Punky Brewster

In the series opener, in Chicago, 8-year-old Penelope ""Punky"" Brewster and her dog Brandon are found living in an empty apartment by the building's grouchy manager, photography studio owner Henry Warnimont. Punky tells Henry that it all started when her father walked out on her and her mother Susan Brewster, then a couple of weeks ago, Susan said they were going on a trip, so Susan, Punky, and Brandon piled up in their car and drove to a shopping center in Chicago, where Susan abandoned Punky and Brandon, who have been homeless ever since. In the vacant apartment, Punky always had food, because 8-year-old Cherie Johnson, who lives upstairs from Henry with her grandmother Betty Johnson, always brought food to Punky. Henry takes some memorable pictures of Punky, Cherie, Betty, Brandon, and himself at his photography studio. Later, Punky decides to clean Henry's apartment but when Henry gets home, he is furious because he liked everything the way it was before Punky cleaned the place. Hen

Henry calls the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS), but Punky panics, saying that she doesn't want to go to an orphanage, so Henry promises Punky that she won't have to go to an orphanage. The DCFS sends Miranda ""Randi"" Mitchell, who takes Punky away from Henry. Randi takes Punky to Fenster Hall, a home for kids up for adoption. Randi later returns to Henry's apartment and tells Henry that there hasn't been much progress in finding Punky's mother Susan, who may not want to be found. Randi also says that in 72 hours, the DCFS will have a hearing to decide who gets custody of Punky, and Punky wants it to be Henry. Henry has shed a lot of his grouchiness, and he now loves Punky and would like to have custody of her, but Randi thinks Punky would be better off with someone else. At Fenster Hall, Punky is introduced to her two room mates -- Lisa is a girl who acts tough, and Mary is a girl who never talks. Punky wants to escape from Fenster Hall and go back to Henry's apartment,

Henry demands to know one reason why Randi doesn't think he should be Punky's foster father, but Randi gives him three reasons -- he's never raised a kid, he's not married, and he's too old.

Punky's fourth grade teacher is Mike Fulton. Mike's friend, boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler, comes to Punky's class and talks about boxing. At lunch time, the school bully, Moose McGurk, takes lunches from Punky's friends, but Punky won't let Moose take hers, so Moose drags Punky into the restroom and beats Punky up. Punky wants to stand up to Moose, so Marvin trains Punky to be a boxer, but in the end, Marvin tells Punky that she can't box very well. Moose and Punky are set to fight behind the apartment building, and Cherie tells Moose that if she fights Punky, Moose will have to fight Cherie as well. And then all the other kids tell Moose that if she fights Cherie she'll have to fight all of them. Moose gets nervous and says that she can't fight everyone, so Moose runs home.

Punky has a dream that inspires her to plan to build a treehouse in the tree behind the apartment building. When Henry and Betty and the gang pull out of Punky's plan to build the treehouse, Punky and Mike use psychology to motivate the gang into helping, and the treehouse is built with a lot of different colors of paint being used.

Punky gets a D in geography on her report card. A big geography test is coming up and while studying with Allen, Cherie and Margaux, Punky just can't seem to get any of it. Allen says he's going to take the easy way out, and cheat by writing the answers all over his body. When the time comes for the test, Punky is stumped. When she sees Allen cheating, she cheats as well by reading the answers off of him. Punky and Allen are the only kids in the class to receive perfect scores. Mike thinks that his tests are not enough of a challenge for Punky and Allen, so he gives them extra work. Allen and Punky study hard with all the extra work they got. When report card time comes, Allen and Punky can't understand why they got a B in geography. They ask Mike, and he says that he knew they cheated on the first test, so he failed them on that test, but then the scores they got on the rest of their tests averaged out to a B. Punky tells Henry the truth, and he is very disappointed, but once he reali

After learning that Punky did not do her book report, Henry cancels Punky's plans to see her favorite singing group DeBarge in concert, a move that Punky vows to never forgive Henry for -- until Henry gets DeBarge to come to the apartment and tell Punky how important reading is.

Punky decides to write a gossip column in the school newspaper, and she soon finds herself in hot water with her teacher, her schoolmates, and Henry when the gossip column does nothing but cause problems, especially when Punky's column tells her teacher, Mrs. Winston, which class put a frog in Mrs. Winston's briefcase. Mrs. Winston thought it was her biology class, but it was her history class.

Punky and Henry get a visit from Henry's overweight niece Louise. After Louise is insulted by Margaux, Louise says that she's unhappy with her weight, so Punky helps Louise go on a diet.

Punky and Cherie must get back an urn that contains the ashes of Henry's late aunt Mable, after Punky and Cherie give the urn away to a convent without knowing what's in the urn.

Punky has a crush on 16 year old Kevin Dowling, who is helping Punky install a stereo in the treehouse. Punky tells Henry about Kevin, and Henry, who doesn't understand that Punky has a crush on Kevin, vows to break every bone in Kevin's body. Punky is crushed when she meets Kevin's girlfriend Gina.

Punky, Cherie, and Margaux go to summer camp, where they learn about such traditions as T-shirt raids, and the kissing rock, but Punky doesn't seem to have the same romantic visions about these things that Cherie, Margaux, and their roommate Marcie have -- until Punky is kissed by a boy named Jimmy. Also, Cherie is annoyed by Franco Grenolli, a fellow camper who has a crush on her.