The Baby-Sitters Club is a TV series Scholastic, Inc. produced in 1990 based on the original book series, which aired as a series of monthly specials on HBO, and then later on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. Thirteen episodes were filmed before the series was canceled. The first two episodes were released on VHS in September 1990 after broadcast networks weren't interested. The series did so well on the video that HBO, a pay-cable service, picked it up in late 1990 and later in 1991.
A reboot was released by Netflix in July 2020.
Cast[]
- Meghan Andrews as Mallory Pike
- Melissa Chasse as Dawn Schafer
- Avriel Hillman as Kristy Thomas
- Meghan Lahey as Mary Anne Spier
- Nicole Leach as Jessica "Jessi" Ramsey
- Jessica Prunell as Stacey McGill
- Jeni F. Winslow as Claudia Kishi
Episode List[]
- "Mary Anne and the Brunettes"
- "Dawn and the Haunted House"
- "Stacey's Big Break"
- "Kristy and the Great Campaign"
- "The Baby-sitters' Special Christmas"
- "Claudia and the Missing Jewels"
- "Dawn and the Dream Boy"
- "Claudia and the Mystery of the Secret Passage"
- "Jessi and the Mystery of the Stolen Secrets"
- "The Baby-sitters and the Boy Sitters"
- "Dawn Saves the Trees"
- "Stacey Takes A Stand"
- "The Baby-sitters Remember"
Theme Song[]
- Main: Say Hello to Your Friends.
Filming[]
The videos were filmed in Pelham, NY. Casting picked from over 500 girls between the ages of 10-14. Nicole Leach, who played Jessi, was "the Baby-sitters Club expert" and had every BSC book. Most likely, the series was initially filmed in early to mid 1990, since videos were first released in September 1990 and first aired on HBO in November 1990.
In September 1991, the NY Times reported that "Scholastic is pleased with the success of the videos and the relationship with HBO and intends to produce five more stories this year." This implies that episodes #1-8 were filmed in 1990, and episodes #9-13 were filmed in 1991 or 1992, especially since episodes #8-13 did not air on HBO or have videos released until September 1992 and November 1992, respectively.
HBO Air Dates[]
Scholastic initially released the first two episodes on VHS in September 1990 (rather than airing them on TV), because broadcast networks weren't interested. The success of the video sales led HBO, a pay-cable company, to pick up the series as the first TV channel to air episodes. HBO first aired episodes #1 and #2 in December 1990 and November 1990, respectively, with HBO airing each episode monthly, 4-5 times per month. They reran episode #1 on HBO in June 1991 and episode #2 in May 1991. The Baby-sitters Club returned to HBO with new episodes starting in September 1991, and aired new episodes comprising episodes #3 through #7 from September 1991 to January 1992.
After a several month break in which HBO aired monthly reruns of the previous seven Baby-sitters Club episodes from February - August 1992, HBO started airing new monthly episodes starting with episode #8 in September 1992, and ending with The Baby-sitters Remember in February 1993.
| No. | Title | Original HBO Air Date | HBO Rerun dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mary Anne and the Brunettes | December 3, 1990 | Dec 9,21,26,31 1990 Feb 3,7,22,25 1992 |
| 2 | Dawn and the Haunted House | November 2, 1990 | Nov 6,17,21,29 1990 May 5,9,14,22,31 1991 |
| 3 | Stacey's Big Break | September 4, 1991 | Sept 7,10,15,20 1991 Apr 7,18,20,23,29 1992 |
| 4 | Kristy and the Great Campaign | October 6, 1991 | Oct 10,21,29 1991 May 4,14,19,27,20 1992 |
| 5 | The Baby-sitters' Special Christmas | December 1, 1991 | Dec 6,18,23,25,31 1991 |
| 6 | Claudia and the Missing Jewels | November 2, 1991 | Nov 5,12,18 1991 June 5,9,17 1992 |
| 7 | Dawn and the Dream Boy | January 2, 1992 | Jan 6,14,21,25 1992 Aug 5,24,28 1992 |
| 8 | Claudia and the Mystery of the Secret Passage | September 2, 1992 | Sept 7,26,19,22 1992 |
| 9 | Jessi and the Mystery of the Stolen Secrets | October 1, 1992 | Oct 11,20,30 1992 |
| 10 | The Baby-sitters and the Boy Sitters | November 3, 1992 | Nov 14,18,22 1992 |
| 11 | Dawn Saves the Trees | December 1, 1992 | Dec 6,11,17,30 1992 |
| 12 | Stacey Takes A Stand | January 3, 1993 | Jan 8,11,19,25 1993 |
| 13 | The Baby-sitters Remember | February 3, 1993 | Feb 9,16,19,27 1993 |
Physical Media[]
The episodes were originally released on VHS by GoodTimes in 1990-1992, and later released with different covers (but the same cover art) by KidVision in 1993-1995. The KidVision VHS tapes came with extras such as stickers, a temporary tattoo, or a Collector's Mini Book.
