Product Description

The hit family TV sitcom Punky Brewster on DVD for the first time!

Soleil Moon-Frye stars as the orphaned little girl with an indomitable spirit, who, with her faithful dog Brandon, brings light and laughter into the life of a grumpy, old photographer played by George Gaynes.

Punky Brewsters' first season from 1984 on NBC was a Sunday night hit - and this box set features all 23 episodes!

Specials features:
• Interviews with cast & crew
• 2 hours of the popular Saturday morning cartoon, It’s Punky Brewster, featuring many of the voices from Punky Brewster.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17375 in DVD
• Brand: Dig
• Released on: 2004-06-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: .70 pounds
• Running time: 660 minutes

Amazon.com
Punky Brewster: Season One proves the old, family-friendly sitcom is as captivating for kids today as it was in 1984. Somewhere in the tradition of Silas Marner and Chaplin's The Kid, Punky Brewster breathes new life in the story of an isolated bachelor who takes in a lost and forgotten child. Thanks to the inspired casting of Helsinki-born, journeyman actor George Gaynes (The Crucible) as misanthropic photographer-turned-foster dad Henry Warnimont, the tradition stays strong in Punky Brewster even as the series paints the world in primary colors for a young audience.

Gaynes's autumnal Henry is the gruff-but-lovable loner who discovers 8-year-old, abandoned Punky (Soleil Moon Frye) squatting with her golden lab puppy, Brandon, in an empty apartment across from his own. With great reluctance, Henry allows the loquacious, spunky Punky to stay with him until she's situated with Chicago's youth services, then misses her the moment she's gone. After a cute showdown with officials in court (Punky cracks wise atop the judge's desk), Henry and his moppet become a family, and the series explores the many ways in which the duo (well, Henry, actually) learns to accommodate a shared life. In "Punky Gets Her Own Room," the impetuous heroine turns Henry's dusty study into a brightly painted bedroom, much to her new dad's shock. "Parents Night" finds Henry annoyed that he's supposed to show up at his charge's school when he'd rather be working. Punky Brewster's initial 22 episodes wisely allowed the core relationship between man and girl to settle before introducing other significant characters and story threads. By the season's middle, however, other relationships and conflicts develop, including a romance for Henry and trouble with bullies at school. It's all good, family entertainment that doesn't condescend. Special features include three segments from the subsequent, animated It's Punky Brewster series. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Punky Power RULES! Punky Brewster is the GREATEST!!
I LOVE Punky Brewster! I got this DVD set for my birthday and it has been just wonderful!

Punky Brewster is a GREAT family-friendly show! Its wonderful for all ages & is one of the few shows out there that a whole family can watch together without worrying about kids seeing graphic violence, or other inappropriate material.

For those who have not heard of, or had the chance to see this timeless 80's classic, Punky Brewster is about an adorable, and feisty 8 year old who was abandoned by her mother in a shopping center (after her father had walked out on them), She has been living in a vacant apartment, with her cute Golden Retriever puppy, Brandon, when she is found by the apartment building's manager, Henry Warnimont, a gruff, and grumpy photographer, who's been living alone, having isolated himself, both physically and emotionally since the death of his wife a year after their marriage.

At first Henry reluctantly takes her in, telling her that she can stay with him until Children's Services can find her mother. But then Henry and Punky begin to develop a close attachment to each other as the lovable Punky starts drawing Henry out of his shell, and making him feel emotion, and love once again.

Meanwhile, when it becomes apparent that Punky's biological mother cannot be found, and even does not want to be found, Children's Services takes Punky from Henry, and places her at Fenster Hall, an emergency children's shelter. That's when Punky and Henry discover how much they miss each other and want to be together. After Punky runs away from Fenster Hall to return to Henry, then Henry realizes the difference that Punky has made in his life, and how much they really love and need each other. That's when Henry makes the decision to apply to become Punky's foster parent. Though there are some obstacles along the way, eventually Punky comes home to Henry.

So Henry and Punky become a family, and the two of them grow closer and closer together as "father" and "daughter". The series explores the many ways in which they learn to share their lives with each other, and that's when the adventures begin!

Punky Brewster is a GREAT show! The minute I put in on, I am instantly transported back to my childhood - a relatively happy time in my life, when everything seemed so safe and secure. Man I miss those days! *sigh*

Out of all the DVD's I've seen, Punky Brewster is one of my favorites! I CAN'T WAIT until all 4 seasons of this wonderful show come out on DVD! I am going to buy them all!

Ever since I got this set, I have been watching it over and over! When and if I have children someday, I want them to watch this great show too! Although at the rate I am watching it now, by then, I may need to buy a whole new DVD set of this series! LOL!!

I love both the real-life show, as well as the animated series. So the extra features are terrific too, with episodes of the animated series, as well as interviews of Ami Foster, who played Margaux Kramer, Cherie Johnson, who played Cherie Johnson, Executive Producer David W. Duclon, and Writer Barry Vigon.

I love ALL the episodes of Punky Brewster, but on this set, I think my favorite episode is the hourlong special episode, "Yes, Punky, There is a Santa Claus", the holiday episode where Henry tries to restore Punky's faith in Santa Claus and Christmas. I have many other favorite episodes, though its a hard choice since I love all the episodes of Punky Brewster.

Although there are no fancy features in terms of the picture and sound, like Dolby Digital or Surround Sound, or anything, it is still pretty good - considering that this show was made in the 80's. Honestly, though it would be nice if they did include more picture and sound features, it's not really a necessity - at least not to me.

However I do have one minor quibble, and that is the lack of a closed captioning, and/or subtitle feature. Almost all the DVD's that I have seen, at least have this one basic feature. Unfortunately Punky Brewster does not.

Worse, with some of the other DVD's that do not have this feature, if the TV has a closed-captioning feature built in, then it can still be possible to get captions. But with Punky Brewster, it does not work.

As I have said, this is a pretty minor quibble. It's just that everything else about this DVD set is so great, I just wish that they had thought to include closed captioning. Not only so that those with hearing impairments can watch this wonderful show, but also because sometimes, when Punky or another character is talking quietly or mumbling, its kind of hard to understand, and closed captions would have helped to decipher it. I hope that the creators of the DVD's think about that, and decide to include closed captions, and maybe even separate language tracks (with subtitles, of course!) Naturally, they would need to raise the price a little with the inclusion of these features, but I, for one would not mind paying a little more to get those extra features for a show as fantastic as Punky Brewster.

This show is TRULY a GEM!! It's really too bad that they don't make shows like this anymore. Punky Brewster is a MUST for all 80's fans like me. Having been born in 1978, I grew up in the 80's and this show is an instant blast to my childhood. I LOVE PUNKY BREWSTER!!

I seriously urge anyone with kids, anyone who is planning on having kids someday, or anyone who liked this show when it used to air on TV to get this DVD set! You won't be sorry! I sure wasn't, and I have been watching it over and over again!

I've got PUNKY POWER!!

Best $26.00 I've ever spent!
I have been waiting for this show to come out on DVD for years. I just turned 21 years old on july 1st so Punky was definately my idol. I even dressed up as her for Halloween in 1989...punky wasn't all that popular by then and i was upset when i didnt win a prize downtown for the costume because i looked exactly like her. (even had a stuffed brandon lol). Anyways, Punky was the one show that meant the most to me growing up. I remember when it was shown on the family channel until 1994. So its been 10 years since I had really watched Punky. I was thrilled to see that they included the cartoon episodes of Punky on the DVD. I loved those as much as I loved the show. I had the first 3 episodes (punky gets a home) on tape along w/2 cartoon episodes that my dad had taped for me years ago. Its nice to know that I can keep this DVD for my kids to see. That show changed my life and watching the 1st season episodes brings back so many memories. I feel so old watching them! I think that everyone should go out and buy this because it's worth it. I hope they bring out the next 3 seasons because I want them all.

Another Awesome DVD Release
I have virtually no complaints about the Punky Brewster DVD. These episodes look great and have the same charm and innocence that they did 20 years ago. If you enjoyed this show as a child you may want to introduce it to your children because something about watching Punky as an adult didn't have the same effect on me. Some of the jokes were kinda corny. What is awesomes is you get 2 hours of the cartoon "It's Punky Brewster" the cute cartoon with Glomer the magic creature and Punky's friend. The DVD is packaged, only thing missing is a current interview with Soleil Moon Frye but she was on Sabrina The Teenage Witch for 3 years so it's not like she dropped off the planet. The package is nice and it's also cool they had that one hour special "Fenster Hall" which seemed like a spin off but don't know what happened.