The Baby-sitters Fight Club

February 1989: Paula Abdul went straight up the charts, two San Dimas youth went on an excellent adventure, and Ann M. Martin attempted to turn "mall" into a verb. Brooke and Kaykay discuss Mallory and the Arnold twins' pursuit of individuation via consumerism, with digressions on contraband cassette tapes, 80s mall madness, and (of course) trout fishing. Visit us at our website , a...

It's a revolutionary season finale for a revelatory show! Brooke and Kaykay bid a fond farewell to their summer vacation with The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix, with diversions on the fringe benefits of poison ivy and the perils of Taco Bell. Stay to the end for an update on the plan for Season 2, which premieres on Netflix on October 11.  Programming note: As planned, the Baby-sitters Fight C...

An episode about disillusionment and empowerment? TIMELY! In Netflix's extremely loose adaptation of Super Special #2: Baby-sitters Summer Vacation , the girls take on social inequality, bureaucracy, and personal betrayal -- and we get the most Clearly Coded Queer episode in the series (say THAT five times fast). Speaking of disillusionment/empowerment: Women's rights are under assault i...

Changes abound in the Netflix adaptation of Kristy's Big Day , which features two major milestones: first periods and second weddings. Brooke and Kaykay discuss it all, plus: witch pride, '80s puberty educational videos, good first vehicles (besides luxury SUVs), and the debut of the new hit summer anthem, "Lesbian Aunts." Visit us at our website , and follow us on: Facebook Tw...

Sea City, eh? In the Netflix adaptation of Boy-Crazy Stacey,  the Jersey Shore and sunburns are OUT and a Vancouver beach and windbreakers are IN. Burgers are smashed, cars are scratched, and hearts are broken (and mended). Brooke and Kaykay discuss it all, and a new classic Young Kaykay story is added to the canon. Visit us at our website , and follow us on: Facebook Twitter Instagram Spotify

The Netflix adaptation of Claudia and Mean Janine drops some serious knowledge about the importance of facing the past, the power and purpose of art, and the proper care techniques for cast iron cookware. Brooke and Kaykay discuss it all, plus: an acapella Jock Jams performance, Mary Anne's dad wins lesbian points, and Sea City (!) speculation. Visit us at our website , and follow us on: Face...

Lessons abound in the Netflix adaptation of Dawn and the Impossible Three : Can't communicate with your wrecking ball of an employer or physically and/or emotionally distant parent? Set personal boundaries and punch the hell out of a bag of chips! Feeling tension with a colleague who shares your strength of spirit and large personality? Talk it out and bond over the traits you share, while pu...

The Netflix adaptation of Mary Anne Saves the Day has everything: love and affirmation for trans rights, lessons on the power of finding and using your voice, Claudia rocking the yellow blazer from Clueless , and the eagerly-anticipated introduction of Dawn (!!!). Brooke and Kaykay break it all down, with diversions on moon painting, dumpster cheese, and whether Bailey is the Gen Z equivalent of t...

And in the third episode, Netflix said: Let there be Kid Kits. Frankly, "The Truth About Stacey" could have ended there, but it also includes Kristy reading Sun Tzu, Stacey getting doxxed, and Mary Anne's worst nightmares being realized -- with cowbell! This is DRAMA. Visit us at our website , and follow us on: Facebook Twitter Instagram Spotify

Brooke and Kaykay discuss the second episode of the Netflix series: an adaptation of Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls that bears only a slight resemblance to the book -- though this means NO ALAN GRAY, so it's cool. There's still the Halloween Hop and Trevor Sandbourne, but who cares about any of that when we can talk about atheist doll wakes and a potential cartel in Stoneybrook? Plu...

At last, Brooke and Kaykay are diving into the Netflix adaptation of the Baby-sitters Club! We're skipping the historical context surrounding its release -- seriously, who wants to relive July 2020? -- and getting straight into the debut episode, "Kristy's Great Idea," aka "Kristy Smashes the Patriarchy." Menstruation sculptures! Alicia Silverstone! Thomas Jefferson T...

January 1989: When America said goodbye to President Reagan and hello to Kristy's Krushers. Can I get an AMEN?! Brooke & Kaykay discuss the pros and cons of Kristy's Koaching and the impact of motivation and mindset on performance and well-being. Plus: Kaykay Brady, Dublin Dance Icon; an adorably bizarre 3D Super Bowl Halftime show ; and a REAL LIVE KEYTAR! Visit us at our website ,...

