History Series / TheBabySittersClub2020

** In a heart-to-heart talk between Mary Anne and her father after they deal with Bailey's hospital episode, it comes out that some of Mary Anne's issues with her father were misunderstandings on her part. For example, in contrast to the original novels, Richard never actually told or expected Mary Anne to always wear her hair in braids, but she believed that that was how he wanted her hair to be because it was the way he always used to do it. When she finally asks about it, he explains that the reason he always did her hair in braids was simply because he didn't know how to do it any other way; he never expected or realized that she would take it as a mandate.

** In the book series, Kristy and David Michael have a very special relationship with their dog, Louie, and the dog is especially protective of David Michael. In this adaptation, however, he's only seen in one scene in the first episode when Kristy takes him for a run – despite numerous scenes set in the Thomas house, we don't see Louie at all for the rest of the season.
** While possibly not intentional due to the abrupt cancellation, Mallory Pike is the only one of the main club members who doesn't get to narrate an episode of her own.

* OverprotectiveDad: As Mary Anne says, her father Richard Spier doesn't even like her leaving the house because he's worried something will happen to her (such as her being murdered). While he does still struggle to completely shake off his habits, to his credit he begins to loosen up in time after Mary Anne finds the confidence to tell him she'd like to change a few things about herself.

** Charlotte Johanssen has a mother and father in the books, making them a heterosexual married couple. In the Netflix series, Charlotte HasTwoMommies, making the original Dr. Johanssen at least no longer straight.

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** Claudia's sister Janine is strongly implied to be on the autism spectrum, with most of her dialogue in emotionless SpockSpeak, but still storming off and is clearly hurt when Claudia claims their grandmother loves her more.
** Claudia herself is a very talented artist and emotionally mature, but she describes her own behavior, suggested to be a simple lack of interest in the books, as a difficulty focusing around math and English that resembles a learning disability.
** Richard is very introverted, lampshaded by Sharon's name for him in high school ("Turtle"), is very hung up on routine and distressed by change, and has high anxiety, which is not helped by him raising a young daughter alone. He is also very well-versed in cooking, ingredients for food, and knows the proper way to wash different cookware. He could likely be on the autism spectrum as well, and given his age may not have been diagnosed.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Claudia is told by her parents that she's not allowed to go to the school dance if she doesn't pass her math test. She initially lies by pretending Stacey's 95% score is hers, but confesses right before she's about to leave that she did indeed fail. Her parents are sympathetic with her troubles and proud that she spoke up, but make it clear that they're not going to let her go out of pity, especially not after she lied to them. Claudia resigns herself to spending the night at home dressed in her costume while doing Mimi's portrait.
** Despite Claudia's hopes that everything with Mimi will go back to normal after her stroke, she sadly sees for herself exactly how difficult the recovery is; Mimi's forced to relive difficult memories, and she's unable to communicate as effectively as before. Evident later on when Claudia makes sure Mimi is feeling okay at the wedding and Mimi uses broken speech to reassure her granddaughter that she's having a good time.
** Stacey believes she is hiding her pump and her condition effectively. It fools her young friends and charges, but Dr. Johanssen reveals in the third episode that she is an endocrinologist and noticed Stacey's pump ''and'' how she manages her condition immediately.
** If a group of twelve-year old girls starts a baby-sitting service, it's not really a surprise that a group of older girls (high school age) might copy the idea and get more business due to greater freedom (being able to drive, having later - if any - curfews).
** Elizabeth finds that raising her only daughter to be a committed feminist - who believes you don't "need" a partner to have worth - backfires quite spectacularly when she falls in love again.
** Mary-Anne and Logan have a very mature, beyond-their-years relationship in the books... at 13. In the series, the second they agree to officially become an item, things get weird and tense and they're clearly too young to handle the seriousness of an exclusive relationship, and they decide to ditch the boyfriend-girlfriend label. They still like each other, but it's much more realistic for young teens.

* AdaptationalNiceGirl: Stacey’s (former) longtime BestFriend, the slightly-snooty Laine Cummings, goes back and forth between being reasonably nice and not getting along with Stacey in the books, to the point where they no longer speak. In the series, Laine is introduced as being very friendly with Mary Anne and finally apologetic of the way she treated Stacey in New York, and they seemingly mend their friendship.

* SwitchingPOV: Different episodes are narrated by whichever girl is the focus of the story (as indicated by the episode title).

