The Baby-Sitters Club - General Discussion

[PRgal]

6 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

 

Cher/Alicia Silverstone as a mother of teenagers was a nice reminder of how old I am and how long it's been since I read these books!

 

I was thinking the same thing. 

3 hours ago, Spencer Hastings said:

Watson wasn’t just rich, he was old money rich. 

Except old money rich people don’t flaunt like that.  Like, they wouldn’t just buy a kid a BMW like that.  The Brewers are a few generations rich, but not THAT kind of old money.  

[william0102]

8 hours ago, Unraveled said:

The structure of how the baby-sitters club works doesn't really make sense in modern times. Why is a landline phone needed? Why are there only limited times that parents call for babysitting? Why would anyone trust 11-13 year old children to babysit slightly younger children?

 

I just assumed that Kristy hadn't totally thought out the idea, but ran with it when she remembered Claudia had the landline. Maryanne's dad wasn't going to let her have another number. Kristy wouldn't have asked her mom for another line because of the money. None of the parents would have agreed to letting the girls advertise their real phone numbers. And Kristy only asked Claudia, not Stacey, to be a part of the club. It was a convenience to use the landline, plus only calling at certain times means the girls could study, have a life, get to lessons, etc. Yeah a computer setup would work better/faster/ much more convenient, but the show has been centering around the girls babysitting in their neighborhood. The show is really trying to capture the sense of community that Kristy's mom spoke about in the first episode.

Oh and I loved the show, binged it in one sitting. I had mixed feelings about it, just because I didn't know if I could take it if was horrible with the way 2020 has been, lol. Definitely better than the previous adaptations. Also, I'd like to add that I personally loved that Maryanne didn't tell the rest of the club why the client asked for her specifically (the mother of the trans girl), she was already sticking up for her charges.

[PRgal]

On 7/3/2020 at 5:18 PM, andromeda331 said:

I watched them all. I loved it. I loved the characters. They each did a great job. It didn't take long to see each actress as Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, Dawn, Mallory and Jessi. I loved each episode starting with the narration and had the matching handwriting. There were a few changes from each book but I liked it for the most part. They made sense. They did move Kristy's Big Day to the episode right before the two part camping ones. But it made sense. I liked Mary Anne correcting the doctors too. Good for her. Kristy's right a boy wouldn't have to write a paper on decorum. Sharon sticking up for Dawn. I liked seeing Sharon and Elizabeth talking. That was nice. I can't believe how quickly I got used to Alicia Silverstone as Elizabeth. That was one that worried me the most. I kept thinking right up until it started that she'd be the perfect Sharon. But she was really great as Elizabeth. 

The only question I have at the moment is does Jeff not exist in the series? At first I thought maybe he stayed in California with Jack but he was never mentioned once. I'm not sure if it makes much difference. 

I still think he stayed in California.   Didn't he go back eventually, anyway?  

[peace355]

25 minutes ago, william0102 said:

I just assumed that Kristy hadn't totally thought out the idea, but ran with it when she remembered Claudia had the landline. Maryanne's dad wasn't going to let her have another number. Kristy wouldn't have asked her mom for another line because of the money. None of the parents would have agreed to letting the girls advertise their real phone numbers. And Kristy only asked Claudia, not Stacey, to be a part of the club. It was a convenience to use the landline, plus only calling at certain times means the girls could study, have a life, get to lessons, etc. Yeah a computer setup would work better/faster/ much more convenient, but the show has been centering around the girls babysitting in their neighborhood. The show is really trying to capture the sense of community that Kristy's mom spoke about in the first episode.

 

While they didn't go into details, they did set up why it would still be done this way in modern times. Such as 12 year old girls not being able to set up all social media things (unlike the babysitters agency) and also the idea coming from Elizabeth, it could appeal to older generation that grew up in the 90s and were fine with just ringing for something, you see her not going for the internet first thing. Also yes it is a small neighborhood so I think it works. They are super young to be loking aftr small children but some suspension of belief is allowed!

