Zima

I remember that there was a survey in the back of one of the books, asking people to mail in their response to the question, "Who is your favorite baby-sitter?" A few books later, the results were in. Stacey was #1, Claudia was #2...I don't remember the order of the rest, except that Kristy was last (which made me sad, because she was my fav). Jessi and Mallory weren't even considered.

Random thoughts: My favorite characters were always Kristy and Claudia. My friend who watched the show with me (but never read the books) said that he couldn't stand Kristy. I think that the show didn't do the best job of making Kristy look sympathetic. I remember that Watson's house was described as being "on the other side of town", not at all walking or even really biking distance. The club had to pay Charlie to drive Kristy to and from meetings. This wasn't the case on the show, as we saw Kristy casually walk to Watson's from her house while Mary Anne was babysitting for Karen and Andrew. I feel like pointing out that Kristy was losing proximity to her friends at an age when not being able to be near them all the time like she was used to would have made her much more sympathetic. Sure, they talked about how she and Mary Anne wouldn't be able to use the flashlights anymore, but they brushed it off with, "Oh well, we have cellphones." The way the situation was portrayed in the show, my friend just said, "Oh well, at least she's rich now and has a bigger room. What's the big deal?" Kristy was the shortest club member by far in the books, and Claudia was described as looking more mature. I feel like they swapped in the show, aside from their fashion choices.

That bugged me about Mallory too. Mary Anne did wear reading glasses in some of the books. I agree that the actress who plays Claudia is probably the weakest. She's not BAD, it's just that the others are so good that she is kind of meh in comparison. I still love the character, and her outfits are FIRE. I agree. I feel like a lot of the things that happened to the girls as the years went on and they stayed 13 would be better suited for girls in high school. Lol! He kind of was. I'll never forget how controlling he became in the book where he and Mary Anne broke up (Mary Anne vs Logan). I loved that she stood up for herself and dumped his ass. I thought it was a great message for young girls. Then they kind of messed it up by having them get back together, lol.

Good point about Mallory. ITA about Mary Anne! One of the best things about her in the books was that she was so shy. I think a lot of kids related to that. To make her suddenly able to take charge and not only organize a play, but also be willing to star in it last-minute seemed so very out-of-character. The Camp Mohawk eps were the weakest IMO, because they crammed in so many plots (Claudia with the art projects, Dawn with the protests, Mary Anne's play + Logan, Stacy vs Laine, Kristy trying to find her purpose at camp, Mallory and Jesse...phew!). I'm 40 and child-free. I'm not watching it with any children.

1. This didn't bother me. Mallory and Jesse were never my favorites (though I did enjoy most of their books), and I didn't really expect them to be on the show at all. 2. This really bothered me. I know that Byron was a lot different from his brothers, but still...they should have looked much more alike! Another poster made a great point about the ages of the 8 kids being confusing now. And Mallory was the only one in the family who had red hair! In the books, the rest of them had brown hair. 3. I agree with others who thought that Logan was a weak spot on the show. The books made suuuuuch a big deal about his accent. The fact that he didn't have one was a letdown. 4. She wasn't, but there were so many other changes on the show that this particular one didn't bother me. 5. Lol, good point. Maybe that's why they were all bundled up the entire time, and never in bathing suits.

I just finished. I loved it! A friend of mine (who had never read the books) watched with me and loved it as well. Episode 1 was so close to the first book that I found it jarring when the second ep only barely resembled book 2. By ep 3, I got over it and decided to enjoy it for what it was. I think I was annoying my friend by pointing out all of the inaccuracies. (The last two words of Kristy's essay on decorum should have been "THE END")! I looooooved the diverse cast. The only thing that we might miss out on is the discussion of racism with Jessi Ramsey and her family being the only black family in Stoneybrook. I thought that was an important part of the books. I'm interested to see if we'll get any storylines involving racism here. I loved that the parents were more involved. In the books, it seemed like they just dumped all of the responsibility for every situation on the girls. Louis and Mimi made me cry. In fact, I cried a lot through many of the episodes. It was just so good, guys. Claudia's hollow book with the candy really brought me back. The people responsible for creating this show must have really loved it and cared about it a great deal. Here's hoping for many more seasons!

Thanks for sharing! As others have already said, I really wish that they would have just left the season as is. Dee is a central character to everything going on, so the show is going to make little sense without her talking heads or other interactions with the cast. I thought that Bailegh (sp)? came off like an entitled brat, and did not feel sorry for her at all in those deleted clips, tbh.

Finally! Someone else who can't stand Coral.

Yeah, but he was backed into a corner in that one. Kenny and Laurel were basically unstoppable, winning almost every challenge, so Wes and Ev's alliance had no choice but to start eating each other. I like the challenge in this episode, but I hated that elimination. It was so basic and boring. After 125 seasons, this was all they could think of?

Yeah, I'm not really disturbed by Darlene + Wyatt. He's of legal age now, and nobody bats an eye when an old man and young woman are paired up (as they often are). For instance, Ben has to be in his late 30's/early 40's, yet everyone thinks it's perfectly fine for him to be with a 20 yr old Ruth (which it is since they're both consenting adults). I actually think it's refreshing to see the genders flipped this way.

Even though I admire how good he is at these things, I'm no Jordan fan. Still, that elimination was hard to watch. I cry pretty easily, but I still never thought I would cry over Jordan. 😝 Fessy threw that pole when he won like he accomplished something huge. Dude, you won the pole game against a man half your size, and half the amount hands (thanks Rogan). Calm down. I forgot Mattie was there too.

I am about halfway through, and I am loving it! A period drama with lavish costumes, sets, great acting, but also dark, over-the-top comedy? Yes please. Nicholas Hoult is absolutely hilarious in this, and Elle Fanning is enchanting.

Yeah, meh. Although I love The Mandalorian, I'm not a huge fan of the rest of the Star Wars franchise. This does nothing for me.

IKR??? What a missed opportunity. Maybe next season? I agree. I looooved season 1, and I actually did tell people that they should watch it. This season, while still enjoyable enough, was just sort of Okay IMO.

Oh wow, so that's how the Republican party changed so drastically! It's so crazy to me that pandering to the Pro-"life" crowd was all it took. Such an interesting (and devastating) piece of history to watch play out.