** Most of the parent clients are reasonable, but almost all of them grab hold of the idiot ball in "The Truth About Stacey." First, they dump the Baby-sitters Club, even though they have a history with the club and know that the girls are reliable and good with kids despite their young age, in favor of older teenagers who obviously aren't experienced with childcare or remotely professional, resulting in Jamie Newton being put in very real danger, on the simple assumption that older babysitters are automatically better. Then they're understandably shocked by the video of Stacey's seizure, but after Stacey reveals that she is diabetic, the parents, all of whom know Stacey and the girls and have seen her properly care for kids, reveal that they know very little about diabetes. They're concerned about Stacey having another seizure (despite her being clear that this was ''before'' her diagnosis and her insulin pump and treatment) and about kids coming into contact with any "medical equipment" she might have. Keep in mind, the parents already know that the Agency let a four-year-old play by himself in the street ''and'' just learned that the Agency intentionally sent around a video of a preteen girl having a seizure to discredit her. It's only once Dr. Johanssen points out how well Stacey manages her condition that they lay off; and once Kristy points out a ''second time'' that the Agency cyberbullied a twelve-year-old, the other parents suddenly remember how much their kids love the club and how professional they are for their young age.

* AdultFear:
** Before Stacey was diagnosed with diabetes, her symptoms worried her and her parents so much that her mother thought she had an eating disorder (due to losing a problematic amount of weight and having no energy) and sending her to a million specialists. It culminates in her having a grand mal seizure in public. She's then the victim of InstantHumiliationJustAddYouTube when her "friends" circulate the video. It's no wonder Mrs. [=McGill=] is so protective of Stacey.
** This is at play when Francine Delvecchio demands that only Mary Anne can babysit her trans daughter and not anyone else from the club (given that Mary Anne is a daughter of a trusted colleague) and lampshaded when the mother comes into the hospital worried about her child with a high fever (let's not even mention the misgendering that happened earlier...). This demand ends up steamrolling the club rules a bit, but given the rampant misunderstanding surrounding people like Bailey, it's understandable that she'd only want to entrust Bailey to the particular sitter she's vetted rather than one of the other girls that she knows almost nothing about.
** Not 60 seconds after she talked to him last, Dawn turns around to see that Buddy Barrett is nowhere to be found. She can't get reach anyone or get a clue as to where he's gone – and she still has a baby and a toddler to take care of and not scare too much. It turns out that his father, Hamilton, picked him up for swimming, which he was scheduled to do, but his mother failed to inform Dawn. Hamilton and Dawn seem to both recognize that this is of little comfort – even if Dawn ''had'' seen Hamilton picking up Buddy, she had no way of knowing who he was or whether or not he was allowed to see Buddy.
** Although she's found by Kristy, Mallory, and Jessi before anything bad can happen, Karen wanders off and leaves the camp to go out and sit at a bus stop, which it turns out is no longer functioning.

Outspoken tomboy and seventh-grader Kristy Thomas (Sophie Grace) convinces her two childhood friends -- her shy and closest friend Mary Anne Spier (Malia Baker) and the artsy Claudia Kishi (Momona Tamada) -- to start a babysitting club in order to cut down on Internet-related hassle for their neighborhood. Joining them is Claudia's new friend Stacey [=McGill=] (Shay Rudolph), a chic girl from [[BigApplesauce New York City]], and later Mary Anne's new friend Dawn Schafer (Xochitl Gomez in season 1, Kyndra Sanchez in season 2), a passionate activist from California. The girls not only have their ups and down with their babysitting charges, but also often deal with issues in their personal lives, whether it be family problems or boy crushes.

** "Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister" is a mix of "Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister" and "Poor Mallory!".

Outspoken tomboy and seventh-grader Kristy Thomas (Sophie Grace) convinces her two childhood friends -- her shy and closest friend Mary Anne Spier (Malia Baker) and the artsy Claudia Kishi (Momona Tamada) -- to start a babysitting club in order to cut down on Internet-related hassle for their neighborhood. Joining them is Claudia's new friend Stacey [=McGill=] (Shay Rudolph), a chic girl from [[BigApplesauce New York City]], and later Mary Anne's new friend Dawn Schafer (Xochitl Gomez in season 1, Kyndra Sanchez season 2 onwards), a passionate activist from California. The girls not only have their ups and down with their babysitting charges, but also often deal with issues in their personal lives, whether it be family problems or boy crushes.