I've now finished the last 4 episodes so some other thoughts

• Janine was a bit much I thought, but accurate to her book counterpart, liked her and Claudia's talk about internment camps and Mimi.
• The whole Mimi's stroke handled so well. Claudia not being able to go into intensive care and knowing any other situation the person who would have stayed with her would be Mimi, and when she couldn't understand her afterwards was all very sad.
• Boy Crazy Stacy was fine, probably not the strongest. But I like Mary Anne realising Stacy was also a dork
• Kristy's Big Day may have been my favourite episode (though it's very close to call!). I was expecting Elizabeth to have it out with Watson more about his undermining her parental guidelines, but her and and Kristy's fight was well done.
• Also Kristy getting her period and her being a bit "behind" the others seemed very keeping with the books, even if periods were never mentioned there "feminine products, do the expect us to being makeup"
• Everything with Richard was gold! "Do you want a drink...of course not" . He's been brilliant all series.
• Welcome to Camp Moosehead felt very much like a summer special with everyone getting their own subplots. Mrs Meanie's reactions were hilarious as an non-enthused adult dealing with these kids.
• Assume they didn't want to keep it as Camp Mohawk and have the awkward Native American appropriation.
• Interesting bringing Laine into it this way, and even with a lot of plot changed poor Stacey couldn't escape the poison ivy!
• I liked natural way Mallory and Jessi were brought int the club too.

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by peace355

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, PRgal said:

I still think he stayed in California.   Didn't he go back eventually, anyway?  

Yes, in the books he went back to California in book 15. I thought maybe they had him just stay in California but then he wasn't mentioned at all by Dawn or Sharon not even when Dawn's dads called. 

[starri]

Honestly, with the exception of Book Karen (Show Karen is one million times better), I always thought Jeff was the most obnoxious of any of the girls' siblings.  Leave him in LA with Jack and Gus, or wish him into the cornfield.  I'm good.

[Minneapple]

On 7/3/2020 at 8:38 PM, geauxaway said:

Just finished episode 1.  Kristy saying her mom wasn’t “clueless” made me chuckle.  Went right over my sons head tho. 

Claudia also wore a Cher-inspired black and yellow plaid outfit!

I was a diehard BSC fan as a kid and now my daughter and niece read the graphic novels. They were just as excited for the show as I was. We binged it together and we all loved it. I love how they kept the show wholesome and appropriate for girls who may be discovering the series through graphic novels now. At the same time they still stayed faithful enough to those old books to keep us old-school fans happy. I may have shed a tear or two the first time Mimi showed up!

[Spencer Hastings]

5 hours ago, PRgal said:

I was thinking the same thing. 

Except old money rich people don’t flaunt like that.  Like, they wouldn’t just buy a kid a BMW like that.  The Brewers are a few generations rich, but not THAT kind of old money.  

That makes sense.  I’m 5th generation poor and a little closer to Old Ben Brewer hermit style. 😉

Edited July 5, 2020 by Spencer Hastings

[Jenniferbug]

I turned this on as (family friendly)  background noise this morning, and now my 7 year old is riveted. My 5 year old is less invested but also enjoying it. That alone makes me really appreciate the diversity in casting and the accessibility of the topics addressed (Bailey, internment camps, diabetes, ailing grandparents)

[PRgal]

1 minute ago, Jenniferbug said:

I turned this on as (family friendly)  background noise this morning, and now my 7 year old is riveted. My 5 year old is less invested but also enjoying it. That alone makes me really appreciate the diversity in casting and the accessibility of the topics addressed (Bailey, internment camps, diabetes, ailing grandparents)

The original Bailey was a little girl named Jenny (is it scary that I can remember a book I read some 30+ years ago?).  

Regarding the girls' handwriting - I'm (pleasantly) surprised they kept it the same.  I didn't think they taught cursive in schools anymore.  Or at least spent much time on it.  There are people close to MY AGE (I'm 40) who have trouble reading anything that isn't printing.  And we were actually TAUGHT cursive.  

