The actress will reprise her role as the '80s heroine in the potential follow-up.
Punky Brewster lives again.
A sequel series to the classic 1980s television sitcom has been put into development at Universal Content Productions, ET has learned. Original star Soleil Moon Frye, who became an '80s icon as a result of the character, will return as the eponymous heroine.
Created by David W. Duclon, Punky Brewster originally debuted in September 1984 and told the story of a bright young girl who was raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes) after her mother abandoned her and her beloved dog, Brandon, at a mall. The show ran for four seasons, two on NBC and two in syndication, ending its run in 1988.
In the potential follow-up series, grown-up Punky (Frye) is now a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets a young girl who reminds her a lot of her younger self. Steve and Jim Armogida (Grounded for Life) would write and serve as executive producers, alongside Frye, Duclon and Jimmy Fox.
The series scored three Emmy nominations during its original run, including two for Outstanding Children's Program. Frye also later voiced the character in an animated series for two seasons, which also earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program.
During an ET sit-down in November 2016, Frye was vocal about her passion for revisiting Punky Brewster, revealing that she was "talking about it" and "coming up" with an idea.
"We gotta bring Punky back. I am ready," Frye said then. "I am totally excited to be in it. I love the idea of who did she grow up into. [I'm] very curious because she probably would have gone to fashion school or probably went to school in New York or something."
The actress also shared that her daughters, Poet (now 13) and Jagger (now 11), had expressed interest about being a part of the series should it come back. Frye noted that she hopes to include her children, notably her now 3-year-old son, Story.
"Jagger is my little Punky. She looks exactly like [her] and every day asks when they can bring the show back so she can do it," Frye mused. "Poet loves the tween era of Punky, so they are both obsessed with different eras of Punky. It was so funny, I had not shown them Punky and then finally [did] after them asking because all of their friends at school had seen it. It was really embarrassing because my 2-year-old [Lyric, now 5] started calling me Punky everywhere we went."
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