This is a modern adaptation of the 1980s-2000s book series ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'', produced by Creator/{{Netflix}} and given a SettingUpdate to 2020. The first season dropped on July 3, 2020, and the second season dropped on October 11, 2021.

Outspoken tomboy and seventh-grader Kristy Thomas (Sophie Grace) convinces her two childhood friends -- her shy and closest friend Mary Anne Spier (Malia Baker) and the artsy Claudia Kishi (Momona Tamada) -- to start a babysitting club in order to cut down on Internet-related hassle for their neighborhood. Joining them is Claudia's new friend Stacey [=McGill=] (Shay Rudolph), a chic girl from [[BigApplesauce New York City]], and later Mary Anne's new friend Dawn Schafer (Xochitl Gomez[=/=]Kyndra Sanchez), a passionate activist from California. The girls not only have their ups and down with their babysitting charges, but also often deal with issues in their personal lives, whether it be family problems or boy crushes.

** Elizabeth is correct that Kristy shouldn't fall into a trap of not worrying about money just because she has a rich stepfather now. However, Kristy is also correct that Watson bought her brother a BMW and Elizabeth didn't react nearly as strongly to that as she did the dress (and while the dress ''was'' expensive at $800, Watson almost certainly paid ''much'' more to purchase a brand-new BMW, even with a good deal and Charlie contributing his car savings). Notably, Kristy also didn't ''refuse'' to wear the yellow dress, she just mildly complained about disliking it and Watson immediately offered to buy her a new dress and told the saleswoman to just find a dress she thought would look good on Kristy regardless of price, even saying it wasn't a big deal -- was Kristy supposed to have refused his offer just on principle (and if this ''is'' what Elizabeth is suggesting, then why should it not also apply to Charlie)?

** Elizabeth is correct that Kristy shouldn't fall into a trap of not worrying about money just because she has a rich stepfather now. However, Kristy is also correct that Watson bought her brother a BMW and Elizabeth didn't react nearly as strongly to that as she did the dress (and while the dress ''was'' expensive at $800, Watson almost certainly paid ''much'' more to purchase a brand-new BMW, even with a good savings deal). Notably, Kristy also didn't ''refuse'' to wear the yellow dress, she just mildly complained about disliking it and Watson immediately offered to buy her a new dress that she liked, even saying it wasn't a big deal-- was she supposed to have refused his offer just on principle (and if this ''is'' what Elizabeth is suggesting, then why should it not also apply to Charlie)?

** Claudia is told by her parents that she's not allowed to go to the school dance if she doesn't pass her math test. She initially lies by pretending Stacey's 95% score is hers, but confesses right before she's about to leave that she did indeed fail. Her parents are sympathetic with her troubles and proud that she spoke up, but make it clear that they're not going to let her go out of pity. Claudia resigns herself to spending the night at home dressed in her costume while doing Mimi's portrait.

* DisappearedDad: Kristy's father left the family when her youngest brother David Michael was an infant, and she hasn't even seen him in almost a decade. It's implied part of her dislike of Richard Spier's many rules (to be fair, the man is ''insanely'' overprotective of Mary Anne) is that her own father isn't around.

* CreepyChild: Downplayed. Karen is going through a spooky phase (in Mary Anne's words) when she's introduced. She has an obsession with her neighbor who she thinks is a witch called Morbidda Destiny, is very knowledgeable of scary rumours/stories like the Phantom Caller, and insists on giving her doll a wake.

** Claudia is the fashionable boy-crazy member. She's also a passionate artist and is known for her creativity, which shows how much attention she puts into visuals. Claudia being quite different from Kristy and Mary Anne is slightly PlayedForDrama at first, as Kristy says Claudia's interest in clothes and boys is what leads her to drift apart from the other two. Claudia, however, says that Kristy's bossy personality is what drove ''her'' away.