[Jenniferbug]

2 minutes ago, PRgal said:

The original Bailey was a little girl named Jenny (is it scary that I can remember a book I read some 30+ years ago?). 

Ha, I remembered Jenny P too! And later baby sister Andrea. I remembered the plot about her getting sick and remember her mom pushing lots of frilly clothes, but like how they updated her story. 

[Minneapple]

5 minutes ago, PRgal said:

The original Bailey was a little girl named Jenny (is it scary that I can remember a book I read some 30+ years ago?).  

Jenny Prezzioso! She was a bratty kid whose parents indulged her and made her wear frilly dresses all the time. 

[starri]

38 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Regarding the girls' handwriting - I'm (pleasantly) surprised they kept it the same. 

Did they?  I mean, I know they had Stacey's hearts, but I remember Claudia's handwriting being really, REALLY messy, and I don't think it was on the show.

[dkb]

Was going to try watching one episode a day but ended up finishing it all today! It's fantastic, I loved all the nods to the books with all the new updates. 

I was going to quote posts above, but realized it would be like literally every single post above mine. Please let there be a season 2.

Coming up to four months in quarantine, and I have times when it seems like nothing I'm trying to watch is interesting and I have no attention span longer than 5 minutes and have no interest to pick up a book, so thankful this came out now and pulled me out of my funk.

[EarlGreyTea]

Well, you know you're getting old when you read the books as a tween and pictured Watson as an old white-haired guy, and then Mark Feuerstein shows up in his hot, dorky-dad glory and steals your heart.

Long may this show wave. What a nice escape for those of us who grew up in the '90s and thought the book series was dibbly fresh.

Edited July 5, 2020 by EarlGreyTea

[PRgal]

5 minutes ago, EarlGreyTea said:

Well, you know you're getting old when you read the books as a tween and pictured Watson as an old white-haired guy, and then Mark Feuerstein shows up in his hot, dorky-dad glory and steals your heart.

Long may this show wave. What a nice escape for those of us who grew up in the '90s and thought the book series was dibbly fresh.

Well, Watson can't be THAT old if Karen and Andrew are so little.  I mean, he doesn't come across as the type who marries five million times.  I LOVE Karen.  I've forgotten how wild her imagination can be (I was too old for the Little Sisters books).  

[Jenniferbug]

10 minutes ago, EarlGreyTea said:

Well, you know you're getting old when you read the books as a tween and pictured Watson as an old white-haired guy, and then Mark Feuerstein shows up in his hot, dorky-dad glory and steals your heart.

Long may this show wave. What a nice escape for those of us who grew up in the '90s and thought the book series was dibbly fresh.

Funny how time affects age perception so much. I read these books from ages 8-11, and the girls always seemed so mature and grown up to me. I think I always pictured them more as high schoolers despite knowing their ages. And now that I'm in my mid-30s, they look like babies to me! I love that they cast kids close in age to the characters. 

[EarlGreyTea]

4 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Well, Watson can't be THAT old if Karen and Andrew are so little.  I mean, he doesn't come across as the type who marries five million times.  I LOVE Karen.  I've forgotten how wild her imagination can be (I was too old for the Little Sisters books).  

True, but 13-year-old me thought anyone over 18 was ancient. Now I'm probably closer to Watson's age than to the BSC! The joke is now on me.

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by EarlGreyTea

[Sarahsmile416]

5 hours ago, starri said:

Did they?  I mean, I know they had Stacey's hearts, but I remember Claudia's handwriting being really, REALLY messy, and I don't think it was on the show.

Yes I noticed this too.  Claudia’s writing looked way too much like Mary Anne’s.  The other iconic part of Claudia’s writing was the chronic misspelled words and words crossed out.  

[Maelstrom]

18 hours ago, pigs-in-space said:

I was also a big fan of this crazy one where parents let two 13 year olds take their kids sailing, only to then get stranded on a desert island.

