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Baby-Sitters Club 1990/2020 Thoughts
https://spongey444.wordpress.com/2022/04/01/the-twelve-candles-club-beckys-brainstorm/ Marathon time already? Yep. Usually I'd hold off when doing shorter ones but I felt like giving these their own thing as I wanted to do a bigger show next. It just worked better with my schedule. Anyway, today we're diving into Babysitter's Club again. I talked about Baby Sitters Club when I reviewed that Twelve Candles Club book but it's time to get into the weeds of it. I have gone over the Goosebumps and Animorphs shows a lot. Goosebumps was clearly a big hit that extended the brand. Animorphs…not so much. And in the middle of all that is BSC. It has two shows and we're going over them as I find them fascinating. I've done research, y'all. BSC was huge for Scholastic so no duh it has been adapted. Let's get into them. BABYSITTER'S CLUB 1990: Their first attempt was this HBO show that only lasted a single 13 episode season. Sounds like a flop, right? Odd for a big series at the height of its popularity? Well it's not so simple. Scholastic set out to make a BSC show and pitched it to broadcast networks…who said no. This was because they didn't think a female lead series would be “broad” enough and even wanted to add more boys to fix that. Some things never change, eh? So they teamed up with some misc company to make some episodes for VHS exclusively, which began in September 1990. Then HBO picked them up for airing. They sold well enough for there to be an article in September 1991 saying Scholastic was happy about the success of the videos and will be ordering more. They overall came out between 1990 and 1993, with it switching to airing on HBO first and the videos were reprinted by Kidscreen after first being from Good Times. Yes, that one. So yeah, it was actually popular with author Ann M Martin very much approving. She’s a creative consultant and she says she did work with the writers and helped cast the leads. It’s just funny how at first glance it seems like more of a flop than it was. Doesn’t help that Wikipedia had the wrong info for ages, saying it was all dumped in 1990. Granted, IMDB says this too. The BSC wiki had the truth at least, and evidence too like Tv listings and whatnot. Only recently was Wikipedia corrected. (Also, the cast appeared at the 1992 Macy's Thanksgiving parade. Yes, really) Nowadays, its legacy is the theme song, “Say Hello to Your Friends” which is a bop to be sure. The main cast mostly has this as their sole IMDB credit, although Mallory and Jessi’s actors did stuff. Thus they get the least to do. The actors you know are in side roles. We have Danny Tamberelli as one of their kids, and Young Zach Braff and baby Kimberly J Brown as one offs. I imagine plenty have it as a nostalgic favorite but it’s not talked about too much these days. So I was interested to see how it is. And well, the reason I went through all the history is cuz there’s not much to say. It’s…fine. The thing is, it’s an odd adaptation. It’s all mostly original stories, not adapting the books. However, it is basically an extension and not an adaptation. Everything is basically the same and we jump in the middle with bonus members already here. They keep referencing events from the books that we don’t see here, as they assume you’re a young fan who knows all this by now. We get an info dump from Kristy but otherwise it feels like you just joined a friend group with tons of history and you’re lost, not getting all the in jokes. It’s weird, I’ve seen adaptations do their own stuff, I’ve seen faithful ones with few changes, and I’ve seen like side books that are seen as canon. But this is something else. Hell, Stacey becoming a model in one episode is referenced in the books, implying this is canon to them. Yet in one this child star from one book is somewhat presented like a new thing to us when we as fans know this guy from that book. It mostly sticks to catering to fans with it being simple enough for others to jump in though. I think it’s a bit odd, I guess it clearly worked but I imagine fans wouldn’t like that it's all new mostly and non-fans would find it hard to go into blind.  It’s not confusing or anything, but they do short change some characters who I imagine do more in the books. In general, the show is pleasant and cute. The actors have good chemistry and by the end, they all seem like decent friends and I bet they all had fun here. But man, it feels pretty simple. A lot of the show is just them hanging around and giggling, a lot. There’s not a ton of substance with the stories being very simple.  Episode 1 is sadly the weakest, as it is just mostly fluff with the plot being fairly lax. Feels like not much happens beyond giving us an idea of the vibe. Of the cast: Kristy gets the most because she’s the leader, with a few nice bits. Claudia takes a while but gets substance involving her school problems and relationship with her sister. She’s my favorite since she gets some good lines. Stacey doesn’t have much personality for most of it but gets an episode about her choosing between Mom and dad basically, plus her diabetes comes into play once. Dawn likes boys and trees, even though I know in the books it was Stacey who liked boys. Mary Anne is shy and gets exactly one episode, with this trait not being a thing mostly. Jessi gets just one episode which gives her some good stuff, even if she doesn’t have much for a personality.  