The Baby-Sitters Club may be a very 2020 show, where the babysitters use Instagram to find clients and have to buy a landline phone from Etsy, but it is based on a series of books that ran from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. Ann M. Martin wrote over 200 of the Baby-Sitters Club books, which at the rate that Netflix is going through plot could mean that fans get over 20 seasons of the comedy-drama.
The first season of The Baby-Sitters Club has 10 episodes, which mostly take their names from the books that have inspired their plot. However, the Netflix shows moves some of the stories around so they are in a different order than the novels were released.
The episodes of The Baby-Sitters Club Season 1 are based on the following books:
- Episode 1, "Kristy's Great Idea": Based on the book of the same name (The Baby-Sitters Club #1), released August 1986. Book synopsis: "Kristy thinks the Baby-sitters Club is a great idea. She and her friends Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne all love taking care of kids. A club will give them the chance to have lots of fun—and make tons of money."
- Episode 2, "Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls": Based on the book of the same name (The Baby-Sitters Club #2), released October 1986. Book synopsis: "Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne and Stacey have had some strange adventures since they started the Baby-sitters Club. But nothing's been as spooky as what's going on right now. The baby-sitters have been getting mysterious phone calls when they're out on their jobs. When a phone rings and they pick up, there's no one on the other end of the line."
- Episode 3, "The Truth About Stacey": Based on the book of the same name (The Baby-Sitters Club #3), released December 1986. Book synopsis: "The truth about Stacey is that she has diabetes. Nobody knows... except her friends in the Baby-sitters Club. But even they don't know the real truth about Stacey. Stacey's problem is her parents. They won't admit she has the disease, and they drag her to practically every doctor in America!"
- Episode 4, "Mary Anne Saves the Day": Based on the book of the same name (The Baby-Sitters Club #4), released February 1987. Book synopsis: "Mary Anne has never been a leader of the Baby-sitters Club. She's left that up to Kristy... or Claudia... or Stacey. But now there's a big fight among the four friends, and Mary Anne doesn't have them to depend on anymore."
- Episode 5, "Dawn and the Impossible Three": Based on the book of the same name (The Baby-Sitters Club #5), released May 1987. Book synopsis: "Dawn's the newest member of the Baby-sitters Club and everybody's glad--except Kristy. Kristy thinks things were better without Dawn around. That's why Dawn's eager to take on a big baby-sitting job. It's her chance to show Kristy what she's made of."
- Episode 6, "Claudia and Mean Janine": Based on the book of the same name (The Baby-Sitters Club #7), released September 1987. Book synopsis: "Claudia's participation in the Baby-sitters Club is curtailed when Grandmother Mimi suffers a stroke and Claudia finds herself 'Mimi-sitting' and fighting more frequently with her sister."
- Episode 7, "Boy-Crazy Stacey": Based on the book of the same name (The Baby-Sitters Club #8), released November 1987. Book synopsis: "Spending two weeks at the New Jersey shore as mother's helpers, Mary Anne objects when Stacey neglects her babysitting duties after falling in love with Scott the lifeguard."
- Episode 8, "Kristy's Big Day": Based on the book of the same name (The Baby-Sitters Club #6), released July 1987. Book synopsis: "When her mother gets married, Kristy and the other members of the Baby-sitters Club have their hands full taking care of fourteen children at the wedding."
- Episodes 9 and 10 "Hello, Camp Moosehead! Part 1 and Two": Based on Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation (The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #2), released July 1989. Book synopsis: "This summer, the Baby-sitters and a whole bunch of the kids they sit for are going to Camp Mohawk! With the girls as counselors-in-training and the kids as campers, it'll be just like baby-sitting--in the woods!"
Though The Baby-Sitters Club is a fairly faithful adaptation of the books, the show has adapted the series for a modern audience, with a more diverse cast, a social media savvy club and some more progressive messaging. For example, in the final episode, Camp Mohawk has been renamed Camp Moosehead, possibly as a reaction to recent conversations about the problems of culturally appropriating Native American imagery.
The Baby-Sitters Club is streaming now on Netflix.
