Pretty Ugly

**"Pretty Ugly"** was the first segment on the third episode of the cartoon spinoff series *It's Punky Brewster*.

## Summary

At the end of the school day, Glomer practices his magic on something random near the school grounds. Punky and Cherie are involved in a conversation, but Glomer appears in their path and informs them that Henry’s job with a fashion magazine is in jeopardy, and mentions something Punky perceives to be Bigelow, causing Punky to see a connection. Margaux splashes water on Punky and Cherie as she zips past them on her bicycle, and Margaux informs the two girls that she is going to the Bigelows’ mansion for a party.

As Margaux goes for a jog through a city park, Punky insists that Margaux try to talk Mr. Bigelow into trying to save Henry from getting fired, but refuses – despite that one of Glomer’s spells suspends her in mid-air as she jogs in place. Punky recommends a beauty makeover just like a top fashion model, showing Margaux a page in a fashion magazine about the secrets of a mud bath, and Margaux reluctantly reconsiders.

Back at Punky’s apartment, Cherie, Punky and Allen give Margaux a beauty makeover. She gets a pedicure treatment, while Allen uses egg shampoo by cracking a raw egg and pouring the yolk on her head. Glomer has produced a mud formula that he believes will make Margaux a very beautiful girl for the party. Punky pours the mud formula over Margaux’s head, and Glomer casts a spell on her – levitating her in the air for several seconds, then plopping her to her chair, and the mud cracks and reveals that her face is transformed into one that looks like Glomer’s. Brandon is suddenly terrified and runs away. Punky claims she looks remarkable, but just to avoid hurting her feelings. Margaux is ready for the party, but as she leaves, Punky scolds Glomer for what he had done to Margaux’s head. He comes up with a clever excuse.

Meanwhile, at the Bigelow Estate, the party is underway, and Punky dresses as Margaux and makes some sweet talk towards Avery Bigelow to distract him from the real Margaux whose face is now ugly. Margaux looks into the reflection of the fountain’s water, and discovers her ugly face – angering her, and threatens to attack Punky for the problem. Glomer realizes he is soon to be caught, so he decides to cast a spell on Margaux which turns her ugly face back to her normal pretty one. Although Margaux doesn’t realize she is pretty again, Punky advises her to look in the reflection of a pan in the kitchen. She is happy she is her normal self again. Henry comes into the kitchen to find out what is going on. After Punky told him he heard about him getting fired, he declared that he was never fired to begin with, but as punishment after the fiasco, he ordered Punky, Cherie and Allen to cleanup the wall-to-wall mess that was made in the kitchen.

As Punky, Cherie and Allen start cleaning up the kitchen while Avery goes to dance with Margaux, Glomer explained that the problem was not involving Bigelow, but actually a *big load* – demonstrating the term by lifting a stack of pots and pans - Implying that the whole situation was a miscommunication on Punky’s part, due to the “d” on the end sounding pretty weak to Punky.

## Trivia

* Originally paired with "Glomer's Story" in the first season.
* This episode was never rebroadcast after Season 1, possibly due to Casey Kasem’s voiceover during the title card.
* Despite wearing her dress, Margaux is barefoot when she receives her beauty makeover, This is because she was getting a pedicure. Either way, this was the first segment in the series in which a regular character was barefoot.
* A character bearing strong resemblance to Avery Bigelow would appear in "Punky P.I." in Season 2.
* This segment was later released on a VHS compilation in 1991.