Poor Mallory gets…nothing. No episode, and no true big moment. The last episode is them going over their best memories and Mallory just gets to reference a few, she doesn’t get a spotlight. The show is mixed on the characters, with some working and others not feeling that fleshed out. Since they made more than one batch over time, it feels like two mini seasons rather than one big season. The show feels a bit different later on, indicated by the credits font changing a bit. One of the writers, Jeanne Betancourt, went on to write for the series so clearly Scholastic felt they understood the series. It does feel like a more basic safe version though. I know the series can be like that, but I know it can have more bite than this. The show can get into that at times, and the stories do get stronger in the latter half with the story moving forward most of the time. Dawn Saves the Trees even has a good nuanced moral about activism can go wrong despite being well meaning, basically. This one has aged well. Back to negatives, I'm not big on the first Claudia one as it pivots halfway through and gives Kristy the substance, shame. The show can feel too sugary, even for me. It's nice it has a heart but man it can like having too many sugary snacks. I can see why Ann Martin praised it for being “wholesome” lol. It does basically what it needs to, as it has stronger plots as it goes. My favorites were mostly the mysteries. Secret Passageway has the mystery nicely tying into stuff going on in their lives so it felt like a solid story with some mild spookyness. Jessi and the Mystery of the Stolen Secrets has a reveal I didn't see coming and nicely ties into what Jessi was doing. This felt like things were more balanced. Outside of one jerk in ep 1, don't expect much for villains even in the mysteries. The Christmas special was nice with a sweet ending, even if it gets into that corny-ness too. The final episode, The Babysitters Remember is an odd one. Before Summer starts, they talk about some favorite memories. Most are from the books, such as the first one. It's a clip show…for a different medium. That's weird. I bet it's a bit boring for book fans, in the same way some clip shows can be dull. It does feel like a nice mix of substance and the usual lax giggling. It could be more substantial in places (Mary Anne's memory is of a random thing she was just there for) but it's nice enough of a wrap-up. I think I just summed up the show lol. It does what it sets out to do well enough but needs more meat to it. It’s perfectly fine for the target audience but others won’t get quite as much. Even the best stuff is nothing that great tbh. I feel like I’m a bit hard on it given what it is. It doesn’t do too much wrong and I see why it was as popular as it could be. But I also see why it’s more a nostalgia piece than anything.  I wrote more than I expected, mostly cuz it was already short. So, it’s good for background noise and harmless fun, but that’s about it for the most part. We can move on now. BABY SITTERS CLUB 2020: A lot went down for BSC between 1993 and 2020. The series ended, another series started and then ended, they tried reprints and a prequel novel to regain interest which failed, and then the series truly came back with a graphic novel series. Well, after a quick try at least. 2015 is when the 2006 graphic novels got reprinted and this gave the series the jump it needed beyond wistful nostalgia snark blogs.  Thus in 2018 they announced a new series that eventually came out on Netflix in 2020, that had 2 seasons and 18 episodes. We’ll get into the demise later. This time Scholastic entrusted Walden Media (that company that does mostly adaptations of classic children's books) with the rights after getting rather protective given the “not broad” stuff and rejecting a lot of offers. Apparently a fair few wanted to Riverdale it and we already have California Diaries for that. Showrunning things is Racheal Shukert, mostly known for writing on Netflix's Glow. It got pretty acclaimed and yeah enough history let's get into why it's indeed pretty good. . I may actually struggle to add a lot as there’s both plenty to say and not like a ton. The first thing to note is that it’s indeed a modern update and that’s done well. It doesn’t dip into “How do you do fellow kids” too often and does a good job in reflecting 2020s life. I like how the BSC in this version is a throwback to how you’d set something like this up, as a contrast to online listings and overpriced services that Kristy’s mom deals with. BSC being a throwback in universe is a clever touch and there’s a fair bit of that. You have Claudia’s phone line being kept for nostalgia and that worked. Of course the modern