Gee, when you put it that way it's not nearly as believable as it was when I read these 30+ years ago...

[PRgal]

Considering the series now takes place in the present, then the girls’ parents were teens in the 80s and perhaps, the early part of the 90s.  This means....Richard Spier must have been....an Alex P. Keaton fanboy.  Considering how he is and everything...or maybe Danny Tanner.....

[madpsych78]

Count me as one who also caught on to the "not so clueless" reference when Kristy was talking about Alicia Silverstone.

As much as I read all the books when I was a kid, I guess I never really caught on to the first names of the adults, other than Richard and Sharon, and of course, Watson. Watson is a very memorable name. But never knew Kristy's mother's first name or the first names of Claudia's or Stacey's parents. 

[ruby24]

Now that I'm an adult (thought not a parent) I actually couldn't picture wanting a 12-13 year old babysitter for my kids, much less an 11-year-old. Especially for really young ones, under three years old. 

I think I would prefer a 16-year-old at least, lol. But it'd have to be one I knew and trusted, not just a random kid. Although I guess if these middle-schoolers really took their baby-sitting that seriously and were conscious of their business reputation (lol), you can imagine they would actively be trying to be as responsible as possible.

[PRgal]

4 minutes ago, madpsych78 said:

Count me as one who also caught on to the "not so clueless" reference when Kristy was talking about Alicia Silverstone.

As much as I read all the books when I was a kid, I guess I never really caught on to the first names of the adults, other than Richard and Sharon, and of course, Watson. Watson is a very memorable name. But never knew Kristy's mother's first name or the first names of Claudia's or Stacey's parents. 

Back in our day, adults were mostly addressed with honourifics (unless they had honorary aunt/uncle status), so not surprised.  

[ruby24]

6 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Back in our day, adults were mostly addressed with honourifics (unless they had honorary aunt/uncle status), so not surprised.  

Yeah, actually that's one of the other things I like about the show- when I was a kid I did call all my friend's parents by their first names and they did with mine too. I remember thinking when I would see on TV or in movies everyone using the "Mr." and "Mrs." I would think, oh, do people do that? Maybe it was because my mom was pretty young and really didn't want to be called Ms. (lol), and neither did my friend's moms.

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't want that either, lol. Yeah, I'd definitely want to just be called my first name.

Edited July 6, 2020 by ruby24

[anna0852]

Just binged the whole thing. A lot of thoughts. 

Predominantly Alicia Silverstone looks fantastic. And a *lot* like Kaley Cuoco from The Big Bang Theory

[PRgal]

1 hour ago, ruby24 said:

Yeah, actually that's one of the other things I like about the show- when I was a kid I did call all my friend's parents by their first names and they did with mine too. I remember thinking when I would see on TV or in movies everyone using the "Mr." and "Mrs." I would think, oh, do people do that? Maybe it was because my mom was pretty young and really didn't want to be called Ms. (lol), and neither did my friend's moms.

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't want that either, lol. Yeah, I'd definitely want to just be called my first name.

Funny because I hate it.  And what drives me nuts even more is when kids whose parents I don’t know well call me “Auntie.”  This isn’t uncommon in some Chinese Canadian communities...a friend’s brother once asked his daughter to call me “Auntie Cynthia.” This guy was someone I barely spoke to when I was younger, so no, his kid DOES NOT get to call me Auntie. 

[Victura]

2 hours ago, ruby24 said:

Yeah, actually that's one of the other things I like about the show- when I was a kid I did call all my friend's parents by their first names and they did with mine too. I remember thinking when I would see on TV or in movies everyone using the "Mr." and "Mrs." I would think, oh, do people do that? Maybe it was because my mom was pretty young and really didn't want to be called Ms. (lol), and neither did my friend's moms.

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't want that either, lol. Yeah, I'd definitely want to just be called my first name.

