E! is feeling the Punky power!
Today, Friday, Mar. 19, E! is celebrating Peacock's Punky Brewster revival with a mini marathon of the classic series starting at 11 p.m. tonight.
In honor of the event, the series' star Soleil Moon Frye is sharing her top five favorite episodes ever exclusively with E! News. You can watch the premiere episode of Peacock's reboot plus Soleil's five fave classic eps tonight at 11 p.m. on E! with an encore of all same six episodes airing Saturday, Mar. 20 at 11 a.m.
Frye recently opened up to E! News about the Peacock reboot, sharing, "I think the Punky reboot has so much of the heart of what the original had. And we have really tried to keep it authentically like the O.G. Punky, and it's still got spunk, and it's still got fun and it's still got humor but it also has the realness and authenticity of the original. And for that, I am so proud."
Scroll through the photo gallery below to find out Frye's five favorite episodes plus exclusive quotes on why she loves them so much ahead of tonight's premiere on E!.
Binge the whole first season of the Punky reboot on Peacock any time.
(Pilot episode—A building manager finds an abandoned girl).
"I love Punky so much. I love how she had been through so many painful experiences and yet she has such spunk and such positive outlook on life and the world. And she's so full of love and the way in which they become each other's family is so inspiring and beautiful. I think there's the families that we're born in to and then there's the families we chose and they really became each other's chosen family and I love that. I love those episodes. And Cherie, looking at sweet Cherie and Punky and their friendship and connection, I love it so much."
When asked about filming the very first episode, Frye shared, "I remember the feeling of it, the kindness of the people around me and the cast and just feeling so excited and joyful about it."
(A new teacher succeeds in renewing Punky's interest in her piano lessons.)
"Andy Gibb, I was so in love with Andy Gibb. Cherie and I joke around that I can still smell the scent of him and I love how when he's playing me the piano you can literally see how in love I am with him and how in awe I am. He was so sweet and so charming and so kind and so full of heart and love and I remember him treating me so kindly and beautifully and that has stuck with me my whole life."
Frye added, "I remember the scent of his cologne. He had this really yummy smelling cologne...One of the true highlights for me was he had this black sequined jacket that he'd worn on Solid Gold I believe and at the end of the episode, it might have been the other episode he did, but at some point down the line of working together he told me to close my eyes and wrapped his sequined jacket around me and he gave it to me and I still have it somewhere. And his top hat."
(Punky asks boxing champ Marvelous Marvin Hagler to help her when a school bully picks on her.)
"I loved this episode and I think it's so timeless. And my father was a boxer, he was a golden glove champion so I grew up loving boxing. So it was really such a dream to be able to work with Marvin who was so kind and sweet and who taught me some really great boxing moves. And also the DNA that my family always taught me that when you get knocked down you get back up and you stand up stronger. I thought there were so many important messages in it and really have such great memories of it."
(Cherie and Punky must take drugs to join a club.)
"It was so incredible and it was so amazing to go to D.C. and have those experiences. And also that we were dealing with subject matter so many people weren't talking about at that time. So I think it goes to the timelessness that is Punky which is we were going to talk about things that were going on and topics that were so important in a way that connected to people."
(When the children are playing hide and seek, Cherie hides in the refrigerator and suffocates.)
"The refrigerator episode for sure! I love the fact that this was a story that was written in by a young person and that also we would get people writing in who had watched the episode and then actually had saved someone's life using what they'd seen on the show, which was so incredible and really awe-inspiring. I love that episode, I think it stuck with people forever. I think Cherie still has a fear of refrigerators from it."