Open Post: Hosted By The End Of The “Punky Brewster” Revival After Just One Season
Pour one out for the most annoyingly precocious child on TV who grew to be an annoyingly precocious adult. In a move that surely NOBODY saw coming, Punky Brewster has been canceled. The revival of the 1984 series followed a grown Soleil Moon Frye as she navigated motherhood and divorce and life as a photographer, all while taking in another precocious child just like she was way back in the day. I mean, with a description like that how could you not watch it? Apparently very easily, as the series only last one measly season on NBC’s Peacock streaming network.
In the original Punky Brewster, child Punky was abandoned in a store by her mother after her father walked out on them. She took up residence in an abandoned apartment until she was taken in by the grouchy building manager and eventually adopted. It was canceled after two seasons because it couldn’t compete with ratings juggernaut 60 Minutes (imagine getting killed by people talking about the news?!) but went into syndication and came back for two more seasons. Something tells me that won’t be happening this time around.
Deadline says that the revival–which co-starred Freddie Prinze Jr. as Punky’s ex-husband and featured the return of Punky’s original best friend, Cherie Johnson–has been axed after one season. The season finale saw Punky in court with her foster daughter Izzy with a path to adopting her after Izzy’s mom didn’t show up. The show was one of four new series on Peacock, along with the revival of Saved By the Bell and Rutherford Falls and Girls5Eva. All those other shows got renewed for second seasons, but Punky got shafted. Lisa Katz, the President of Scripted NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in a statement:
“Punky Brewster was a beloved series that tackled meaningful storylines with so much heart. It was a bright light for so many viewers and we are forever grateful to Universal Studio Group, the producers, the cast and crew, and especially to Soleil Moon Frye for reigniting the Punky Power within everyone.”
Like 99.9999% of humanity, I didn’t watch the Punky Brewster revival, so I don’t know if they gave a shout-out to its most famous character: the abandoned refrigerator! If they didn’t, that’s a shame, because then a whole new generation will not know that hiding in an abandoned refrigerator during a game of hide-and-seek is not a good idea.
Pic: Peacock