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Original Air Date: November 12, 1987 Review completed July 30, 2007 "The Metamorphosis" One night after dinner, Punky needs to talk to Henry about the life altering event that is her budding boobs. A desperately embarrassed Henry calls in backup from Betty, but his comments about not wanting to see Punky grow up are overheard by the young woman. As Betty attempts to talk to the girls about the changes they're going through, Punky storms off, saying that Henry doesn't want her to have a bra. Henry has to deal with things himself now, and finally finds out the problem during an uncomfortable trip to the lingerie store. They set each straight on the issues, and Punky finally moves on to the next part of her life. With the third season so long in coming compared to the first two, there was a lot of time for hype to build up about it. IMdb's forums had regularly timed threads wondering where it was (to the point where I ended up telling one such poster to please quit doing that for cripes sake), and some of its more memorable episodes ended up getting an oddly elevated view. Of course, with "The Metamorphosis" being such a memorable story in the first place, the people talked a fair bit about it, to the point where it would have to be another Christmas special to live up to the hype. Does it live up to that kind of hype? No, but what would? Even for the first season's glory days (not as widely remembered for whatever reason), such goals would have been an impossible mark to hit. In the end, we are looking at a low-budget NBC sitcom aimed at children, increasingly so as time goes on. So, don't expect to be applauding your TV set at the end of this one. Actually, some of the main plot points are lifted from "Dog Day Afternoon" of all freaking things. All in due time. As I realized halfway through this episode, though, I have a small problem with being able to really analyze this episode. The subject matter behind most episodes is universal in its ability to be understood, but this is an episode that has a uniquely female perspective, moreso than even "Miss Adorable". I know that I have no way to say (with any kind of authority, anyway) whether or not girlfriends really discuss their breast development, or whether various dodgy means of growth are discussed. I know that the guys I know didn't talk about such things, 'cause you really didn't need to be labelled as potentially gay in a grade school. Add that together with the fact that I was (thankfully) spared The Talk as a child, and it leads to a big "what the heck do I talk about here?!" moment. For all I know, this episode could be a surprisingly realistic portrayal of the passage of puberty for girls in the late 80s. I'm laughing as I type that, but stranger things have happened. Benefit of the doubt makes you have to assume strange things. So, what can I write about? I can be quite annoyed that, for the second week in a row, I'm watching an episode that nakedly rips off the main twist from a first season story. Last week, the format for "My Aged Valentine" became "It's A Dog's Life" with not even cursory apologies. This week, "The Metamorphosis" shares the plot point of "Punky takes action based on overhearing a statement from Henry" with "Dog Day Afternoon". It even requires the same suspension of disbelief, as you really have to think of how insecure Punky has to be to interpret "I don't want to see Punky grow up" as "I don't want you if you get bigger, and neither did your mother for that matter". What the crap? If this were Season One, I could understand, but Punky's had around three years and a whole adoption hullabaloo to start getting over this stuff. Another major thing to note is the amount of humour in this episode. This is a funny episode, though that's as much due to quantity as quality. Some of it is sitcom tradition, such as the old standby "Once someone else mentions (or shows) a private part, the other characters will find said part unexpectedly creeping into their conversation." There's also Betty taking a long time to get Henry's evasive explanations as to what's wrong. Some of the humour is just classic, like Cherie spilling her secret for $5 from Margaux, or Margaux's assumption that breasts will just grow from nowere "any second". So, if the plot controntions make you groan, you'll laugh during the frequent detours. You'll also laugh at the set design. There's only one new set in the episode, granted, and that's the lingerie store. But it's a very bad set for a lingerie store. There's bare white walls, an entrance that would require the store to be tucked directly behind a wall, and an amount of space that would allow about twenty shoppers at a time. I make allowances for the show's budget when I can, but this is a level of terrible along the lines of the "dugout" from "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". You can't tell me that there wasn't a single store in the Los Angeles area that wouldn't filming for cheap or a favour, or that an old set couldn't have been redressed. Some old-school values, some old-school problems, and quite a few laughs. I can think of more than a few episodes that deserve to be remembered ahead of this one, but considering that Soleil Moon Frye would end up growing breasts bigger than your head and have to get a reduction, this episode has earned an extra-ironic note of fame. And really, what can I possibly write to follow a fact like that up? I can't analyze this episode, but I enjoyed it well enough. Ignore the hype and you'll be fine. - Jimmy Vibes |