December 1988: Power ballads ruled the music charts, camp Christmas classics dominated television, and a precocious new charge with a sadistic streak put Claudia Kishi in the hospital. COMEDIANS, amirite? Brooke and Kaykay discuss Claudia's emotional trauma and Betsy Sobak's potential conduct disorder, with digressions on what passed for comedy in the '80s (anyone wanna see a guy sm...

November 1988: A Bush was elected president, Geraldo got punched in the face, and a group of teen girls traveled across state lines to provide cheap domestic labor for wealthy New Yorkers. (Tale as old as tiiiiiiiiiime...) Brooke and Kaykay explore the New York City of the 1980s alongside the Baby-sitters, with digressions on Book It!, the dynamic duo of Chucky and My Buddy, NIMBYism, and Kaykay&a...

October 1988 saw the debut of Roseanne , the first top 10 hit for New Kids on the Block, and more supernatural terror for the members of the Baby-sitters Club. Brooke and Kaykay dig into the culture of fear and paranoia that set the backdrop for Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery -- that's right, we're talking about the Satanic Panic, and no one's leaving unscathed (especially not Ge...

While much of the world was focused on high-stakes athletic and political competitions in September 1988, a couple of young outsiders made a connection in their new town of Stoneybrook. Brooke and Kaykay dive into the growing anti-ableism movement that set the backdrop for Jessi's Secret Language , including the Deaf President Now student protest at Gallaudet University and the emergence of t...

August 1988 was a month of so-terrible-they're-legendary movies and a similar caliber of performances in the Little Miss Stoneybrook pageant. Brooke and Kaykay discuss the competition between the BSC while reading beauty pageants, the patriarchy, and predatory capitalism for ABSOLUTE FILTH. As a special bonus, this episode contains a delightful factoid that will come in very handy at parties...

The Caribbean took center stage in July 1988, with the debuts of  Cocktail , the inaugural Shark Week, and the first Baby-sitters Club Super Special, Baby-sitters on Board!  Brooke and Kaykay break down the creeps & cons and slobs & scams in this extended advertisement for the Disney conglomerate, with diversions on prom themes, sports at sea, and Kaykay's exclusive kindergarten socia...

June 1988 was BIG. The movie Big brought in big bucks across America, very big turtles were big news in the Bronx, and big changes were happening in the small town of Stoneybrook. Brooke and Kaykay verbally dismantle the hostile power structures that isolate Mallory Pike and Stoneybrook’s newest residents, the Ramseys, and pontificate on Kids Incorporated, dapper sharks, and Fudge Club. Visit us a...

May 1988 saw two sad departures: Cagney & Lacey from Kaykay's television screen and Stacey McGill from Stoneybrook.  Brooke and Kaykay discuss the American tradition of distracting oneself from internal reflection via capitalism, as well as neighborhood (real!) spies, the BSC gang at Burning Man, and the character building experience of guerilla paintball warfare. Visit us at our website...

In April 1988, prestigious honors were granted to Alf , Celine Dion, and the newest student at Stoneybrook Middle School, sculptress and hiking boot aficionado Ashley Wyeth.  Brooke and Kaykay discuss the thick subtext of Claudia and Ashley's relationship, including a Karen Brewer-meets-David Lynch-esque theory about what is really going on in this book. Visit us at our website , and follow u...

March 1988 was all about California Raisins and Connecticut Snobs. Brooke and Kaykay dig into the tense social hierarchy in Stoneybrook, as well as authoritarian rhetorical tricks, tacky rich people decor (indoor fish fountains, anyone?), and the life changing impact of French-rolled jeans. Visit us at our website , and follow us on: Facebook Twitter Instagram Spotify

In February 1988, four Jamaican athletes not named Yul Brenner raced a bobsled in Calgary, Salt-N-Pepa commanded the world to push it real good, and Logan Damn Bruno crashed the Baby-sitters Club. Brooke and Kaykay discuss all of this, plus the nature of art and the self, the insidiousness of 80s & 90s teen magazines, and the bravery of gender non-conforming insects. Visit us at our website ,...

In January 1988, The Phantom of the Opera came to Broadway, The Wonder Years premiered on TV, and way too many kids in Stoneybrook decided to start hanging out in crawl spaces. Brooke and Kaykay discuss these topics and more, including Cabbage Patch Kids, Taylor Dayne, and the generational traumas inflicted by Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and the ironically-named Snackwell’s cookies. Visit us...

In November 1987, millions of moviegoers watched Three Men and a Baby, while only one Baby-sitters Club member watched eight Pike children near a large body of water...and it wasn't Stacey McGill. Brooke and Kaykay discuss all of the hot topics in Surf City, including misogynistic lifeguards, high-stakes mini-golf, and the question everyone is afraid to ask, "Beaches: Do they actually su...