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''Punky Brewster'' is an American
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
television series about a young girl (
Soleil Moon Frye Soleil Moon Frye (; born August 6, 1976) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She began her career as a child actress at the age of two. When she was seven, Frye won the role of Penelope "Punky" Brewster in the NBC sitco ...
) being raised by a foster parent (
George Gaynes George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917 – February 15, 2016) was a Finnish-born American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to Dutch and Russian-Finnish parents in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the ...
). The show ran on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and again in
syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...
from October 30, 1987, to May 27, 1988. ''Punky Brewster'' spawned an animated spin-off, '' It's Punky Brewster''. The series featured the original cast voicing their respective characters. The cartoon was produced by Ruby-Spears, and aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to December 6, 1986. In 2020, NBC confirmed a 10-episode revival to air on its
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
streaming service. Frye returned, as did original cast member Cherie Johnson. The revival premiered on February 25, 2021.


Synopsis

Penelope "Punky" Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) is a warm, funny, and bright child. Her father walked out on her family, then her mother abandoned her at a
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
shopping center when they were shopping for groceries, leaving Punky alone with her dog, Brandon. Afterwards, Punky discovers a vacant apartment in a local building. The building is managed by Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes), an elderly, widowed photographer with a grouchy streak. Punky hits it off with young Cherie Johnson (played by Cherie Johnson), who lives in Henry's building with her grandmother, Betty ( Susie Garrett). Betty works as a
registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...
at
Cook County Hospital The John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (formerly Cook County Hospital) is a public hospital in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Cook County Health and Hospital System, along with Provident Hospital of Cook County and ...
. Henry discovers Punky in the empty apartment across from his. The relationship between the two blossoms, despite
red tape Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to ...
from
social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
er Randi Mitchell (
Talia Balsam Talia Balsam (born March 5, 1959) is an American television and film actress. Early life Balsam was born in New York City on March 5, 1959, to actors Martin Balsam and Joyce Van Patten. Her ancestry is Russian Jewish (father) and Italian, Dutch, ...
), who ultimately rallies to Henry's side. The state forces Punky to stay at Fenster Hall, an emergency shelter for orphaned and abandoned children, until their day in court. The court approves Henry's wish to become Punky's foster father. Henry legally adopts her in the second season. Punky's other friends are geeky Allen Anderson (
Casey Ellison Casey Ellison (born March 2, 1976) is a former American child actor best known for his role as Allen Anderson on ''Punky Brewster''. In 1986 he left the show because he was disgruntled. Career Ellison had a recurring minor role on ''Mr. Bel ...
) and spoiled rich girl Margaux Kramer (
Ami Foster Ami Foster is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Margaux Kramer in the TV series ''Punky Brewster''. Biography Foster, a native of California, won the National Tap Dance Championship after which she was discove ...
). During the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
run, Punky's teachers were regularly seen, in the first season, cheerful Mrs. Morton (
Dody Goodman Dody Goodman (October 28, 1914 – June 22, 2008) was an American character actress. She played the mother of the title character in the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', her distinctive high-pitched voice announcing the s ...
) and in the second season, hip Mike Fulton (
T. K. Carter Thomas Kent Carter (born December 18, 1956) is an American actor. In films, he is mostly known for his many comedic performances, such as the street-smart Chester in '' Seems Like Old Times'' and the karaoke-singing Iceman in ''Ski Patrol''. He ...
). Mike formed a close relationship with Punky and her friends, and was also portrayed as a social crusader of sorts.


Season 1 (1984–1985)

During the first season, Margaux's socialite mother (
Loyita Chapel Robert Sosebee Woods (born March 13, 1948) is an American actor best known for playing Bo Buchanan on the ABC soap ''One Life to Live'', a role for which he won the 1983 Daytime Emmy Award for Lead Actor. Early life In 1966 Woods graduated f ...
) appeared on a recurring basis, as did kooky maintenance man Eddie Malvin (
Eddie Deezen Edward Harry Deezen (born March 6, 1957) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his roles as "nerd" characters in films including '' Grease'', ''Grease 2'', '' Midnight Madness'', ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'', ''1941'', and ''WarGames''. ...
). Eddie disappeared after the first several episodes. Beginning in 1984, NBC aired the sitcom on Sundays. Because the show had many young viewers and was scheduled after
football games Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
(which tended to run long), six fifteen-minute episodes were produced. This was done rather than joining a full-length episode in progress, so as not to disappoint children watching the program.