stuff shows in the themes which means yes, there are plenty of reasons for all of those people to whine about it being the W word. Dawn alone delivers most of that, with her lines and whole plot in one episode about a Union uprising. You have some of those “based” lines that can feel tryhard at times but mostly it works. Mary Anne saves the Day has a trans kid and there’s other LGBT bits as well as some raceswapping in the cast. I appreciate how these were done, it feels authentic to how things are now. I was a bit worried about that going in but thankfully it’s one of the well done well meaning examples. It taps into how the books usually tried to reflect how things were at that time. It’s very much how the series would be in the current day. It has an oddly nostalgic feeling with some of the retro-ness so it succeeds in appealing to today's kid and the nostalgia crowd, or at least the ones not too stuck in the past. The cast holds up well, the characters are strongly defined and the young actors are really good. Kristy could have cooled down a bit early on but her bossy-ness is used for good humor. And we see the deeper reasons for it, especially regarding her family situation. Claudia is still fun, Mary Anne gets well developed with her shy nature and other stuff. Stacey maybe isn’t as strong as the others she feels the most upbeat despite what she goes through and that’s enjoyable. Her stories could be like a touch better (Stacey’s Emergency hardly has an emergency lol) but they do setup for what could have been a strong story but I’m getting ahead of myself. Dawn’s activism thing could have been annoying but is mostly used well and we get good drama with her. Mallory still has no episode but is a stronger presence being a bit of the kooky one. I wish she got a focus but Racheal did say that was a sad sacrifice they had to make with just 8 episodes in season 2 (for COVID reasons) to show off her deeper side but ah well. Jessi has a solid focus episode with her going a bit too far in being competitive, so that gives her more character in this version. Despite certain lines/references, it remembers to be a kids show so you do have some standard/predictable stories. The only 2 weaker episodes I can mention are Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls, as despite a good main arc it does struggle to tackle a book they simply couldn’t quite do (Claudia doesn’t even really deal with the calls) and Boy Crazy Stacey, which works in being a fun break but was a story type I’m not hugely into.  Not a big deal but worth noting. I will admit most episodes can fall into being a B+ that is just a few points shy for an A. Like, Claudia and Mean Janine could have used a stronger moment with the two alongside the Mimi stuff to bring things home. That’s a good example of a little thing that could be cleaned up a bit. Most fall under pretty good which is fine given who this is for and all that, and it’s hard to describe but there are those little things. Season 2 plays things a bit looser with the books, and is about on par with Season 1. 1 had a few more “weaker” ones but 2 can feel just a tad a bit off but I get their approach with it. You still get strong stuff mostly in the back half. With the more lax approach, Stacey modeling in an episode and the use of the 1990 theme at the end…I think they had that show on the mind this time lol. I won’t compare them too much but man this is the stronger one. Perhaps not tons of babysitting, which is a mild shame as we could at least have seen more of the recurring charges but word of god states this was for logistic reasons (child labor laws and all that) so it’s another sad sacrifice situation. I swear Racheal does a good job of justifying all the creative decisions, they clearly put a lot of thought into this show.  For favorites: Hello Camp Moosehead is a solid two parter with a bunch of good storylines that lead to some fun and cool moments, from Stacey reconnecting with a former friend to Dawn’s union strike. Claudia and the Sad Goodbye is exactly what you’d expect and the emotions run high with Claudia trying to keep it down. Kristy and the Baby Parade deal with her deadbeat dad so of course I was all over it. Some fun fluff with the parade as well. My favorite is Mary Anne Saves the Day, for being a strong character focus where every aspect works to build her up and show her feelings and arc. The show had a fair amount of good character moments and this felt like the strongest example to me. The show pulls off emotion well as even when it gets thick or on the nose, the actors pull it off so well. That’s shown here as well as the trans stuff, that’s in this one too.  