Famous Sitcom Scenes:Punky Brewster

 Today let's go back to Punky Brewster. For a show specifically aimed at little kids it managed very memorable, even scary, episodes. We already went over Brandon getting hit by a car but there was also the haunted cave that traumatized us, the Challenger episode, and of course the episode I wanted to discuss today. 

This comes from the episode "Cherie LifeSaver" which aired January 19, 1986. When you can remember the TV Guide ad for the episode vividly almost 40 years later, you can imagine the impact the actual episode made! 

Synopsis:After learning CPR in school, Punky putd it to good use when she has to save her friemd.

Context:A typical episode opens with Henry complaining about the refrigerator and deciding it’s time for a new one. Meanwhile at school, the teacher Mike is teaching the kids basic CPR with a test dummy. Except Alan keeps joking around, until he's finally sent to the principal's office. We see Heny haggling with a salesman for a new refrigerator. Later as the kids play hide and seek Henry brings out the old refrigerator and warns the kids not to play in it, minus Cherie who wasn't there. Henry decides to hold off taking the door off due to the snow, and Cherie chooses to hide in it. The kids are unable to find Cherie and scatter inside, while Cherie discovers she's been locked in. Later, the kids still have not found Cherie and concern is growing because it's snowing out. Henry had scene her run in so assumes she wasn’t outside. However they all go to look again, and Henry and Alan are outside when.....

The Scene:Henry opens the fridge to find Cherie unconscious. He gets her out and tells Alan to perform CPR since he just learned it. Except, he didn't learn it on account of his goofing around. Henry tells him to all 911 and alert Mrs.Johnson (not only Cherie's grandmother but a nurse). Punky and Margaux then use the CPR they learned in class. Checking to see if she responds, checking to see if she is breathing, and then performing mouth to mouth while margeaux does chest compressions. After a few tense minutes it works, and Cherie regains consciousness asking if she's it now. Alan apologizes for not being able to save her, and Henry tells him not to be so hard on himself and points out he deserves blame also for not taking the door off no matter what. 

Conclusion:Mrs.Johnson arrives asks if Cherie is ok, Cherie says she's kinda hungry. Yeah like Richie did in that Happy Days episode, it was sort of a "Cliche in a cliche". Episode ends on that note. 

Thoughts:You gotta give the show credit, it's not often a series almost kills a main character! Though it doesn’t go to far, we hear her cry for help but don’t see her struggle or lose consciousness or anything. In fact this was a story idea submitted in a contest and won. Something which was announced at the beginning of the episode when it first aired. It makes sense, no ordinary writer would come with this idea! Of course, what the episode really is, is a PSA on CPR and its benefits. Hard to believe but it was only in the 70's public awareness of CPR had really taken off. Back in the 80's CPR was kinda still an unknown thing and so raiding awareness made sense. Yes it was around but the average person didn't know how to use it. I would be hard on Alan for acting up in class except he punishes himself pretty well. The young actor (Cassey Ellison) did a great job there when usually he just kinda stood around and made jokes. No wonder the series wrote him out eventually. Also this was a nice chance to see Margeaux be a real friend and show she has a head on her shoulders. Usually, the series has her wobble between incredibly vain to almost evil in the stupid things she tells Punky in some episodes. But the scene works, and I think most people remember it, though it wasn't nearly as traumatizing as the cave episode. We don't talk about the cave episode!!!!

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Nitpicks:I could be wrong, and this isn't the episodes' fault, but I think the way you do CPR today is different than shown in the episode. The emphasis is more on the chest compressions and less on the mouth to mouth. Which makes sense, what the heck does that do? It was odder in the 60's check out how Kirk uses it in an old Star Trek episode, WTF is he doing there? I always wondered what the paramedics did when they arrived. They emergency had passed; did they bring her in for observation? We'll never know of course. And yes some of the plot is contrived, the school scene is forced with Alan acting like a jerk. And Henry would never been so irresponsible when he knows kids are playing and running around that refrigerator. 

Conclusion:The episode makes is point and does it very well. Yes a tag showing Cherie fine would have been nice, especially since she never says thank you in the scene, but the show didn't do them.

Sorry no YouTube clip for this one, but the episode is freely available on Peacock.