Season 2 (1985–1986)

The second season's February 2, 1986, episode introduced the first installment of a five-part storyline. In the five-part episode "Changes", Henry's downtown photography studio was destroyed in a fire, and for a time, he seemingly would not be able to recover from the aftermath and resume his career. As a result of his stress, Henry ended up hospitalized for a bleeding
ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughing o ...
. During that time, Betty and Cherie made arrangements for Punky to stay with them until Henry recovered. Everyone's stability was halted when bureaucratic social worker Simon P. Chillings (guest star Timothy Stack) showed up, found out about Henry's condition, and deemed the worst; he found Betty unsuitable to care for Punky because Punky would not have her own room. Chillings also felt that Henry was unfit to be Punky's legal guardian in the long term due to his health, age, and uncertain financial future. Chillings made Punky a ward of the state yet again and she returned to Fenster Hall. Punky's efforts to escape from Fenster included a trick pulled by Margaux, in which she dressed up and pretended to be Punky. Despite advocacy from Mike Fulton, Chillings placed Punky with a new foster family, the fabulously wealthy Jules and Tiffany Buckworth (Robert Casper and Joan Welles), the latter of whom did not take kindly at all to Punky's working-class playfulness. Things gradually returned to normal. Henry, back on his feet following surgery, opened up a glitzy new studio at the local mall; in the process, he reunited with Punky. At the conclusion of the story arc, Henry officially adopted Punky. The final episode of the second season was notable for centering on the very recent, real-life Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster. Punky and her classmates watched the live coverage of the shuttle launch in Mike Fulton's class. After the accident occurred, Punky is traumatized; her dreams of becoming an astronaut are crushed. Her teacher Mike then brings over former
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
astronaut
Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...
to visit Punky. NBC cancelled the show soon after.


Syndication (1987–1988)

After two seasons, NBC saw that ''Punky Brewster'' and its principal Sunday night stablemate, the four-year-old ''
Silver Spoons ''Silver Spoons'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982, to May 11, 1986, and in first-run syndication from September 27, 1986, to May 30, 1987. The series was produced by Embassy Television for the f ...
'', could not compete as strongly as they hoped against CBS' juggernaut ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...
'', and cancelled both programs. Like many cult-favorite sitcoms of the time, ''Punky Brewster'' was revived for
syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...
(as was ''Silver Spoons''). Production on ''Punky'' went undelayed, and its third season began shooting on schedule. While the show was in production throughout the 1986–87 season, it did not return to the air via syndication until October 30, 1987. Beginning on that premiere date, ''Punky'' was packaged such that new episodes would air every weekday (usually late in the afternoon on independent stations). The entire third season (1986–87) aired in the five-days-a-week format through December 7, 1987. By the syndicated run, the storylines had clearly started to mature. Many more of Punky and Cherie's friends were seen (although most only made a handful of guest appearances each), with Margaux becoming their comic foil and source of friction. Early in the third season, Allen moved away to
Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
with his mother, following his parents' divorce. As Punky herself neared
junior high A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
, her
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
day-glo and multicolored attire, along with her pigtails, segued into more traditional teenaged styles, and her declaration of, and reliance on "Punky Power!" gave way to the realization that intelligence, common sense, and a strong will can get one out of any problem. More of her dalliances with boys entered the stories, with the ones she chased and those that tried to pursue her. Punky's spunk and vivacious attitude toward life did remain though, thanks in part to the sunshine brought in by the most important man in her life, her adoptive dad. Henry's photography studio at the mall continued to see much success, so much that by the end of the third season, he received an offer from the magnate of Glossy's, a photo-studio franchise, for a $100,000 buyout of Warnimont's, which also included the offer of Henry becoming manager of the Glossy's location. Henry accepted, but soon found that his creativity and business style were not being appreciated by his new employers. He quit Glossy's, but then decided to give into Punky and Cherie's dream to run their own teen hangout/burger establishment, and invested into another mall property, which ended up being splashed with as much color and originality as Punky's bedroom. All involved, which even included Betty and Margaux, unanimously decided on christening it "Punky's Place". Into season four, much of the action continued to take place at the mall, with Henry, Punky, and her friends' efforts to keep their new restaurant afloat and the many teenage misadventures which passed through at Punky's Place. From December 10, 1987, through April 24, 1988, reruns from the third season aired in the weekday ''Punky Brewster'' syndication package. On April 27, 1988, new episodes resumed for the fourth season, and ran every weekday for a month until the series finale aired on May 27, 1988. The final episode, "Wedding Bells for Brandon", features Brandon falling in love with Brenda, a golden retriever that belonged to one of Henry and Punky's neighbors. Their whirlwind romance culminated in a wedding ceremony in the courtyard, which was attended mostly by other neighborhood canines. According to Cherie Johnson, "Wedding Bells for Brandon" was not intended to be the series finale; that particular episode came along in the midst of the
1988 Writers Guild of America strike The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) against major United States television and film studios represented by ...
.


