Consider the story of a orphan girl and her dog, secretly using a vacant apartment as a place to live until, eventually, another tenant takes them in.
It's not exactly Little Orphan Annie brought to life, as Annie was adopted virtually straight away by Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, but the story of Punky Brewster illustrated just how some kids still slip through the cracks sometimes.
Penelope "Punky" Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) is abandoned by her mother, and finds her way into that vacant apartment, but ultimately bounces back and forth between Fenster Hall, a group residence, and back to the building, where a photographer (George Gaynes, "Police Academy") takes her in, along with her dog, Brandon (named for programming director Brandon Tartikoff).
Punky Brewster was coupled with Silver Spoons at the front of NBC's Sunday lineup from 1984-6. In a rare case of network synergy, Frye & Gaynes filmed some scenes during the 1984 National League Championship Series between the San Diego Padres & Chicago Cubs.
Punky would, in fact, land a Saturday morning berth after all, as the series spun off an animated companion series in 1985, and that bounced in and out of the lineup between 1985-9, mostly in reruns after the parent series left NBC for syndication.
With the series resuming with Punky all grown up (reviewed at The Land of Whatever) on Peacock, let's take a look at how it all began, thanks to Peacock's YouTube channel:
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