Entertainment
The 80s Family Sitcom That Killed Off Its Cast And Traumatized A Generation
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Have you ever seen something that shocked and terrified you so much that when you close your eyes late at night, you still see it? I feel that way about Punky Brewster. Not the infamous refrigerator episode. The one that has stayed with me for decades is “The Perils of Punky,” a two-part episode that aired back in October 1985.
A Halloween episode centered around Punky telling her friends a ghost story, the second part goes full horror by seemingly killing her friends, and worst of all, her dog. Sure, you can watch it today and laugh at the over-the-top acting and hilarious special effects, but as a kid watching this, it’s haunted me for decades.
The Perils Of Punky Didn’t Have To Go This Hard
In “The Perils of Punky, Part 2,” Punky (Soleil Moon Frye) ventures into the cave at the request of Native American spirits to defeat the monster within, and quickly comes across a man in six separate pieces strewn across the cave. That’s followed up by a giant spider trapping her friends in its web, and while she defeats it with a tomahawk, saving her friends, it’s only a temporary reprieve before the sinister spirit takes them away. On the one hand, Punky’s fear of abandonment is a very real fear that lots of kids feel, especially those in the foster care system, but on the other hand, did the producers really have to have them come back as zombies and ghosts?
Allen (Casey Ellison) appears as a screaming face on the wall, Cherie (Cherie Johnson) is a possessed zombie with glowing red eyes, and Marguex (Ami Foster) becomes a dancing skeleton. This all happens one directly after another while Punky Brewster stumbles through the cave, screaming over the fate of her friends (and Marguex). Even her loyal dog Brandon, isn’t spared. He appears as a skeleton dog, but because it’s Brandon, his tail is still wagging.
Punky makes it past this gauntlet and reaches the depths of the cave. The Moon Priestess, also played by Soleil Moon Frye, helps her face the evil spirit, who looks like a shaky constellation with evil eyes. In true Punky Brewster fashion, her unflappable optimism, spirit, and love for her friends (and Marguex) overcome the nightmare and banish it to wherever 80s television producers got their terrifying ideas.
Traumatizing Children Transcends Generations
The cast of Punky Brewster has talked about the filming of the episode in multiple interviews, since, well, being traumatized by it was a millennial rite of passage. Making it was fun, and they thought the special effects were stupid-looking, and they are, but through the magic of television, hundreds of thousands of children screamed at the sudden appearance of Allen’s terrifying face. For a show that normally films on three sets, getting to have fun with the wild cave environment and horror-movie makeup had to be a blast, and as an adult, it’s easy to appreciate.
Kids today still get to experience shows that will randomly traumatize them, but they tend to be animated. Gravity Falls’ “Weirdmaggeddon” is a great example, especially when Bill Cipher rearranges the face of Pacifica’s dad. It’s horrifying, but it’s animated, and viewers watching the series were used to the show getting weird. Punky Brewster wasn’t that type of show. Then again, neither was G.I.Joe, and that included an entirely fake family that melted into goo.
Punky Brewster is one of many seemingly normal ’80s kids’ shows that weren’t above traumatizing children. We survived The Neverending Story, we saw Gremlins at way too young an age for the Santa Claus story. There was something about the freedom of that decade that encouraged this type of behavior. At least Punky Brewster never did anything nearly this scary ever again, and especially not with a common household appliance.