Only a mere 6 months later, we now have Punky Brewster Season 2 and as far as value goes, it brings it just the same. The first season offered a nice 4-disc package with over 20 episodes altogether, a dazzling extra collection of 16 episodes of the embarassing animated Saturday morning cartoon series (sorry, it really was lame), and in depth interviews with Ami Foster and Cherie Johnson, the beautiful reknown girls who played Margeux Kramer and playing her own self, Cherie Johnson.


First of all, what you get in Season 2 is more of those great features. The 4-disc Series 2 set boasts a total of 22 episodes, 16 more episodes from the cartoon series, and Disc 1 includes a very recent interview with none other than George Gaynes himself (yes, Perry Como is still alive!). George Gaynes, the player of Henry Warnamont, talks in great detail about his career before Punky Brewster and what being on the show was like for him.


WHAT IS PUNKY BREWSTER?: For those who still don't know, Punky Brewster is a brilliantly touching TV show straight from the mid-80's about a young street walking child, with her dog, who's own mother drove her to a shopping center and left her without returning. The show's story began (On Punky Season 1) with Punky breaking into Henry's apartment building, staying in the vacant room across the hall. Henry, the building superintendent, discovers her and calls the police to try to find Punky's mother. Punky eventually has to be sent to a children's home, but through thick and thin and at the end of the road, Henry and Punky eventually strike a true bond and end up really needing each other and Henry eventually tries hard to qualify as Punky's foster parent, since they can't find Punky's mother after it is evident she probably abandoned her. Punky has always had an inner faithfulness in her mom, even though she eventually faced the possibility she was abandoned. Throughout Season 1 and Season 2, Punky has always wanted desperately to see her mom again and speak with her. She's seen on the show praying to God, asking it for her Christmas wish, and the show is simply heart-breaking because of this beautiful imagery. But Punky still has a wonderful father in Henry and this is where we are at the beginning of Season 2.

"THE K.O. KID" - The K.O. episode is about Punky running in trouble with a bully at school. The bully girl ends up picking on Punky and proceeds to beat up Punky in the bathroom because Punky has the courage to talk back to the menacing girl. The episode is something you'll love to watch with your children. The episode teaches the folly of fighting with people, and avoiding it as hard as possible unless forced to. Punky gives a really sweet performance and Henry's typical words of advice are very enriching and well said.

"PUNKY'S TREEHOUSE" - Punky has a dream at night about a glorious treehouse in her backyard with curtains, windows, an elevator for her Dog Brandon to come up (a "dog-ivator"), and a secret code to enter. Punky wants help from her friends to build it, but they don't want to do the work. The episode teaches that sometimes we have dreams that don't seem possible to realize, but Punky's teacher Mike Fullton makes Punky believe in herself by finding different ways to make her dream come true.

"CHEATERS NEVER WIN" - Punky doesn't study for a test and her friend Allan suggests that they write the answers on their hand to read off of. Punky is a decent and sweet girl who knows that cheating is wrong, but in the moment of truth the next morning, her desperation gets the better of her, and she pulls off a hilarious scene grabbing Allan's hand to read it and pulling up his pant leg to read the capitals of states off his leg! The lesson of this episode is obviously the consequences of cheating.

"BABY BUDDIES, INC." - Punky and Cherie decide that they want to go into the babysitting business in order to pay for a birthday gift for Betty, Cherie's mother. Under the supervision of Betty, of course, they get their first customer and later, take the baby out for a stroll. The girls return, however, with the wrong baby carriage. I suppose the lesson was..."don't be a brain-dead hick!". Heehee!

"TAP YOUR TROUBLES AWAY" - Punky hears that the greatest tap dancing teacher ever is coming into town and teaching lessons. Punky asks Margeux, her rich snobby friend if she can take the class with her, but when there, Punky simply does horrible. The teacher warmly embraces her with confidence, always assuring her that "she'll get it". But Punky doesn't show improvement and she eventually resorts to giving up on dancing by throwing her tap shoes down the garbage chute. Awwwww! The instructor gives an encouraging talk with Henry, though, that she was exactly like Punky when she was a kid and couldn't dance at all for many years. The lesson of this episode is a great one. It's about learning to not give up so easily on things without giving them your all.


