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Original Air Date: November 25, 1987 Review completed November 5, 2007 "Punky's Porker" One day, at Warnimont's Photography, Punky discovers a pig being used as part of a display for Farmer John. Unfortunately for her sensibilities, Farmer John is a butcher, and Pinky the pig is a visual aid for the different pork cuts prior to becoming 400 lbs of bacon. Punky's attempts to rile the crowd and appeal to Henry both fail miserably, so she turns to her friends and a plan to steal the pig. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't take Henry very long to discover the new addition to the household, and Farmer John is summoned to retrieve his property. In the face of Punky's pleas (and the threat of legal action), Henry thinks on the spot and convinces John to keep Pinky on as a spokespig. The episode in question today evoked a lot of nostalgia for Punky past when I first watched it. Before solving all the problems that led to unintentional posting vacation #8 (9? 10?), I had been going through old reviews and checking on some points that I could look for in future episodes. And I'll be darned if a lot of them didn't come up over the course of this episode in particular. This is an episode that made me miss some of the old under-the-radar classics, like a Baby Buddies Inc. or something. After an abrupt start (subplot? What subplot?), we get our first look at... Pinky? Piggy? Pinky? It took a few rounds for me to ascertain that the pig was indeed supposed to be named "Pinky", despite the fact that Soleil Moon Frye spent a lot of time pronouncing it like she had a mouth full of marbles. If you want to make a serious argument for "Piggy", be my guest. I don't think I could clearly argue it. Oh, right, episode. I like how the pig is the absolute fattest one I have ever seen. Not a strong statement from a guy who's spent all of three months outside the city in his life, but you get my point. Just a little physical emphasis to help underline the point that Punky's fondness for Snoutzilla could be seen as a little strange. Then again, she cooed at a worm once. I don't know why I brought this up. Also, the butcher here doesn't seem like a totally over-the-top villain. Rude? Yeah. On the other hand, he's got someone that looks to be trying to drive away his business and then goes so far as to actually kidnap an animal that is undeniably his property. And it was interesting to see him unflinchingly threaten pressing charges, a real-world consequence that may as well not exist in most sitcoms and, for that matter, most shows not ending in "SI", "PD", or "& Order". It does seem pretty dickish, but that's the idea. Where was a guy like this when "Fighting City Hall" was around? Speaking of a guy like this, James Hampton has made a return to Punky with this episode. You may remember him as "that George W. Bush-looking country bumpkin from 'Accidents Happen'". He still does an uncanny and unintentional George W., which is just funny and will utterly confuse anyone who stumbles across this in ten years. Hah, that may be the funniest joke in the write-up so far. No episode in this late-third-season slot would be complete without recycling a certain recent trend, and so you Margaux haters once again get your fix here. Okay, it is funny that she wears black formal to a swine swipery, and I swear to everything that that's Ami Foster in the crowd during farmer's boy initial sales pitch, but she still gets mercilessly griped at even after turning out to this illegal kidnapping. Then again, you've got to laugh when you actually see the robbery go down. Somehow, the girls manage to hide in a bathroom after the closing of the mall, which really should be the first place the security guards check after the lights go out. Then Margaux somehow knows how to pick a lock, which should really worry the other two, especially if they keep making fun of her. Finally, it's downright charming how little thought they put into getting a 400-pound pig out of a pen and out of the mall. One more underline on the great timing of the episode, and I'll stop the consciousness-streaming (?) and get on with it. Look at the scene where Henry finds the pig. Okay, he actually ends up sitting on it. And somehow, this didn't evoke a big "what are you? Blind?" response like it usually does. It's a credit to Gaynes that he knows how to stumble, misdirect, and under convincingly act like he really can't notice a 400-pound pig in his living room until his gluteus makes first contact. Where the nostalgia (for nostalgia, for nostalgia...) really came into play was the way the reactions played out in this episode. Sure, the older episodes had the goofy plans and the more layered characters, but the thing that put them over the top was the sense that the actors knew the sitcom conventions and were determined to deflate them wherever possible. A little too often in the past season, you'd have terrible jokes going by being treated as gold and questionable actions performed with no one batting an eyelash. Here, Cherie tries to joke her way through the pig-napping with some terrible one-liners, and the other kids just stare at her as if to "are you stupid or something?" Ha-ha-ha, now that's what I like to see. We, the viewer, get to laugh at the jokes this time, rather than the writers being too busy laughing at them. And talk about questionable actions: The kids have gotten away with so, so much in the past season. Yes, the last episode featured Punky getting into a bunch of trouble, but it's not been often anymore that anyone faces REAL consequences. Heck, look at "Open Door, Broken Heart"; a con artist gets away with a slap on the wrist, and a dognapper doesn't even get a talking-to. Heck, Punky nearly got to go on that boat trip in "It's A Dog's Life" despite numerous instances of pet neglect. Here, legal action gets brought up. Well, that's an eye-opener. People can face harsh consequences despite doing the "right" thing? Who'd've thunk? This was a refreshing episode in many ways. Everyone pulled their weight about equal; the actors broke out the tools to keep suspension of disbelief going, and the writers kept just enough shading in the characters to keep away the rolling of eyes. Everyone put on their working boots this time around, and it showed on the screen in a big way. Well, except for that flimsy pen for the pig. That was a bit silly. - Jimmy Vibes |