This was one part that I found a little odd because I’m pretty sure in the books the parents were addressed as Mr. or Ms. or Dr. Among my friends, we all addressed our friends’ parents as such and even today as an adult, I can’t seem to address those parents any differently. 😂 It somehow feels odd, like calling your school teachers by their first names. Is it common for tweens/teens these days to call other parents by their first names? 

As for Claudia’s handwriting, it wasn’t super messy but was quite small, so I wonder if it looks better in a bigger font size? I did notice that her email to Kristy about the logo had a few misspellings. 

I hope this goes on for a few more seasons, and perhaps some of the book storylines that seem too mature for 13-year olds would be more suitable for 15 and 16 year olds. Like everyone else, I loved this series and thought the modernizations worked so well, despite being somewhat skeptical when I first read about them. Even the more serious topics (diabetes, bullying, stroke, internment camp, divorce, remarriage, etc.) all felt like they were woven in so naturally and not as some sort of lesson to be beaten over one’s head. 

This was just such a refreshing surprise and so comforting to watch in these times. It made me smile and tear up and laugh, and now I want to reread some of those books!

Edited July 6, 2020 by Victura

[scarynikki12]

11 minutes ago, Victura said:

I hope this goes on for a few more seasons, and perhaps some of the book storylines that seem too mature for 13-year olds would be more suitable for 15 and 16 year olds.

Same. If each season encompasses a school year plus some summer shenanigans then they can get five more seasons before the girls would be off to college.

My hope is that they

Spoiler

put off Mimi's death for as long as possible. Just seeing her made me tear up and then she was as awesome as in the books so I want her with us for a long time.

I read the Little Sister spinoff books but that was in spite of Karen. Show Karen was absolutely hilarious and they need to keep this exact tempo with her characterization.

[Guest]

23 hours ago, Unraveled said:

The structure of how the baby-sitters club works doesn't really make sense in modern times. Why is a landline phone needed? Why are there only limited times that parents call for babysitting? Why would anyone trust 11-13 year old children to babysit slightly younger children?

It wasn’t mentioned often in the books but parents calling wasn’t limited to the set timea of the meetings. They could call the landline at other times or the other girls. The benefit at calling during a meeting was to get an immediate response. 
I actually really liked that Elizabeth’s frustration about cell phones and how answering phones when the ring no longer being part of the social contract was a reasonable setup for the landline. 

19 hours ago, idiotwaltz said:

I remember that one. Wasn’t one of the girls sailing with a 4-year-old who got sick while they were stranded? 

Yes and he was already sick when they left. Of course the kid was Jamie Newton whose parents planned on leaving a newborn with inexperienced pre-teens and teens. 

13 minutes ago, Victura said:

This was one part that I found a little odd because I’m pretty sure in the books the parents were addressed as Mr. or Ms. or Dr. Among my friends, we all addressed our friends’ parents as such and even today as an adult, I can’t seem to address those parents any differently. 😂 It somehow feels odd, like calling your school teachers by their first names. Is it common for tweens/teens these days to call other parents by their first names? 

In my experience it is and it’s the adults choice. Of course it was also like that when I was a kid. 

[Zima]

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! 

[PRgal]

How do people feel about some of the changes, like:

1. Mallory and Jessi already being BFF 

2. Adam, Byron and Jordan no longer bring identical triplets (i get how that is a casting problem.  They also don’t seem like triplets anymore, period)

3. No more accent on Logan!!!

4. Don’t remember Laine being at camp with the girls (at least her dad is still a Broadway producer)

5. The Sea City episode taking place during spring break (how can one go to the beach during spring break?  In New Jersey? Anyway? It’s still freezing!) instead of the summer 

Edited July 6, 2020 by PRgal

[Jenniferbug]

47 minutes ago, PRgal said:

How do people feel about some of the changesmlike:

2. Adam, Byron and Jordan no longer bring identical triplets (i get how that is a casting problem.  They also don’t seem like triplets anymore, period)

3. No more accent on Logan!!!

2. Kinda bugged me, mainly because I spent too much time trying to figure out if 8 Pike kids could still fit the age range if none were triplets since I was remembering that they were all a year apart, except for Margo and Claire. It didn't appear that any of them were twins either. It didn't even appear that Adam/Jordan were meant to be twins (ie, if I remember right they weren't that similar in size and while I know that twins don't have to be exactly the same size, I feel like Hollywood casting shorthand would have cast them more similarly if we were meant to infer they are twins).