"THE PERILS OF PUNKY" - This is the famous camping episode where Punky, Cherie, Allan, Margeux, Henry, and Betty go on a camping trip by the lake and lose the children. Punky, Cherie, Allan, and Margeux go hiking together but get lost and stumble across a dark cave. This cave also happens to be the home of the area's still-existing indian tribes and inside, Punky and the gang bump into them and are asked to fight the evil spirits inside the deeper cave area. This episode is classic Punky CORNINESS to the max, and even went on to be known for creeping a lot of kids like me out. Hey, that weird Allan-mask was freakish! But a lovable experience nevertheless. I would definitely preview it, however, before you show it to your kids.

"JUST SAY NO" - No suprise here, this episode was all about saying no to drugs. Even though the message is strong, and a good one at that that reminds us of the good old Reagan years, this show was so uncreative. It was the classic old shindig of a bunch of sophisticated older girls that allow kids to join their exclusive club as long as they do some cocaine or smoke a "dooby". The only problem I had with this group of girls is that they were quite possibly the most irritating and vomit-inducing bunch of girls ever on television in the 20th century. They're pithy 80's girl look was way overdone, their voices were the equivalent of turning the "valley-girl" switch to "11", they call themselves the "Chicklets" (bluh!!!), and I can't imagine anyone in their right-mind wanting to even be seen with these dorks. But Punky fights the peer pressure to do drugs and ends the episode starting her own club, called the "Just Say No" club. The show even just cuts off right there and the rest of the episode just shows Soliel Moonfrye and Cherie Johnson's appearances at the "Just Say No" rally in Washington D.C. For those of us who remember the "Just Say No" phase of the 80's find the whole phase to be so played that this episode is barely memorable at all. I think the writer for this episode was out to lunch!

"THE SEARCH" - This was a really heart-warming and tear-inducing episode of Punky. Punky is feeling hard sadness in the heart. She's missing her mom more than ever and it's reducing her to crying helplessly. Mike visits Punky in her treehouse when he notices her depression and confides in her that he too doesn't know where his mom is and has never met her. He raises her spirits by suggesting they both go out and try hard to find their moms. Punky ends up not finding her. This episode is all about Mike, who ends up actually finding his own mom and it's the sweetest moment in TV that you'll ever see. The show delves into the situation of single teens who get pregnant and leave their children with strangers. Everyone can relate to it and it's a great episode that shows a situation such as this from boths sides of those involved. No one is labeled a monster. That's the way it should be.


"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR" - Another touching episode that takes us into the direction of treating older people with more understanding. A nasty mean old woman tells Punky and her fellow trick-or-treaters on Halloween night to stay away from her home. This old lady was a tremendous actress!Punky is pressured to place the opening to a bag of shaving cream under her door and jump on the bag to pay her back for being so mean. But she gets caught and leaves Brandon with the old woman by accident. Mike comes back to try and talk to the old lady and upon doing so, learns she has a really sad and touching reason for being so mean to kids. The lesson is definitely a great one for adults, and not just kids. It's to not treat everyone the same because of one bad experience with one bad person. It's about learning to be trustworthy.

"THE GIFT" - Punky's teacher Mike has hired a female cleaning lady who is mentally retarded. She speaks funny and has a tendency to do silly things, but she's appreciated because of her good qualities. She ends up playing her squigee bottle with her feather duster as if she's playing a violin when Mike plays a song for the class. Allan makes everyone laugh at her and humiliate her. Allan even says, "You can't hurt HER feelings. She's a retard!" This episode teaches an important lesson about appreciating people for their wonderful qualities without focusing on their shortcomings. Another teary experience.


"MILK DOES A BODY GOOD" - This episode features Candice Cameron from Full House fame, at only 8 years old playing the part of a new girl in the apartment, living with her biological father. Her father is actually a divorcee and has been forbidden from taking custody of her daughter and after seeing the girl on the milk carton in the fridge, Henry and Punky investigate and find out that Jennifer's father has illegally taken her from her mother without telling anyone and is taking her across the country, changing their name many times.


"CHRISTMAS SHOPLIFTING" - Punky has a limited budget and wants desperately to get Henry a really nice cashmiere scarf, but can't afford it. Punky knows stealing is really bad, but one of her schoolyard companions, played by the infamous Mr. Billingsly from "A Christmas Story", tries to convince Punky that stores want you to steal so they can get "big money" with their insurance. So Punky follows the pressure and steals the scarf, but definitely not proudly. She places it in her bag and sets it down next to Mike's when she bumps into him in the mall. Mike picks up her bag by accident and gets caught with it and is placed in custody by the police. The episode is really touching and very explicit about the consequences of stealing and how it can hurt other people.


