr. Matzie and Richmond, who reluctantly allow Punky to enter her car in a championship race that she wins.
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#22 - Open Door, Broken Heart (2)
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 12/9/1987
A stubborn Joey thinks he should keep Brandon, while his mother thinks he should do the right thing and give Brandon back to Punky, but Brandon escapes from Joey and shows up at Punky and Henry's door, being chased by Joey and his mother.
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#24 - The Matchmaker
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/13/1987
Punky and Cherie send Henry on a blind date with Ms. Maytag, the school librarian, then they talk Betty into appearing on the TV show "Dream Date", where out of the three women on the show, overweight contestant Chuck McKinley chooses Betty.
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#25 - The Search
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/10/1985
Punky is feeling a little down after Mike has assigned the class to each work on their family tree. It's making her want her mother Susan back in her life, and when she has a talk with Mike, Mike tells Punky something surprising -- Mike was born on November 23, 1955, and his mother gave him up for adoption when he was just a few days old, and he was never adopted, so he grew up in Fenster Hall. This inspires Punky and Mike to help each other search for their mothers. Only the search for Mike's mother, Lois Collins, is successful, and the fact that Mike has been happily united with Lois delights Punky, who is thankful that Henry found her and took her in after her mother Susan abandoned her a year ago.
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