Exclusive: Cherie Johnson On Returning To ‘Punky Brewster’ Decades Later
Premiering this Thursday on Peacock is Punky Brewster, the revival of the ’80s sitcom. Soleil Moon Frye (Punky) and Cherie Johnson (Cherie) reprise their original roles.
While the new series consists of 10 episodes, a selection of the original show’s episodes are available on the streaming service now.
In this continuation of the sitcom about a bright young girl raised by a foster dad, Punky Brewster is now a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets Izzy, a young girl in the foster system who reminds Punky a lot of her younger self.
The series also stars Freddie Prinze Jr. (Travis, Punky’s ex-husband), Quinn Copeland (Izzy), Noah Cottrell (Diego), Oliver De Los Santos (Daniel), and Lauren Lindsey Donzis (Hannah).
For Johnson, it’s been over 30 years since she played Punky’s best friend Cherie in the original series, which ran from 1984-1988, and then in the animated series, It's Punky Brewster. She then went on to recur on ABC’s Family Matters from 1990-1998, playing Maxine Johnson, Laura's best friend and Waldo's girlfriend. Since, Johnson has spent years as a producer of independent films as well as an author to three novels. In speaking with BlackFilmandTV.com’s Wilson Morales, Johnson talks about when the revival became a reality, decades later.