"URBAN FEAR" - A shocking news story about the Chicago strangler has the entire community afraid to step outside, locking their doors, making sure they know who's at the door, etc. Punky is scared to death to see Henry go to work at night, but Henry assures Punky that "fear" is a worse thing to fear than a strangler. This is a great episode with a great message, even applicable today in our post-9/11 world to those afraid of everything because of a societal disaster.


"GIRLS WILL BE BOYS" - Punky wants to race her hotwheels stunt car with the other boys at the park but is rejected and told to leave because she's a girl. The message of sexism and it's damages to society is important to learn and it's a great episode. Great writing too!


"CHERIE LIFESAVER" - Today, even I can't watch this episode without crying. No situation like "death" to bring out the best of every actor. No, no, Cherie doesn't die. The children are actually educated in school how to perform CPR. And it's benefits are proven vital as being probably the one thing that can save someone's life while waiting for help. Cherie gets in a refridgerator in the backyard to play hide-and-seek, but gets locked inside and almost dies. Allan ends up apologizing in tears to Cherie because he didn't pay attention in class and could very well have given her CPR instead of Punky and Margeux having to do it. Emmy awards all around! Seriously!


"CHANGES" - This is it! The famous 5-part saga and it's burned in my memory. One I remember being made to press "RECORD" on the VCR every week so my sister wouldn't miss it. Henry just barely got custody of Punky the first time in Season 1, but this time, his photo studio, his primary source of income for the family, has burned to the ground in a natural disaster. His life works, his files, everything, in a matter of seconds, gone. It's quite a sad first part.

The saga then goes on to see Punky begrudgingly have to be sent back to Fenster Hall Chidren's Home until Henry can attempt to gain custody of Punky again. Henry is not allowed to have custody until he can show proof of providing a steady income for the two of them. But even though Henry manages to open a new studio and miraculously gets a loan from the bank, Punky has already been taken custody of by two new foster parents. Henry is devistated, and the emotion of the story heightens when Henry seems to believe for a second that maybe it's better that Punky has a new family with a mother and father. Punky, of course, does not like this family one bit and wants desperately to come back with Henry. The final episode goes down in the Punky history books as being the sweetest ending the writers could once again come through with at the end of the 2nd season.

"ACCIDENTS HAPPEN" - In honor of the tragic event of the space shuttle explosion in 1986, this episode brings out Punky's old interest in being an astronaut. The class watches the shuttle's take-off on TV in class and witness, in horror, the explosion in mid-air. We don't, thankfully, see the class watch the event, or the event itself, thank GOD. But Punky comes home in tears and embraces Henry asking why such a thing had to happen. The beautiful thing about this episode, however, is that everyone in the class has no interest in becoming an astronaut, having seen the explosion, but Punky still has a determination to become one anyways. The lesson in this episode is to maintain your ambitions despite failure and to not let fear change how you live. A truly great episode for people today in our post-9/11 world. A national tragedy can affect many to fear flying in ANY vehicle in the sky.


DANG, MAN. NEXT TIME, DON'T WRITE SO MUCH!: Yes, I know. But who can help it. Soleil Moonfrye, the featuring actress of Punky, is severely talented in the ways of acting. She's very cute and dear, but she doesn't over-act. Her performance is, at times, award-winning, and she's never grown as an actress with the new season. She doesn't need to grow. She's the same brilliant actress at 8 that she was at 7. You'll love her catchy lines, her cute little face, her corny antics, her tomboy threads, and at the heart of every Punky experience a real lesson for life. It teaches things that your don't usually learn from your teachers, and if you're really unlucky, not even your parents. Punky is just a completely wholesome, energetic, touching, and well-executed program. It's legendary. It's just a complete sin to not ever watch it. Especially when it's so affordable, especially for a 4-disc set. Only about $24.99 per set, and even less on EBAY most of the time. Longtime fans of the show will have everything they need in this package. Each episode is digitally remastered and completely uncut. And the included episodes of the animated series are good for a chuckle.

I would comment how the extras seem to always be rather lackluster. I mean the interviews are great. But is that all you get?? One interview with Henry on Disc 1????

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8