Revival (2021)

In June 2019, UCP announced plans for a new ''
Punky Brewster ''Punky Brewster'' is an American Situation comedy, sitcom television series about a young girl (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes). The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and again in Broad ...
'' series starring Soleil Moon Frye. The series revisits Punky as 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.” The series also features Cherie Johnson, returning to the role named after her, as well as Freddie Prinze Jr. as Punky's ex-husband. In early 2020, NBC confirmed the revival consisting of a ten-episode first season that will air on its new streaming
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
network. The revival premiered on February 25, 2021. In August 2021, the series was canceled after one season.


Episodes


Cast


Main

*
George Gaynes George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917 – February 15, 2016) was a Finnish-born American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to Dutch and Russian-Finnish parents in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the ...
as Henry Warnimont *
Soleil Moon Frye Soleil Moon Frye (; born August 6, 1976) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She began her career as a child actress at the age of two. When she was seven, Frye won the role of Penelope "Punky" Brewster in the NBC sitco ...
as Penelope "Punky" Brewster * Susie Garrett as Betty Johnson * Cherie Johnson as Cherie Johnson *
T. K. Carter Thomas Kent Carter (born December 18, 1956) is an American actor. In films, he is mostly known for his many comedic performances, such as the street-smart Chester in '' Seems Like Old Times'' and the karaoke-singing Iceman in ''Ski Patrol''. He ...
as Michael 'Mike' Fulton (season 2)


Recurring

*
Ami Foster Ami Foster is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Margaux Kramer in the TV series ''Punky Brewster''. Biography Foster, a native of California, won the National Tap Dance Championship after which she was discove ...
as Margaux Kramer *
Casey Ellison Casey Ellison (born March 2, 1976) is a former American child actor best known for his role as Allen Anderson on ''Punky Brewster''. In 1986 he left the show because he was disgruntled. Career Ellison had a recurring minor role on ''Mr. Bel ...
as Allen Anderson (seasons 1–2, guest star season 3) *
Eddie Deezen Edward Harry Deezen (born March 6, 1957) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his roles as "nerd" characters in films including '' Grease'', ''Grease 2'', '' Midnight Madness'', ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'', ''1941'', and ''WarGames''. ...
as Eddie Malvin (season 1) *
Dody Goodman Dody Goodman (October 28, 1914 – June 22, 2008) was an American character actress. She played the mother of the title character in the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', her distinctive high-pitched voice announcing the s ...
as Mrs. Morton (season 1)


Production notes

The show was produced by Lightkeeper Productions, and
NBC Productions Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predece ...
during the network run. NBC was not allowed to co-produce the series when it moved into syndication, due to then-existing FCC regulations regarding network involvement in syndicated TV programming. Thus, they made a
syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...
deal with
Coca-Cola Telecommunications Coca-Cola Telecommunications (CCT) was a short-lived first-run syndication unit of Columbia Pictures Television (then a unit of The Coca-Cola Company) created on November 24, 1986, that was a merger between CPT's first-run syndication division an ...
to co-produce two more seasons of episodes, plus U.S. syndication rights to the NBC-era episodes. Thus,
Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...
holds the domestic television rights, while NBCUniversal Syndication Studios holds international television and worldwide home video & streaming rights. Additionally,
MGM Television MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/Bro ...
also holds international television broadcast rights with NBCUniversal, part of pre-2004 NBC Studios library. Reruns of the series were broadcast in the United States on The Family Channel from October 3, 1993, to September 20, 1996.


Theme song

The theme song for ''Punky Brewster'' is "Every Time I Turn Around," written by
Gary Portnoy Gary Portnoy (born June 8, 1956) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for co-writing and performing the main theme song of the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', "Where Everybody Knows Your Name". Career In the early 1980s, Gary ...
and Judy Hart Angelo and sung by Portnoy.


Origin of the name

NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff named the series after a girl he had a crush on in his own childhood: an older tomboy named Peyton "Punky" Brewster. Before the series aired, NBC tracked her down (by this time, she was married and named Peyton Rutledge) and secured her permission to use her name for the lead character. Rutledge was even hired to do a cameo in one episode as a teacher at Punky's school (in the opening scene of the episode titled "The Search", aired November 10, 1985) so that both the real and fictional Punky Brewster could be on screen at the same time (the teacher even comments "Punky Brewster? Strange name!"). She is credited at the end of the episode as Peyton B. Rutledge. Punky's dog is named Brandon, after Tartikoff himself. The dog's real name was Sandy. Sandy originally shared the role with his brother, but Tartikoff decided that Sandy was better for the role.


