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 - Cosmetic Scam
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/6/1988
Punky and Cherie sell cosmetics door to door for Lady Contempo Cosmetics, until they discover that Lady Contempo Cosmetics is a scam run by a con artist named Sidney. Henry washes his hair with Lady Contempo shampoo and wakes up the next morning with no hair on his head. Punky and the gang have to deal with angry customers who have also felt the various side effects of Lady Contempo products, and when they go to Lady Contempo to confront Sidney, they see that Sidney has cleared out, and it turns out that the reason why Henry is bald headed is because he washed his hair with Contempo furniture stripper that Sidney had disguised as Lady Contempo shampoo, and the reason why the blue face mask won't come off of Betty's face is because the face mask is actually kitchen floor wax that was disguised as the face mask cream. While they are in Sidney's office, A detective named Denko shows up looking for Sidney, who has cleared out.
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#2 - 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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#3 - My Fair Punky
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/16/1987
Punky is invited to the birthday party of rich kid Robert Whitney when Henry is hired to be the party's photographer. In order to keep from embarrassing Henry, Punky takes lessons from Margaux on how to act like a rich stiff. The lessons don't work -- Punky ends up wreaking havoc and has Robert wishing that his social secretary Charles hadn't invited any stiffs to the party, because Robert didn't want the party to be as boring and stiff as Charles wanted it to be.
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#4 - 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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#5 - Tangled Web
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 11/20/1987
Punky fakes being sick so she can avoid school and can go to the movie theater to see "Slime Wars In Space" -- an R rated movie that Margaux and Cherie have each seen twice, and Punky feels left out because she hasn't seen it at all. Punky does end up seeing the movie.
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#7 - Crushed
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/28/1988
Punky has a crush on 16 year old Kevin Dowling, who is helping Punky install a stereo in the treehouse. Punky tells Henry about Kevin, and Henry, who doesn't understand that Punky has a crush on Kevin, vows to break every bone in Kevin's body. Punky is crushed when she meets Kevin's girlfriend Gina.
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#8 - 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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#9 - Christmas Hero
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/5/1988
Punky wants to give Henry a pocket watch for Christmas. When rich businessman Horatio Lake is robbed of a briefcase just before Christmas, Punky solves the robbery and figures out that Mr. Lake's son Jerry Lake is the thief. Punky tells Mr. Lake what went on -- Jerry had a plan. Jerry figured he would take the briefcase and lay low with it for a few days, then when the police gave up, Jerry would say that he found the briefcase. That way, Jerry would be the hero, and maybe, just maybe, Mr. Lake would pay more attention to Jerry, who wanted attention from Mr. Lake after years of being ignored by Mr. Lake. Mr. Lake wonders how he could've let things get to a point where Jerry thought he had to do what he did. Mr. Lake realizes his mistake of ignoring Jerry all these years, and he vows to not let that mistake happen again. As a reward to Punky for solving the robbery and helping Jerry and Mr. Lake become closer than ever, Mr. Lake gives Punky a pocket watch, and Punky gives it to Henry as
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#10 - Unhooking Henry
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 12/7/1987
After discovering that Henry has become addicted to the sleeping pills that were prescribed for him six months ago when back pain kept him awake at night, Punky helps Henry realize that he has an addiction, and she helps him make the decision to stop taking the pills, because he doesn't need the pills anymore, and Punky wants him to be around for a long time.
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#11 - Radio Daze
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/10/1988
Punky and Cherie enter a radio scriptwriting contest sponsored by a local radio station that has just changed its format from rock music to radio stories, and Punky, Cherie, and Margaux hope to win the grand prize trip to Disneyland, unless their opponents Garth Goobler and Grant Goobler, the self centered sons of a radio star, stand in their way. Punky, Cherie, and Margaux outdo the Goobler brothers and win the contest.
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#15 - 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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#16 - Vice Versa
Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 5/19/1988
When Punky is grounded, she has a dream that she is an indulgent parent who lets her kids do whatever they want to do.
#17 - Wedding Bells for Brandon
Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/27/1988
In the final episode of Punky Brewster: Punky and the gang throw a wedding for Brandon and another golden retriever named Brenda, who is owned by Punky's friend Myron. As Punky and the gang prepare for the wedding and the wedding takes place, there are flashbacks, focusing on some of Brandon's scenes from past episodes.
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#18 - The K.O. Kid
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1985
Punky's fourth grade teacher is Mike Fulton. Mike's friend, boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler, comes to Punky's class and talks about boxing. At lunch time, the school bully, Moose McGurk, takes lunches from Punky's friends, but Punky won't let Moose take hers, so Moose drags Punky into the restroom and beats Punky up. Punky wants to stand up to Moose, so Marvin trains Punky to be a boxer, but in the end, Marvin tells Punky that she can't box very well. Moose and Punky are set to fight behind the apartment building, and Cherie tells Moose that if she fights Punky, Moose will have to fight Cherie as well. And then all the other kids tell Moose that if she fights Cherie she'll have to fight all of them. Moose gets nervous and says that she can't fight everyone, so Moose runs home.
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#19 - 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.
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#20 - 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.
#21 - 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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#22 - 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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#23 - 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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#24 - 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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#25 - 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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