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Still, though, just like everyone and their price, even Punky has its flaws, The fact that it was shot on video originally makes the picture quality of some of the DVD episodes look like a bag of cat phelgm. Allen is written as semi-retarded for most of the first season for some reason. A lot of the episodes treat Henry (one of the main characters, mind you) like a freakin' clown. Oh yeah, and the second season is overrun by a serious problem. Gentlemen, I introduce to the VSE. Has anyone ever watched Blossom. If you have, put your hands down and stay thirty feet away at all times. The only reason I bring it up is that it identified and made notorious a particular breed of sitcom episode that the 80s used and abused: the Very Special Episode, or VSE as it's become known in Net-land. The term comes from a commercial for an episode of Blossom, where, in introducing the upcoming serious episode, advised viewers to "stay tuned for a very special episode of Blossom". Since then, the working definition is "any episode of a sitcom that heavily revolves around a Moral Lesson", which often omits small details such as humour or character development. They're interchangable with just about any sitcom, since they use broad character models to depict the Problem, and generally are a painful way to spend 30 minutes. So, what does this have to do with Punky? Here's a list of episodes from Season Two, starting just before the halfway mark, all of which count in some degree as VSEs: "Just Say No" (anti-drug episode) "The Search" (deals with adoption and child abandonment...well, moreso) "Love Thy Neighbour" (the obilgatory 80s episode about being nice to that old shut-in down the way) "The Gift" (anti-discrimation, in this case of the mentally-handicapped) "Milk Does a Body Good" (child abduction (?)) "Christmas Shoplifting" (figure it out...) "Urban Fear" (a message about staying calm about crime) "Girls Will Be Boys" (anti-sexism) "Cherie Lifesaver" (the importance of CPR, with the added message of "don't play in fridges" (!)) Yes, that is nine straight episodes of message televisions, smack dab in the middle of a season, all in a row. Mind you, they're not all really bad episodes; in fact, "Love Thy Neighbour" and "Urban Fear" are fairly good. However, there's a few common traits to these episodes that annoy me, and help to make second season not as good as it could be: 1) Breaking Character. There's a frightening amount of moments in these episodes where characters suddenly act completely different from normal in order to get the all-important point across. Howso? Let see, we have Punky considering drugs ("Just Say No"), Allen being outrightly mean ("The Gift") and reverting back to his Season One persona ("Cherie Lifesaver"), Henry suddenly reversing his "Punky is everything" stance of the last season and a half ("Girls Will Be Boys"), and Cherie getting really dumb ("Cherie Lifesaver"...who gets into something without an interior handle?!). In every one of these cases, if the character played to type, the whole message episode would fall apart. That's solid writing. 2) You Can Do That On A Kid's Show? Man, 80s television was quite lax by today's uptight standards. You've got drugs, child-kidnapping, a child pre-mediatately stealing something of actual value, semi-conscious hypothermia victims, and all sorts of stuff that wouldn't make it near a kid's show today. I love it. Tell me something, though...wasn't this the same series that, on its second season premiere, couldn't show actual contact during two schoolyard fights and several boxing scenes? Gotta love double standards...FOR THE MESSAGE! 3) Spotty Execution. This is my favourite one. In the midst of exploring these subjects and showing us the ways that we are wrong, the writers expose us to some unintentional but bad lessons as well. My favourite example of this is in Christmas Shoplifting. Punky enters a tie and scarf shop, unescorted, acting extremely nervous the entire time, steals a scarf, and BOLTS out. Not a peep from the sales clerk. The minute Mike walks in, the clerk's suspicion is aroused, and he watches him the entire time and thus blames him for the missing scarf. The unintentional message? Black people steal. The writers would have a fit, but it's kind of there anywhere. Other examples of this: In "Cherie Lifesaver", Punky cracking wise during a CPR training session...after Allen had been kicked out for the same thing, and "Urban Fear", where a nervous Henry checks on Punky out of nowhere in the middle of the night, then goes on for the whole rest of the episode about fear not running any part of his life. But you want to know my real problem with all of this? Compare it to what came before. I'm aware that the reasons outlined are a bit spotty and don't apply to all of the episodes. Well, here's my big inspiration for the column. I've been rewatching the series in order lately and noting the themes throughout. For the first three-quarters of Season One, we have the main theme of Punky's abandonment issues and the growing together of Punky and Henry as a family. The main appeal of that part of the series is seeing Punky and Henry get through the various trials and tests involved with two former strangers adjusting to each other while accounting for the personalitites. It also develops Punky's personality, and she's really rather likeable. Nice and positive. Really sunny. [*boom-boom, CHA*] The second division is the humour-based episodes. Starting with "My Aged Valentine" and continuing on until the aforementioned Season Two block, these episodes dispenses with the family plots and pull back to the time-tested sitcom format of "people getting into trouble". It sounds generic, but it comes across as better because the characters are different and more geniunely-acted. In an odd way, these episodes have a voyeuristic quality to them; almost like you're just sitting back and watching a day in the life of Punky Brewster. And really, that's cool, because Punky is generally a likeable and energetic person, and comes across as someone you would watch. THAT, me hearties, is what cheeses me off about the message era of the series. Suddenly, everything has to Mean Something. Suddenly, the characters aren't the focus, the humour is something to keep you from falling asleep, and Punky is the show to teach you everything. Bull spit. I watched it 'cause it was fun, and I could turn on The Magic School Bus or any one of a hundred different kid's show today if I wanted educational info-dumps. I want to spend time with Punky, not learn about the drugs that I know are bad stuff, and did even at six or seven. I'd pick Henry as Santa Claus than as a Water Buffalo any day. Get the message? I want my fun. - Jimmy Vibes |