Special mention to Kristy’s Great Idea for being a solid pilot. The show is just nice, with well defined characters brought to life well. The modern streaming format is used well with storylines going on in the background and actually normal length episodes. Slightly longer ones are saved for when its needed. It’s a solid B+ show, I think .Maybe not one I truly loved as maybe it could some more heavy hitters or tweaking of minor things. This is without even bringing adaptation into it. They left the door open for things to escalate in season 3 but sadly they won’t get that. It got canned and this article does a good job going into why and also why it’s a shame. https://www.vulture.com/article/why-the-baby-sitters-club-was-canceled-at-netflix.html I referenced this before regarding Andi Mack as they are similar in some ways. It got acclaimed, awards and all that but viewership was down since it wasn’t advertised as hard. Again, the article goes more into it. Maybe the looser approach turned off book fans as well but otherwise I don’t blame the quality.  It’s a shame as it filled a niche and was also just good. Even as a more casual person with the books, I see how it’s a good take that updates things while also keeping what worked. It’s not perfect but it was a nice watch for me. It’s funny how the 1990 technically lasted longer as far as years ago According an Ann M Martin Facebook post, Walden Media still has the rights so maybe there's hope for a fresh start someday. An animated series could be meat, would fit in well with things like As Told By Ginger. At least we have the graphic novels. Anyway, BSC 2020 is a good example of how to update something as well as just a good family show on its own own. Hope the cast of kids all have strong careers at least. I couldn't fit this in but I enjoy Karen, being this little weirdo. Good supporting cast in general, solid use of the adults here. Alright that wraps those up. This BSC era was fun. I got a bigger appreciation for this series here. The 1990 show was mid and the 2020 clears it. But that 90's show had its charms and that theme was brought back for a reason. I had a good time doing these and it was interesting seeing how the brand has been adapted. Yes, i know of the movie, maybe someday.  And yeah; that's basically it. Hope I didn't miss anything important. Next time, I do another anthology show so stay tuned for that. See ya then.
Jellystone/Fired On Mars/Scavenger'sReign thoughts
Welcome back to my first post-backup marathon. This time I wanted to do 3 shorter shows from HBO Max that are modern. I have a modern cartoon backlog and them being short makes them tricky to use this as an excuse to do them. So doing about 3 is a good way to cover them. Look, doing side marathons on my own is harder these days with time, my situation and phone stuff so this works as a compromise. That said, let's dig in. JELLYSTONE: We’ll start with the longest running of these so far, that is also the simplest. Created by CH Greenblat, this is somewhat of a Yogi Bear show but really it’s about the extended Hanna Babara cast living in the town of Jellystone. We get some wacky adventures with it having an ensemble nature. I can make this short enough as it’s basically just pretty fun. It’s the kind of gag based cartoon I don’t see as much these days. It’s just about being weird and fun, while still having some decent writing and characters. You can tell this is CH Greenblat, as
Goosebumps/Kids Horror Hot Takes
We love our hot takes don’t we? When it comes to the Goosebumps/Kids Horror stuff I talk about too much, there’s plenty of varying opinions on this stuff. Trust me, it can heated which you know all too well by now. I’ve been around the block and have had takes that differ from others. I figured I’d do a little post about it. Now this won’t be too detailed, there’s not tons to say exactly. We’re talking about kids horror in general, with the main draw being a bunch of Goosebumps ones, of course. Now, I did a post about the fandom a while ago that has a few hot takes regarding how the series is judged and especially the new show. So a few that were covered there won’t be here, like how I feel these should be judged on quality and not how scary they are. (Not that a horror series shouldn't remember the genre more often bit still lol) The link above will take you there. A big disclaimer is that this is based on what I’ve seen in my circles. I’ve seen various people claim takes are hot
Rugrats Thoughts
Well, here we are. After a fair few years, it is time to end the backup marathons. In a formal way, at least. There are shows that count that will just be under main marathons instead. After today that main /backup divide is gone. My backup choices were dwindling and I just wanted more room for other stuff in the slot I would watch these. We've on this thing of doing these big longer ones I had been putting off forever due to how beefy they were. Today, we end it on a big one. Let's do it. Rugrats: This is the only way we could end things. Rugrats is not only hugely nostalgic for me but it was huge in general. 172 episodes, 3 movies, 2 spinoffs, and a couple direct to video specials. Not to mention all the merch, games and so on. Before SpongeBob, this was Nick’s big cash cow, and boy is there is a lot to say. I was pretty into it as a kid, it aired plenty so I was able to watch it a lot. I saw Rugrats Go Wild in theaters and had some VHS tapes that I would watch a lot. A lot
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