Home media

All four seasons have been released on DVD in Region 1 by
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
, as well as separate discs that consist of six to eight episodes of the series. All season releases also contain episodes of the spin-off cartoon, ''It's Punky Brewster''. Mill Creek Entertainment also released three "Best-of" collections of the series. In Region 4, Umbrella Entertainment has released the first two seasons on DVD in Australia. These releases do not contain episodes of the animated ''It's Punky Brewster''.


Spin-offs


''Fenster Hall''

The final episode in Season 1, titled "Fenster Hall" (aired March 31, 1985), was a failed attempt to create a
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...
of ''Punky Brewster''. It was a one-hour episode, but was cut into two shows for syndication. This crossover episode marked the debut of Mike Fulton;
T. K. Carter Thomas Kent Carter (born December 18, 1956) is an American actor. In films, he is mostly known for his many comedic performances, such as the street-smart Chester in '' Seems Like Old Times'' and the karaoke-singing Iceman in ''Ski Patrol''. He ...
was the intended star of the ''Fenster Hall'' spin-off. Mike's history as a longtime resident of Fenster was explained, since he had been an orphan from birth and had been shuffled around to many foster homes before permanently staying at Fenster from the time he was seven. Now as the chief boys' counselor, Mike was saddled with helping new, tough street kid T.C. Finestra (Billy Lombardo) fit in with his group of regular charges, after an incident in which T.C. broke into and stole from the bedroom of Punky Brewster. Punky had a confrontation with T.C. after following him to a shady lair kept by street thug Blade (
James LeGros James Le Gros () (born April 27, 1962) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in '' Living in Oblivion''. Career James Le Gros appeared as Rick in Gus Van Sant's 1989 ...
), who had taken T.C. under his wing and was teaching him how to rob. It was there in which Punky learned of T.C.'s situation, and brought him home to Henry before it was decided that he would be better off at Fenster. The primary focus of the episode was on Mike and T.C.'s learning to trust and look out for each other, while many other denizens of Fenster were introduced who would have also comprised the cast of the spin-off. Mike's boss was Rita J. Sanchez ( Rosanna DeSoto), and his other boys, who he treated as if they were his own sons, were aspiring heavyweight boxer Lester "Sugar" Thompson (Martin Davis), sweet little Dash (
Benji Gregory Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg (born May 26, 1978), known professionally as Benji Gregory is a former American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Brian Tanner on the sitcom '' ALF''. Life and career Gregory was born in Los Angeles, Cali ...
), nerdy intellectual Lyle ( Gabriel Damon), who supposedly did Mike's tax forms for him; and huge, hulking Conan (B.J. Barie). When ''Fenster Hall'' did not transpire as a regular series by the time of NBC's 1985–86 upfronts, T.K. Carter then continued his role as Mike Fulton on ''Punky Brewster'' the following season, now serving as Punky's fourth grade teacher.


''It's Punky Brewster''

''It's Punky Brewster!'', an
animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...
with the original cast appeared on NBC on Saturday mornings. The cartoon was produced by Ruby-Spears. It ran from September 14, 1985, to December 6, 1986, for a total of 26 episodes. However, through reruns, it remained in the regular Saturday-morning lineup through the 1988–89 season. The series was later syndicated by
Claster Television Claster Television, Inc. was a Baltimore, Maryland–based television distributor founded in 1953 by Bertram H. (Bert) Claster and Nancy Claster (Goldman) as Romper Room Inc. It was originally a producer of the children's show '' Romper Room'', o ...
as part of a package featuring the DIC series '' Maxie's World'' (the "lead" program), and ''
Beverly Hills Teens ''Beverly Hills Teens'' is an American animated children's television program produced by DIC Animation City. Distributed by Access Syndication and originally airing in first-run syndication in the United States from September 21, 1987 through De ...
''.


See also

*
List of animated spin-offs from prime time shows This is a list of live action prime time network television shows that were turned into animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically sha ...
*''
Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' is a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem " Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on ...
'', a comic strip series featuring a young girl with foster dad, and friends


References


External links

* * {{Punky Brewster 1980s American sitcoms 1984 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings American television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States NBC original programming Television series about orphans Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Chicago