As the Challenger shuttle had history teacher Christa McAuliffe on board when it exploded on January 28, 1986, the executives at NBC knew that many children would be devastated by her loss as schools showed students the shuttle launch. Ultimately, an episode aired in which the character of Punky had to come to terms with what the shuttle explosion meant.
This was the last original episode broadcast on NBC.
Final appearance of T.K. Carter as Mike Fulton.