Susie Garrett Movies

Canceled by NBC at the end of its second season in 1986, the family sitcom Punky Brewster was revived in off-network syndication one year later -- partly due to public demand, and partly to add more episodes to the series' surprisingly successful network-rerun package. Back on duty are Soleil Moon Frye as feisty 11-year-old Penelope "Punky" Brewster and George Gaynes as her irascible-but-lovable foster father, Henry Warnimont. Also on hand are Punky's loyal school chums Cheri (Cherie Johnson), Margaux (Ami Foster), and Allen (Casey Ellison), as well as Cherie's legal guardian, registered nurse Mrs. Betty Johnson (Susie Garrett). The first of the syndicated episodes is "Reading, Writing, and Rock & Roll," featuring the then-hot singing group DeBarge. In a later two-part installment, Punky's beloved dog, Brandon, runs away from home, only to end up being "adopted" by a boy who is exactly Punky's age -- and who is about to leave for California. Also worth noting is "It's a Dog Life," in which series regular George Gaynes plays the dual role of Henry Warnimont and his man-about-town brother Lars. And of course, season three has its share of "very special episodes," notably "The Anniversary," in which Punky's friend Cherie is overcome with grief on the anniversary of her parents' deaths. In the season finale, Henry abandons his career as a photographer to open up his own restaurant -- and since it was Punky's idea to make this career move, the new establishment is christened "Punky's Place." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spunky nine-year-old Penelope "Punky" Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) and her foster father, middle-aged bachelor photographer Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes), continue to adjust themselves to one another's presence (sometimes successfully) as the heartwarming sitcom Punky Brewster begins its second season on NBC. Likewise coming back for more is Susie Garrett as nurse Betty Johnson, Henry's upstairs neighbor. New to the series this year is T.K. Carter as schoolteacher Mike Fulton, who is extremely simpatico with Punky and her classmates Cherie (Cherie Johnson), Margaux (Ami Foster), and Allen (Casey Ellison). The season opens with an episode featuring a guest-star turn by boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler. In subsequent stories, former Happy Days regular Cathy Silvers appears as a confused "client" when Punky and Cherie establish their own baby-sitting service; teacher Mike Fulton helps Punky through a difficult emotional crisis by revealing that he, like she, was adopted; Allen learns a vital lesson when he foolishly pokes fun at a mentally challenged classmate; and Peter Billingsley, star of the classic theatrical feature A Christmas Story, is seen, appropriately enough, in the series' Yuletide episode (but he doesn't shoot his eye out!). Perhaps the most memorable of the second-season Punky Brewsters is the two-part "The Perils of Punky," in which Soleil Moon Frye plays a dual role. With the season's final episode, "Accidents Happen," featuring Buzz Aldrin in a cameo role, Punky Brewster's NBC run came to an end. However, the series proved so successful in rerun syndication that it was revived as a syndicated series in 1987 -- nearly two years after its initial cancellation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Lampkin guest stars as Otis, the elderly owner of the shoeshine stand outside of the Harlem dry-cleaning store owned by George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley). When an upscale black magazine offers to do a story about George's business empire, he worries that Otis is too much of an old-fashioned stereotype to suit the magazine's tastes. It is up to Otis himself to serve George a few heaping helpings of humble pie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Abandoned by her parents, eight-year-old Penelope "Punky" Brewster and her little dog, Brandon, set up a home of their own in an abandoned Chicago apartment, where they are discovered by the building's manager, Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes). A bachelor with no great love for either kids or dogs, Henry nonetheless takes a liking to Punky and Brandon, and arranges with the authorities to have the two castaways live with him -- temporarily of course. Thus begins season one of the NBC sitcom Punky Brewster, in which the wide-eyed, spunky heroine brings happiness and purpose to the life of grumpy old Mr. Warnimont -- and several others along the way. During the series' initial season, Eddie Deezen appears as eccentric apartment-building maintenance man Eddie Malvin, while Dody Goodman is seen as Punky's schoolteacher, Mrs. Morton. Both Deezen and Goodman would be gone from the series before long, but three other characters introduced this year, Punky's classmates Cherie Johnson (played by Cherie Johnson!), Margaux Kramer (Ami Foster), and Allen Anderson (Casey Ellison), would "go the distance" right to the end of the run. Likewise seen throughout the series' four seasons, both on and off the network, is Henry's upstairs neighbor Betty Johnson (Susie Garrett), a registered nurse who has been legal guardian to Cheri ever since the deaths of the girl's parents. Once past its three-part opener, "Punky Finds a Home," the series settles into a unique pattern. While most of the subsequent episodes run a full half-hour, others ("Punky Gets Her Own Room," "Gone Fishin," "Go to Sleep") run a scant 15 minutes each. This is because Punky Brewster was originally telecast on Sunday evenings, just after NBC's weekly football telecasts; whenever a game ran overtime, Punky lost half of its 30-minute time slot, necessitating a stockpile of shorter episodes. Conversely, Punky Brewster's season-one finale, "Fenster Hall," ran a full hour -- that is, it was seen in two half-hour segments over a period of two weeks. In addition to bringing the season to a lively close, this elongated episode was also intended as the pilot for a series starring Billy Lombardo as a resourceful orphan named T.C. Fenestra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide