Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Punky Brewster’ On Peacock, Where Soleil Moon Frye Returns As A Single Mom Trying To Get Her Punky Power Back

The announcement that Soleil Moon Frye would reprise her role as Punky Brewster, the tough little moppet she played in the 1984-88 series that was on NBC and syndication, filled us with cynicism. Why would we want to watch a generic kids’ sitcom that just happens to star a middle-aged version of that kid? But, just like the original series wasn’t always as saccharine as people remember, this new version isn’t afraid of delving into issues like abandonment and homelessness. Read on for more…

PUNKY BREWSTER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) walks downstairs, says hello to a picture of her late father Henry (George Gaynes), then screams “KIDS!” up the stairs.

The Gist: It’s been thirty-three years since we last saw Punky Brewster, and she’s lived a life. She’s a professional photographer, just like Henry. She was married for a long time to Travis (Freddie Prinze Jr.), but the two of them just went through an amicable divorce. They have three kids together: teenager Hannah (Lauren Lindsey Donzis), messy Diego (Noah Cottrell) and neat freak Daniel (Oliver De Los Santos).

Since the divorce, Punky has tried to just keep her head above water, but she wants to get some of that “Punky power” back. “I miss me,” she tells Hannah. For her part, Hannah is encouraging her to get out on the dating scene, especially since Travis is dating a 27-year-old.

Cherie (Cherie Johnson), her best friend from childhood, is still her best friend; she runs Fenster Hall, the group home the two of them used to live in, and works to find foster parents for the kids there. She tells Punky that there’s a girl there that’s like Punky was as a kid. “She is cute, but a pain in the butt.” When Punky goes over there to help Cherie with a website project, she meets that kid; her name is Izzy (Quinn Copeland), and she’s as strong-minded as the young Punky was, looking to bolt Fenster Hall the first chance she gets.

Punky, of course, breaks through Izzy’s tough veneer pretty quickly, and Cherie asks Punky if she can watch Izzy for a few days while she gets perspective foster parents for her approved. Of course, Izzy tries to run, but Punky knows all those tricks, and leaps on the hood of an Uber to keep her from leaving.

Izzy helps introduce Hannah to a dreamy neighbor boy from their building, and bonds with Travis when he lets himself in to make pancakes; Punky finds herself trying to establish new rules and boundaries with Travis, even though she still finds herself kissing him like they’re still married.

When Cherie brings over the prospective foster parents, they’re completely incompatible with the free-spirited Izzy. It’s then when Punky (and her kids) realize that Izzy should stay with them.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The new Punky Brewster has a lot of the gentle tone and heart of the original, but it’s not purely a kids’ sitcom.

Our Take: We were concerned that the new version of Punky Brewster would be a generic kids’ sitcom with Frye as an adult version of her iconic ’80s sitcom character, but after watching the first two episodes, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the series is much more thoughtful than that.

Frye and David Duclon, the show’s original creator, are both EPs on this version; they and showrunners Steve and Jim Armogida have made sure that Punky has adult difficulties that she deals with in an adult way. She and Travis talk about sex. She texts Cherie to bring a box of wine with her. She’s not just playing the strong-willed 8-year-old all grown up. Adult Punky is trying to find herself again, and the divorce is one of the ways she’s trying to do that.

Is it “totes adorbs” to bring Izzy into the picture, especially considering she’s basically a clone of ’80s Punky? Sure. Izzy is a wisecracking 7-year-old in the grand sitcom tradition of wise-beyond-their-years kids. But Quinn Copeland does a good job of keeping Izzy’s cuteness in check, and showing that her toughness and wisecracking come from the fact that she’s lived a tough life to that point — her mother dropped her at school and never came back. This is when Punky reveals to her that her mother did something similar. It brings us right back to what we enjoyed about Frye in the original series, and shows us what will give Punky her mojo back as a single mom.

It also helps that Punky’s kids show different personality quirks that are more character-driven and deeper than just being wiseacres. Daniel isn’t just a neat freak and fashion plate, but he’s also experimenting with eyeliner and nail polish. Diego is fiercely loyal to his brother, even though they also have the standard brother arguments. And Hannah… well, she might be the closest to a typical kids’ sitcom teenager, but we see some potential for her, due to Donzis’ restraint in playing her.

There is also the ongoing matter of Punky reconnecting with her mother; she gets a phone call from her at the end of the first episode, and we’re imagining that her conflict over meeting her mom will last the entire season. It’s a good way to bring Punky’s story full circle, and also to bring yet another adult conflict into a show that will help keep it from becoming a silly, generic kids’ sitcom.

What Age Group Is This For?: The show is TV-PG, but we’re pretty confident kids 7 and up will enjoy it.

Parting Shot: Punky gets a call, with someone asking for her by her real name, Penelope. That’s when Punky finds out the woman on the phone is her mother.

Sleeper Star: Donzis is a kids’ sitcom veteran, so she has a good handle on Hannah’s character: Part snarky teenager, part hopeless romantic, part confidant for her mother. But we’re also impressed with Cottrell and De Los Santos as Diego and Daniel. When kids are actual characters instead of just snark machines, it makes shows like this so much better.

Most Pilot-y Line: The Uber product placement was pretty obvious. Also we had a hard time believing that Punky’s photography studio, supposedly near the Chicago apartment she inherited from Henry, would be that nice in real life.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Sure, the new Punky Brewster is still a sitcom aimed at younger viewers. But it’s got a warmth and sweetness to it that feel genuine. And it’s smart enough to deal with Punky as she is now, not trying to make her into some grown-up version of her 8-year-old self.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Punky Brewster On Peacock