Stream Babysitters Club

[Kim Veller]

KristyThomas: Hi, I'm Kristy. I'm the founding member of the Baby-Sitters Club. I don't mean to brag or anything but we're famous, here in Stoneybrook. Everybody knows us. That's because everybody uses us. You call one number, and get connected with seven incredible babysitters. This is Stacey, she's our club treasurer. She's good at keeping track of money, she's also good at spending it. Stace was raised in New York City. Sometimes she thinks she still lives there. That's Mary Anne. When we were little, we used to live next door to each other. She's kind of quiet, kind of serious. Why are we friends? They say opposites attract. Dawn's Mary Anne's stepsister. She grew up in California. Dawn really cares about the environment. Her biggest regret is that she wasn't born on earth day. Claudia's an amazing artist. She's REALLY talented. I mean, do you anybody who can take a fourk and a hammer and turn it into... That? And of course Mallory, she's a junior member of the club. She started her novel when she turned eleven and is determined to finish it by the time she's eleven and a half. Jessi is Mallory's best friend and another junior member of the club. Jessi's motto is ''Why walks when you can dance?''. You know, we're more than just a club. We're friends. Best friends. Nothing could ever change that.

I don't know what I was expecting from a Netflix version "The Baby-Sitters Club," of one of my favorite book series from childhood. Considering the track record of some of the best books of my youth being brought to screen (cough, "Artemis Fowl," cough), I was bracing for the worst.

How, for instance, would they translate author Ann M. Martin's original1980s and 90s books in 2020? Would they get actors who were actually middle-school-aged and skilled at acting? Would the often simple (but not simplistic) plots be replaced with "Riverdale"-like drama? Would the sense of joy and positivity be gone?

I needn't have worried. As brought to life by creator Rachel Shukert ("GLOW," "Supergirl"), "Baby-Sitters" is a near-perfect distillation of what made the book series sell millions of copies. The series (now streaming) is optimistic but not deluded, youthful but not juvenile and sweet but not mawkish. Its quintet of young actresses (the original four sitters and one mid-season addition) are talented beyond their years, but the dialogue never makes them sound like 40-year-old Hollywood scriptwriters.

If you're unfamiliar with the Gen X and Millennial touchstone novels, "Baby-Sitters" follows a group of four middle school girls, and sometimes other classmates, who run the titular sitting society in the fictional suburb of Stoneybrook, Connecticut. They meet three times a week and take calls for babysitting gigs. They are also the best of friends and adolescents going through struggles and change.

The series brings the young women to life in caring detail. There's Kristy Thomas (Sophie Grace), club founder and president, "norm-core," bossy and occasionally selfish; stylish New Yorker Stacey McGill (Shay Rudolph), boy crazy and afraid to reveal her diabetes diagnosis after being bullied; artistic and ecstatic Claudia Kishi (Momona Tamada), misunderstood by her grade-mongering parents; shy Mary Anne Spier (Malia Baker), recast in the show as biracial, whose overprotective white father struggles with anxiety after the death of her mother; and Dawn Schafer (Xochitl Gomez), an earthy California transplant who becomes the first new member of the club.

The best pop culture stories about children and teens understand that, though their problems and foibles seem trivial to adults whose middle school memories are fuzzy at best, in the throes of adolescence every test, every crush, every babysitting gig is of monumental importance.

"Baby-Sitters" gives gravitas as its sitters go through their individual episodes, tackling issues large and small. There's the mom who is late to relieve the sitter, or a math quiz that must be aced to attend a Halloween dance. But in the Netflix interpretation there is also a babysitting client misgendered by others, a grandparent who suffers a stroke and a summer camp rife with inequality. Although the book's classic telephone landline remains (the joke that explains it is apt), the content of the stories is not dated.

Like the books, most episodes are told from the perspective of one of the club members (a two-part season finale set at summer camp breaks the trend). The sensitivity and care with which the writers treat each girl's inner monologue is moving. The adult characters (played by delightful guest stars Alicia Silverstone, Mark Feuerstein and Marc Evan Jackson, among others) are just as well-drawn as their offspring. They're neither the distant authoritarians nor hacky stereotypes that often pop up in kids' media.

Here's how you can watch The Baby-Sitters Club online, including whether or not the 1995 movie is available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu. The comedy-drama was written by Dalene Young and marked the directorial debut of Melanie Mayron. Based on author Ann M. Martin's book series of the same name, The Baby-Sitters Club followed a group of female friends who put together a local babysitting service.

Set in the fictional town of Stoneybrook, CT, The Baby-Sitters Club focused on the tight-knit group over the course of one important summer. The president of "The Baby-Sitters Club" is Kristy Thomas (Schuyler Fisk). She decides to open a day camp for their babysitting clients. Kristy's best friend, Mary Anne Spier (Rachael Leigh Cook), and Mary Anne's stepsister, Dawn Schafer (Larisa Oleynik), then offer their parents' backyard as the site of the camp. The trio, along with other members of the club, vow to look over the attendees while also encountering more struggles such as family issues, illness, and teenage romance.

Before The Baby-Sitters Club released in August 1995, the book series spawned a TV series in 1990. Netflix is reviving the franchise for a modern-day TV show set to drop at the beginning of July. The reboot consists of 10 episodes and focuses on five middle-schoolers who start a babysitting club. With the revival debuting, some viewers may want to revisit the popular movie from the '90s. Unfortunately, the title won't be found on the biggest streaming services.

The Baby-Sitters Club is not currently available to stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu. The fact that the film isn't included on Netflix might come as a surprise considering the service is housing a reboot of the beloved franchise. As of the time of writing, The Baby-Sitters Club is only included for subscribers of fuboTV, Showtime, and DIRECTV. The movie is also available on the Roku Channel, a free TV option that includes ads. There are, however, other ways to watch the title.

The Baby-Sitters Club is available to rent on a handful of platforms. The cheapest option is $2.99 for the standard version on Fandango Now. For $3.99, audiences can rent the HD version of the title on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, Microsoft, and DIRECTV. Those same platforms also offer buying option for those open to permanently owning the 1995 movie. The price tag ranges from $12.99 to 13.99 depending on the service. As shown, there are plenty of feasible ways to catch The Baby-Sitters Club movie before watching the new reboot on Netflix.

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