It’s official — Punky Brewster is back. NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, picked up a 10-episode continuation of the ’80s sitcom on Thursday, January 16. Hours before the announcement, Soleil Moon Frye, who is returning as the title character, opened up exclusively to Us Weekly about the return.
“We did our pilot and it was like the most amazing experience ever,” the actress, 43, told Us Weekly exclusively at Sean Penn’s CORE benefit gala on Wednesday, January 16 where guests enjoyed Casamigos cocktails. “It was so dreamy. I went to work every day and cried tears of joy and gratitude.”
In the continuation of the sitcom, originally about a smart young girl raised by her foster dad, Punky is a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track. Cherie Johnson, who played Punky’s best friend in the hit show, is back. Freddie Prinze Jr. joined the new show as Punky’s ex-husband.
“Reconnecting with Cherie was so magical and Freddie Prinze Jr. is dreamy to work with and incredible,” she said at the event, where guests enjoyed Casamigos. “It felt like magic. It really did. The whole experience, the audience … I had tears, they had tears. Punky, there’s something so special about her because she is this living, breathing human being. I feel like [she] brings out the superpowers in all of us.”
In 2018, Frye, who shares four children with husband Jason Goldberg, revealed where she thought Punky would be today.
“I think she’s a fashion designer maybe. Possibly has a lot of kids that’s she’s taken in. Maybe she’s adopted some kids. A lot of possibilities with that Punky,” the former Sabrina, the Teenage Witch star told Us at the time. “People can call me Punky till I’m 90 years old and I will be totally happy!”
The original sitcom aired on NBC from 1984 to 1986, then in syndication from 1987 to 1988.
Punky Brewster will premiere on Peacock later this year.
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With reporting by Taylor Ferber
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