I've been watching numerous episodes of "Punky Brewster" on Youtube, and have had so many A-ha moments while doing so!
First, I was shocked to find a proto-Cliff and Kendall in Punky's obese cousin Louise. She was a wisecracking fatso that never let a minute go by without a self deprecating fat joke. (Sound familiar?) She even arrived in a canary yellow sweat suit that shouted "I Brake For Donuts."**
But of course after a few life lessons in "Punky Power" she resolved to shed the weight! (And she did, in an epilogue Louise returned newly slimmed down). "What is Punky Power?" I hear you asking. Well, Punky describes it as Believing in yourself, never giving up, having faith that things will turn out okay, and knowing you can do anything you want if you really try. I wish you Punky Power today! Of course if YOU use it, you can insert your own name. Fat cousin Louise used "Louise Power" to shed pounds, for instance.
Another A-ha moment occurred when I saw an episode entitled "Reading, Writing, and Rock'n Roll." In this episode Punky was forced to sit out a rock concert by the Pop-Gods DeBarge and made to write a book report instead. Through a believable series of events, Henry (Punky's adoptive father) impersonates a rock journalist and gets into DeBarge's backstage area and convinces the guys in the group to drop by and teach Punky a lesson about the joys of reading. It was an A-ha moment when I realized Henry had used "Henry Power" and reached his goal of instilling a love of reading in Punky, by way of having pop royalty drop by.
They also drop a cassette into the stereo and lip-synch a few numbers for Punky who had to miss the show, but is now reading one of the group's favorite books: Tom Sawyer. And this blond guy is named Chico. From what I can tell he's not really in DeBarge, but just kind of comes on the side like a dinner roll. And he dressed like that. And people accepted his heterosexuality. (He has five children! And was stabbed in 2003, but is very alive). It was the 80's.
See, even Henry was won over and became a huge DeBarge fan! Punky Power to all!!! If you feel like revisiting Punky, start with THIS episode. It's the one where she gets boobs!!
**really.