** Most of the parent clients are reasonable, but almost all of them grab hold of the idiot ball in "The Truth About Stacey." First, they dump the BSC, even though they have a history with the BSC and know that the girls are reliable and good with kids despite their young age, in favor of older teenagers who obviously aren't experienced with childcare or remotely professional, resulting in Jamie Newton being put in very real danger, on the simple assumption that older babysitters are automatically better. Then they're understandably shocked by the video of Stacey's seizure, but after Stacey reveals that she is diabetic, the parents, all of whom know Stacey and the girls and have seen her properly care for kids, reveal that they know very little about diabetes. They're concerned about Stacey having another seizure (despite her being clear that this was ''before'' her diagnosis and her insulin pump and treatment) and about kids coming into contact with any "medical equipment" she might have. Keep in mind, the parents already know that the Agency let a four-year-old play by himself in the street ''and'' just learned that the Agency intentionally sent around a video of a preteen girl having a seizure to discredit her. It's only once Dr. Johanssen points out how well Stacey manages her condition that they lay off; and once Kristy points out a ''second time'' that the Agency cyberbullied a twelve-year-old, the other parents suddenly remember how much their kids love the club and how professional they are for their young age.

** Natalie Barrett is more unsympathetic than she is in the original book. While she’s still going through a bad divorce, she’s also flaky and starts taking advantage of Dawn, even using her to record her auditions and making her a stand in for a therapist about her issues. Not to mention that her inability to give Dawn proper information causes Dawn and Kristy to call the police when they think Buddy’s gone missing (in the corresponding scene in the books, while Mrs. Barrett contributed to the problem, her ex is primarily to blame) and Dawn’s mother to call her out on her behavior.

** Dawn's father only dates and marries women in the book series, while he's gay in the adaptation and has a male partner after his divorce. Apparently he and Sharon knew for a while but were too co-dependent on each other to do anything about it at first.
** Alex, who along with his cousin Toby befriends Mary Anne and Stacey in Sea City, is not explicitly assigned a sexuality in the books (although he was very likely straight or bi, seeing as how he has a brief summer romance with Mary Anne and mentions having a girlfriend back home). In the series, he is openly gay (or possibly bi) and talks about his crush on a boy at theater camp.

** Dawn shows exclusive attraction toward boys in the books. She doesn't date anyone in the TV series but mentions that whoever she falls in love with could be anywhere on the gender spectrum, indicating that she's pansexual (though she doesn't use any labels while describing herself).

** Claudia's sister Janine is strongly implied to be on the autism spectrum, with most of her dialogue in emotionless SpockSpeak, but still storming off hurt when Claudia says their grandmother loves her more.
** Claudia herself is a very talented artist and emotionally mature, but she describes her own behavior, suggested to be simple lack of interest in the books, as a difficulty focusing around math and English that resembles a learning disability.

** Trevor Sandbourne is a fairly FlatCharacter in the books and serves mainly as an occasional SatelliteLoveInterest for Claudia. In the TV series, he's more more developed – he's also an artist and struggles to live up to his dad's expectations, much like Claudia. Their relationship is also given more time to build and is still just a mutual crush at the end of the first season.

** Elizabeth is correct that Kristy shouldn't fall into a trap of not worrying about money just because she has a rich stepfather now. However, Kristy is also correct that Watson bought her brother a BMW and Elizabeth didn't react nearly as strongly to that as to the dress (and while the dress was expensive at $800, Watson almost certainly paid a ''lot'' more than $800 to cover the difference between Charlie's savings, which are said to be enough to buy a used Toyota, and a brand-new BMW, even with Watson getting a good deal on it). Notably, Kristy also didn't ''refuse'' to wear the yellow dress, she just complained about it a little and Watson immediately offered to buy her a different one -- was she supposed to have refused his offer just on principle (and if this ''is'' what Elizabeth is suggesting, then why should it not also apply to Charlie)?
** Dawn and Claudia have a point that the camp is filled with things that create inequality based on money – the camp already costs a lot for some families, so adding in so many activities with extra fees creates an unequal system (especially given the way they handle the situation, which basically ends up rubbing it in the face of the kids who can't afford it). But Meany is also correct that the camp can't afford to make ''everything'' free – camps operate on razor-thin margins. In the end, they reach a compromise by letting the girls volunteer in a more official capacity.

* CompositeCharacter: Amanda Delaney this adaptation is given traits of both Shannon and Tiffany Kilbourne. She also has the singular trait of one-time book character Whitney, as her mother pays Kristy to "hang out" with her rather than actually baby-sit her.

