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The Movie: Another title I'm reviewing this week that takes me back to my childhood years (hopefully "Step by Step", "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" and "Blossom" are on their way), "Punky Brewster" is the famed 80's sitcom that starred Soleil Moon-Frye as adorable orphan Punky, who is forced to find a new home when she's abandoned. With her trusty dog Brandon at her side, Punky is eventually taken in by Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes). The show remains a cult hit due to the character's scrappy, unique nature and Frye's fun, endearing performance as the title character. The show took on different issues (divorce, drinking & driving and addiction are among the issues on this season's episodes) in a way that was enjoyable and usually not heavy-handed, which resulted in a mildly successful run on NBC for two seasons, before new episodes started to run in syndication. The show seems rather dated and overly cutesy now, but those who remember the series from their childhood may want to take a look. Those who have children may also want to introduce a new generation to Punky. Of more interest (to me, at least) is the inclusion of three hours of the "It's Punky Brewster" animated series, which aired on NBC on Saturday mornings during my childhood years. In the series, Punky meets a little magical character named Glomer that somehow gets trapped in Punky's world when a rainbow closes behind him. Although I remember enjoying the cartoon when I was little, now it seems rather trippy and oddly hilarious. One of the episodes I watched that was included here had Glomer taking on an evil leprechaun named Bad Barney. 45 Reading, Writing, and Rock & Roll 10/30/1987 46 Punky's Big Story 11/2/1987 47 Tons of Fun 11/3/1987 045 48 Divorce Anderson Style 11/4/1987 49 Beer & Buffalos Don't Mix 11/5/1987 50 Hands Across the Halls 11/6/1987 51 Open Door, Broken Heart (1) 12/8/1987 52 Open Door, Broken Heart (2) 12/9/1987 53 Best Friends 11/10/1987 54 It's a Dog's Life 11/11/1987 55 The Metamorphosis 11/12/1987 56 Fighting City Hall 11/13/1987 57 The Matchmaker 11/13/1987 58 My Fair Punky 11/16/1987 59 The Anniversary 11/17/1987 60 Tangled Web 11/20/1987 61 Punky's Porker 11/25/1987 62 This Spud's for You 12/1/1987 63 So Long, Studio 12/2/1987 64 Help Wanted 12/3/1987 65 Remember When 12/4/1987 66 Unhooking Henry 12/7/1987 The DVD VIDEO: "Punky" is presented in the show's original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio by Shout! Factory. The show is fairly old at this point, and it doesn't appear as if the creators were working with enormous budgets for each episode. As a result, the episodes appear rather soft, but certainly not to the point where the image appears hazy or blurry. Detail remains adequate throughout, although some scenes look a bit softer than others. The episodes suffer from graininess and some slight wear, but nothing too serious. Edge enhancement and pixelation were not spotted. The show's vibrant color palette looked a tad flatter than I remember, but overall, colors looked okay. SOUND: "Punky" is presented in stereo here, and the audio remained satisfactory. Audio quality is about what you'd expect from a nearly 20-year-old series, with decent clarity, no distortion and an overly aggressive laugh track. EXTRAS: 2-1/2 hours of "It's Punky Brewster" (10 episodes.) Final Thoughts: "Punky" is rather dated at this point, but it was fun to see it again - and "It's Punky Brewster" brought back memories of watching cartoons on Saturday mornings as a kid. The DVD set offers some nice supplements and audio/video quality is about as good as one could expect from the material. Recommended for fans. |