3. Logan was a weak spot for me in the show. But then it occured to me that book Logan's main personality traits were "handsome" and "from Louisville" so...I'll cut him some slack. It will be interesting to see if they ever develop him more or if we ever get an episode from his perspective, like the couple of books featuring him. 

 

[starri]

Imma be honest, Logan gave me a vibe that he'd be quicker to squee over Cam Geary WITH Mary Anne instead of romancing her.

[Scarlett45]

14 minutes ago, starri said:

Imma be honest, Logan gave me a vibe that he'd be quicker to squee over Cam Geary WITH Mary Anne instead of romancing her.

I kind of got that vibe too! Maybe he’s bi or pan (or the actor is and the kid hasn’t honed his craft yet). 

[Spencer Hastings]

5 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

3. Logan was a weak spot for me in the show. But then it occured to me that book Logan's main personality traits were "handsome" and "from Louisville" so...I'll cut him some slack. It will be interesting to see if they ever develop him more or if we ever get an episode from his perspective, like the couple of books featuring him. 

 

Logan was a weak link for me as well.  I know that as a 33 year old woman I’m not supposed to find him dreamy, but he’s not the Cam Geary lookalike with a “southern drawl” that was in my head.  It also kind of bothered me that he was already there and didn’t move there in 8th grade.  He hasn’t played  a big role in the series yet, so I don’t know why they rushed his appearance. Maybe they weren’t sure if they would get a season 2 and felt like they needed to at least have Logan around since Logan Likes Mary Anne happens later. 

[PRgal]

1 minute ago, Spencer Hastings said:

Logan was a weak link for me as well.  I know that as a 33 year old woman I’m not supposed to find him dreamy, but he’s not the Cam Geary lookalike with a “southern drawl” that was in my head.  It also kind of bothered me that he was already there and didn’t move there in 8th grade.  He hasn’t played  a big role in the series yet, so I don’t know why they rushed his appearance. Maybe they weren’t sure if they would get a season 2 and felt like they needed to at least have Logan around since Logan Likes Mary Anne happens later. 

And probably why they already introduced Jessi AND made her Mallory's BFF.  

[Zima]

7 hours ago, PRgal said:

How do people feel about some of the changes, like:

1. Mallory and Jessi already being BFF 

2. Adam, Byron and Jordan no longer bring identical triplets (i get how that is a casting problem.  They also don’t seem like triplets anymore, period)

3. No more accent on Logan!!!

4. Don’t remember Laine being at camp with the girls (at least her dad is still a Broadway producer)

5. The Sea City episode taking place during spring break (how can one go to the beach during spring break?  In New Jersey? Anyway? It’s still freezing!) instead of the summer 

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. 

[KaveDweller]

5 hours ago, PRgal said:

How do people feel about some of the changes, like:

1. Mallory and Jessi already being BFF 

2. Adam, Byron and Jordan no longer bring identical triplets (i get how that is a casting problem.  They also don’t seem like triplets anymore, period)

3. No more accent on Logan!!!

4. Don’t remember Laine being at camp with the girls (at least her dad is still a Broadway producer)

5. The Sea City episode taking place during spring break (how can one go to the beach during spring break?  In New Jersey? Anyway? It’s still freezing!) instead of the summer 

1. This didn't bother me, because Jessi and Mal became friends so quickly, I didn't feel the need to see it. I assume if there is a season 2 we will get more of them bonding. I think they had to change this, because they likely won't want to ship the actress playing Stacey away at any point for her move to NYC. This lets them bring the younger girls into the club without losing her.