** Despite her old age, Mimi is carefree and easily bonds with the girls. In particular, she understands her granddaughter Claudia the best in the Kishi household and is more than happy to talk about boys or art with her. When she has her stroke, both Elizabeth and Richard show up with food to help Claudia's family out and talk about Mimi being friendly with their families.

* CreepyChild: Downplayed. Karen is going through a spooky phase (in Mary Anne's words) when she's introduced. She has an obsession with her neighbour who she thinks is a witch called Morbidda Destiny, is very knowledgeable of scary rumours/stories like the Phantom Caller, and insists on giving her doll a wake.

** Mary Anne's mother was a lawyer that always fought for people who couldn't fight for themselves, according to Richard and Mimi in this adaptation (in the books she was a young home-maker, but died of leukemia when Mary Anne was a baby).

* DancePartyEnding: At the end of "Kristy's Big Day", after Watson and Elizabeth leave for their honeymoon, all of the baby-sitters get on the dance floor and rock out to "Boom Clap" by Charli XCX.

* DoubleStandard: Lamphaded in the pilot where Kristy complains about Mr. Redmont punishing her with a essay on the topic of decorum after she spoke out of turn in class, while the boys get to be disruptive in class and in the bathrooms without much comment.

* FourGirlEnsemble: The founding members can be classified as a typical four-girl friendship group found in fiction, comprising a sweet, tomboyish, glamarous and smart member. However they also have some traits that fall under another label.
** Kristy is the outgoing and mouthy tomboy member, with a love for sports and preference for casual attire. She also has leadership skills and great ideas, which are typical traits of the smart member.

** Claudia is the fashionable boy-crazy member. She's also a passionate artist and is known for her creativity, which shows he much attention she puts into visuals. Claudia being quite different from Kristy and Mary Anne is slightly PlayedForDrama at first, as Kristy says her interest in clothes and boys is what lead her to drift apart from the other two.

* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: It's only when Claudia and Dawn are separated from their friends at camp and thrown into a group together that they realize they've never hung out together, despite the whole club considering each other close friends. The two find it awkward at first since their interests are very different, but going through the camp rebellion together help them bond.

** Like her father, Mary Anne is serious and introverted, and when she initially tries to assert herself it comes out a bit awkwardly. The episode "Dawn and The Wicked Stepsister" also shows how both Spiers deal with their anxiety by voicing worst-case scenarios out loud, much to the annoyance of the Schafers. However, Mary Anne also sticks up for people who have less power than her (like her sitting charge), which Mimi tells her her mother did all the time. She also looks a lot like her mother, evidenced by the fact that her friends think Alma's baby picture is hers.

* GenderFlip: Charlotte Johanssen has a father in the original, but in the adaptation he's replaced by a woman who teaches art at Stoneybrook Middle School. (Differentiated from her partner and Charlotte's other mother Dr. Johanssen, who is a doctor like in the books.)
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: The Kishi sisters have trouble getting along due to their conflicting natures, and in particularly they resent one another for traits they themselves do not have - Claudia resents Janine because she thinks her parents expect her to live up to the borderline-genius Janine's standard, while Janine is secretly jealous of Claudia's outgoing nature and easy way of making friends.

* HotBlooded: Kristy is the most excitable and quick to anger of the girls.

** Most of the parent clients are reasonable, but almost all of them grab hold of the idiot ball in "The Truth About Stacey." First, they dump the BSC, even though they have a history with the BSC and know that the girls are reliable and good with kids, in favor of some older kids who obviously weren't carefully vetted, resulting in Jamie Newton being put in real danger, on the theory that older babysitters are just automatically better. Then they're understandably shocked by the video of Stacey's seizure, but after Stacey reveals that she is diabetic, the parents, all of whom know Stacey and the girls, reveal that they know very little about diabetes. They're concerned about Stacey having another seizure (despite her being clear that this was before her diagnosis and her insulin pump) and about kids coming into contact with any "medical equipment" she might have. Keep in mind, the parents already know that the Agency let a four-year-old play by himself in the street ''and'' just learned that the Agency intentionally sent around a video of a preteen girl having a seizure to discredit her. It's only once Dr. Johanssen points out how well Stacey manages her condition that they lay off; and once Kristy points out a ''second time'' that the Agency cyberbullied a twelve-year-old, the other parents suddenly remember how much their kids love the club.

* MixedAncestry: Mary Anne is biracial in this adaptation. Her father, Richard, is white while her mother, Alma, was African-American.