GoodTimes VHS covers[]
KidVision VHS covers[]
VHS Extras[]
LaserDisc Release[]
The videos were also released by Warner Music on laser disc with 3 episodes per disc, for a total of a 90 minute run time.
- Heart Collection - released 12/15/1993 - episodes 9, 12, 13. LaserDisc database
- Flower Collection - released 12/15/1993 - episodes 8, 10, 11. LaserDisc Database
Air Date and Video Release Timeline[]
- 1990
- September 1990 - GoodTimes VHS tapes 1 and 2 released
- November 1990 - Episode #2 first airs on HBO
- December 1990 - Episode #1 first airs on HBO
- 1991
- August 1991 - GoodTimes VHS tapes 3 and 4 released
- September 1991 - Episode #3 first airs on HBO
- October 1991 - Episode #4 first airs on HBO
- October 1991 - GoodTimes VHS tape 5 released
- November 1991 - Episode #6 first airs on HBO
- December 1991 - Episode #5 first airs on HBO
- 1992
- Jan 1992 - GoodTimes VHS tape 6 released (probably)
- Jan 1992 - Episode #7 first airs on HBO
- March 1992 - GoodTimes VHS tape 7 released
- Sept 1992 - Episode #8 first airs on HBO
- Oct 1992 - Episode #9 first airs on HBO
- Nov 1992 - GoodTimes VHS tapes 8 and 9 released
- Nov 1992 - Episode #10 first airs on HBO
- Nov 1992 - the cast of The Baby-sitters Club TV show appear in the 1992 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
- Dec 1992 - Episode #11 first airs on HBO
- Dec 1992 - The December issue of the HBO Kids' Guide includes an interview with Ann M. Martin
- 1993
- Jan 1993 - Episode #12 first airs on HBO
- Feb 1993 - Episode #13 first airs on HBO
- June 26 1993 (street) - Episodes 8, 10, 11 (flower collection) released in VHS by KidVision (June 1 Pre-Order)
- Sept 22 1993 (street) - Episodes 5, 9, 12, 13 (heart collection) released in VHS by KidVision (Sept 7 Pre-Order)
- Dec 15 1993 - Heart and Flower collections released on LaserDisc
- VHS releases included a Collector's Mini Book
- 1994
- February 1994 - BSC mall tour starts, to promote the series and the videos
- March 2 1994 (street) - Episodes 1,2,3 (Telephone Collection) released in VHS by KidVision (Feb 8 Pre-Order)
- July 27 1994 (street) - Episodes 4,6,7 (Ice Cream Collection) released in VHS by KidVision
- February 1994- March 1996 - BSC Readers can join a Video Club to receive a new episode on KidVision VHS every other month
- VHS releases included stickers
HBO Guide Episode Blurbs[]
HBO Guide was a monthly magazine published from the 1970s originally until present day in an online format. The magazine described what shows were airing at what time each day of the month, and had short blurbs with representative pictures for shows airing that month that the magazine wanted to feature. For the Baby-sitters Club TV show, the HBO Guide included a picture and short summary of the episode every month a newly-released episode aired. Later episode blurbs sometimes did not include a picture. When episodes were rerun, the HBO Guide might include a one-sentence summary and air dates but would not include a picture or specially featured blurb.
Digital release[]
All episodes from the series have been released digitally on Amazon.com, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu,and iTunes. The episodes are a mix of the GoodTimes and KidVision VHS releases, and are shown completely out of their airing order. Vudu now has the episodes in correct order, as of April 9, 2024.
Trivia[]
- None of the episodes in the original 1990s series are based on any of the novels and are all original stories.
- Many characters from the books are in the show, except Courtney from "Kristy and the Great Campaign." Courtney is a new character who wasn't in the original books.
- Stacey's modeling career in “Stacey's Big Break” is mentioned in the books twice. Once in Stacey's Movie and the other in Stacey and the Fashion Victim.
- Claudia's room was furnished by the North American branch of IKEA.
- The title for the final episode, "The Baby-sitters Remember", was later used for the eleventh novel in the Super Special series.
- There is no Mallory episode, much like the Netflix Series.
- The theme song was remade and played over the Netflix Series season two trailer.
- The show is available to watch with an Amazon prime subscription.
External Links[]
- TV Series on HBO - New York Times, Sept 10, 1991
- Complete monthly HBO guides from Jan 1990 - Dec 1993 (and beyond) on the Internet Archive
Print Ads[]
Videos[]