2. I get why they couldn't be identical, but weird that they didn't have them look a little more alike. It did bother me, but not as much as almost all the Pikes having red hair.

3. I didn't really care about the accent, but it bothered me that he was in Stoneybrook in 7th grade.

4. Laine wasn't at camp with them, but I thought it worked. In the books she and Stacey reconciled in a book where Stacey was in NYC and this allowed all the girls to be involved in that storyline.

5. This bothered me a ton. I live in New Jersey and nothing at the beach is even open in March/April when schools would be on spring break. I can see going to get cheap rates, and that would explain everyone being cold, but there would certainly be no life guards on duty and no one would expect to sit on the beach. And Scott being a lifeguard is an important part of the story. 

[starri]

7 minutes ago, Zima said:

5. Lol, good point. Maybe that's why they were all bundled up the entire time, and never in bathing suits. 

They also filmed the show in Canada in the fall.  The weather was yucky (I think one of the girls even has a line to cover that fact), so they probably had to make it Spring Break, so that would have been a little more believable.

I did love that Deidre Pike was fretting over the triplets costing her her AirBNB rating.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, PRgal said:

How do people feel about some of the changes, like:

1. Mallory and Jessi already being BFF 

2. Adam, Byron and Jordan no longer bring identical triplets (i get how that is a casting problem.  They also don’t seem like triplets anymore, period)

3. No more accent on Logan!!!

4. Don’t remember Laine being at camp with the girls (at least her dad is still a Broadway producer)

5. The Sea City episode taking place during spring break (how can one go to the beach during spring break?  In New Jersey? Anyway? It’s still freezing!) instead of the summer 

I wasn’t really bothered that the changes to specific details but I did feel like they tried to cram to many big plot points into the camp episodes. I understand why they wanted to get those things in but they should have been setup better throughout. For example Mallory should have played a bigger role in the Sea City episode. Having her help out while Stacey was distracted would have worked better. 

7 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

Logan was a weak spot for me in the show. But then it occured to me that book Logan's main personality traits were "handsome" and "from Louisville" so...I'll cut him some slack. It will be interesting to see if they ever develop him more or if we ever get an episode from his perspective, like the couple of books featuring him. 

He was for me to but I wonder how much of that was because his dialogue wasn’t very good.  They really shoehorned the plot of Logan likes Mary Anne into the episode. When you compare it to Trevor and Claudia’s scenes it comes off as extremely rushed and poorly developed. 
My one real complaint about the season is the way they handled Mary Anne at the end of the season. She went from too shy to speak up to acting on stage too fast. It made me wonder if the creators didn’t really relate to her character as much as the others. 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Guest
So many typos

[PRgal]

I'm guessing most of us here are between 35-45 or so.  I wonder how any viewers (streamers?) are women in this age category who ARE NOT watching it with their daughters vs tweens or women from the same age group watching with their kids?  

[Unraveled]

14 hours ago, Dani said:

It wasn’t mentioned often in the books but parents calling wasn’t limited to the set timea of the meetings. They could call the landline at other times or the other girls. The benefit at calling during a meeting was to get an immediate response. 

Absolutely! I remember the books as well. I think that was one of two reasons why Claudia was VP. I think she answered phones during off-times, and she was only the one that had a dedicated phone line.

[Zima]

31 minutes ago, Dani said:

I wasn’t really bothered that the changes to specifics details but I did feel like they tried to cram to many big plot points into the camp episodes. I understand why they wanted to get those things in but they should have been setup better throughout. For example Mallory should have played a bigger role in the Sea City episode. Having her help out while Stacey was distracted would have worked better. 

He was for me to but I wonder how much of that was because his dialogue wasn’t very good.  They really shoehorned the plot of Logan like Mary Ann into the episode. When you compare it to Trevor and Claudia’s scenes it comes off as extremely rushed and poorly developed. 
My one real complaint about the season is the way the handled Mary Ann at the end of the season. She went from to shy to speak to acting on stage to fast. It made me wonder if the creators didn’t really relate to her character as much as the others. 

