Thus Spake Punky Brewster Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dollar

This cliché is not usually used as literally as is the case here - she quite literally was given a dollar bill in that opening scene. On her way home, she passes the man who is going to become her foster (and eventually adoptive) father as he is entering the building. Punky turns the corner, climbs a fire escape, and hauls Brandon, her puppy, up by means of a rope attached to a carry bag. (It is not quite clear why this is necessary, as the apartment later seems to be on the ground floor, but it makes a cute opening.) After turning on the light in the empty apartment, she utters her first words.

Answer: Cherie Johnson

Since her name is pronounced to sound like "Cherry", I was somewhat surprised to see how it is spelled. Cherie and her grandmother Betty, who works as a hospital nurse, live in an upstairs apartment of the building where Punky has been squatting, and the two girls are close friends throughout the series. Margaux is a wealthy acquaintance who provides Punky and Cherie an opportunity to band together against her scorn, and Allen is the only regular male character their age.

Cherie Johnson was played by Cherie Johnson, the niece of the man who created the series. She later played Max Johnson, Laura Winslow's best friend, for a number of years on 'Family Matters'. She also has some credits where her character does not have the surname Johnson!

Answer: Photographer

During the first episode, Cherie and Punky get dressed up and Mrs Johnson persuades Henry to take some photographs of them, despite his initial reluctance. He grudgingly agrees to take "just one" - the subsequent montage of a whole lot of shots, some including Henry looking grumpy, are a clear indication that he is developing a soft spot for the young intruder. Near the end of the first episode, when he thinks Punky has run away and he will never see her again, he pulls a framed photo from the session out of its envelope, and places it on the table.

Answer: Golden retriever

Punky in more playful moments refers to Brandon as "Brandon the Wonder Dog", and her attempt to portray him as a vicious attack dog fails miserably - he lies there looking placid and sleepy, and not at all interested in defending Punky. Fortunately, no defense is necessary, as Henry concludes the conversation by telling Punky that he is going to fix himself some dinner, and she is welcome to join him if she wishes to. Punky reflects (in conversation with Brandon) that "You've got to trust somebody sometime", and the two head across the hall.

Answer: "I have two different feet, why shouldn't I have two different sneakers?"

None of the other quotes would ever have passed her lips! She always wore clothes in bright, often primary, colors, usually in a mix-and-match assortment of colors and styles, and frequently adorned with costume jewelry. The non-matching sneakers were her trademark, emulated by children around the world (yes, even here in Australia!) who tried to convince their parents to buy two sets of sneakers just so that they could wear one from each pair.

Answer: Pigtails

While there is some variation around the world as to what is meant by pigtails, that is what her style was officially called. It involved gathering half of her hair into an elasticised holder high above each ear. I thought pigtails were plaits or braids, one on each side of the head, and would have called her style a double ponytail - the loose hair swishes like a pony's tail.

She usually wore brightly-colored bobbles to hold the pigtails in place - in the first episode they were yellow and red.

Answer: In a shopping mall

Punky tells Henry her story when he is pressing her for information about whether she ran away from home - he is concerned about whether anyone is looking for her. When he realises that there is no family to whom he should return her, he decides that he needs to turn her over to child protection authorities, so they can place her in a foster home, much to her dismay.

At one point, she says that she must be a terrible person - first her father left, then her mother abandoned her, now Henry doesn't want her. Fortunately, it will all turn out well, as Henry does take her to the authorities, but arranges to be made her foster father.

Answer: His wife

Punky finds the hidden photo while she is cleaning up Henry's apartment in an attempt to make him see how useful she would be to have around. She puts it out on display, because the woman is so pretty, and looks nice. Henry is upset to see it; he has hidden it away so he won't have to see it and feel sad that she died only a year after they were married. Punky's words have an impact, and we will see him steadily regain contact with his emotions as the series progresses.

Answer: In a hospital

Henry's photography studio was destroyed in a fire, and the stress of losing his life's work and being unable to pay his bills led to a perforated ulcer, and a lengthy illness. This leads to plenty of changes - first Punky plans to stay with the Johnsons, but the welfare officer decides that a single grandmother can't care for two girls, and also that Henry isn't a fit guardian (because of his health and financial situation), so Punky is sent back to Fenster Hall.

After some attempted escapes, Punky finds herself placed with a wealthy couple with whom she most definitely does not get along. All's well that ends well, though - once Henry recovers from the surgery he sets up a new studio, and establishes his capacity to actually adopt Punky. Smiles all around.

Answer: Space Shuttle Challenger explosion

Punky and her classmates were watching the launch live at school, and are shocked by its explosion. This episode is an excellent example of the way the series tried to have Punky and her friends deal with realistic situations, and get sage advice from the adults around them. Punky initially decides to give up her dream of becoming an astronaut, but is slowly brought to realise that following her dreams is what makes life worthwhile. The episode finishes with her writing in her diary of her new resolve, before she climbs into the window to gaze up at the sky and utter the final line.

The options are all incidents which tragically involved loss of life during the development of space exploration programs. Apollo I caught fire during a pre-flight test on 27 January 1967. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lift-off on 28 January 1986. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry on 1 February 2003. SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise disintegrated during a test flight on 31 October 2014.