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!). 

18 minutes ago, PRgal said:

I'm guessing most of us here are between 35-45 or so.  I wonder how any viewers (streamers?) are women in this age category who ARE NOT watching it with their daughters vs tweens or women from the same age group watching with their kids?  

I'm 40 and child-free. I'm not watching it with any children. 

[geauxaway]

I’m 42 and my 12 year old son had no interest in it, no matter how hard I tried to sell him on it.    

[Jenniferbug]

44 minutes ago, Dani said:

He was for me to but I wonder how much of that was because his dialogue wasn’t very good.  They really shoehorned the plot of Logan likes Mary Anne into the episode. When you compare it to Trevor and Claudia’s scenes it comes off as extremely rushed and poorly developed. 
My one real complaint about the season is the way the handled Mary Anne at the end of the season. She went from too shy to speak up to acting on stage too fast. It made me wonder if the creators didn’t really relate to her character as much as the others. 

Yes! I am very introverted and was very Mary Anne like in my tween years and there was no way in hades that I would ever have agreed to get on stage in front of people for any reason, especially in a lead role. I can maybe go with her being behind the scenes directing, but even that seemed out of character for her. In the super special where they were in Peter Pan, didn't she absolutely refuse to be involved and ended up as the backstage babysitter for the elementary kids in the show? It kind of felt like they just needed something to do with her in the camp episodes, which I agree with those of you above were crammed full of plots. Those 2 episodes were probably the weakest for me, but still enjoyable overall.

I'm mid thirties and watched it by myself the first time through. I turned it on as family friendly background noise the next day, and my daughters (7 and 4) both stopped playing and watched some of the episodes with me. 

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Jenniferbug said:

Yes! I am very introverted and was very Mary Anne like in my tween years and there was no way in hades that I would ever have agreed to get on stage in front of people for any reason, especially in a lead role. I can maybe go with her being behind the scenes directing, but even that seemed out of character for her. In the super special where they were in Peter Pan, didn't she absolutely refuse to be involved and ended up as the backstage babysitter for the elementary kids in the show? It kind of felt like they just needed something to do with her in the camp episodes, which I agree with those of you above were crammed full of plots. Those 2 episodes were probably the weakest for me, but still enjoyable overall.

Exactly! As someone who spent years learning  to accept that being introverted isn’t a flaw it really bothered me watching the character I related to as a child taking charge and stepping into the literal spotlight. As a kid that plot happening in the books would have made me feel worse about myself. 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Guest

[Jenniferbug]

2 minutes ago, Dani said:

Exactly! As someone who spend years learning  to accept that being introverted isn’t a flaw it really bothered me watching the character I related to as a child taking charge and stepping into the literal spotlight. As a kid that plot happening in the books would have made me feel worse about myself. 

I agree! I think it would have reinforced that there was something wrong with me for not being able to change and be in the spotlight like Mary Anne did.

[Annber03]

2 hours ago, PRgal said:

I'm guessing most of us here are between 35-45 or so.  I wonder how any viewers (streamers?) are women in this age category who ARE NOT watching it with their daughters vs tweens or women from the same age group watching with their kids?  

35 and watching this, and I don't have any children at all. 

[Spencer Hastings]

2 hours ago, PRgal said:

I'm guessing most of us here are between 35-45 or so.  I wonder how any viewers (streamers?) are women in this age category who ARE NOT watching it with their daughters vs tweens or women from the same age group watching with their kids?  

I’ll be 33 in a few days and I’m definitely not watching it with any children.
 

Most of my friends are “watching it with their children” but I think some of them don’t want to admit that they’re watching it for themselves! Although one conservative friend was kind of upset about some of the dialogue and not quite “ wholesome” changes and is only watching it now to discuss whatever it is her daughter has questions about.  She’s a super fan so I thought it was interesting that she definitely does not love it.