Netflix to reboot ‘Baby-Sitters Club’ as live-action series: report

(Courtesy of Scholastic)

Netflix has put out a straight-to-series order for live-action dramedy “The Baby-Sitters Club,” based on the iconic Ann M. Martin book series, Variety has learned.

The books were previously adapted for TV in 1990 for a one season run on HBO, and Netflix says the new show will be a contemporary take on the original books.

“The Baby-Sitters Club” centers around four characters, Kristy Thomas, Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill and Dawn Schafer, who will all return to the small-town setting of Stoneybrook, Connecticut for the Netflix adaptation. Martin’s series, first published in 1986, has over 200 books licensed in over 20 territories with more than 180 million copies sold to date.

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The family-friendly adaptation comes from Walden Media and Michael De Luca, who will executive produce, with original author Martin on board as a producer.

“I’m amazed that there are so many passionate fans of ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ after all these years, and I’m honored to continue to hear from readers – now grown, who have become writers, editors, teachers, librarians, filmmakers – who say that they see a reflection of themselves in the characters of Kristy and her friends,” Martin said. “So I’m very excited about the forthcoming series on Netflix, which I hope will inspire a new generation of readers and leaders everywhere.”

De Luca Productions’ Lucy Kitada will also serve as an executive producer. Rachel Shukert will serve as showrunner and Lucia Aniello will serve as director and executive producer. Walden Media’s Naia Cucukov will produce.

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“The themes of The Baby-Sitters Club still resonate 30 years after the original book series was released and there has never been a more opportune time to tell an aspirational story about empowering young female entrepreneurs,” said Melissa Cobb, VP of Kids & Family at Netflix. “Together with Ann M. Martin and the team at Walden Media, our ambition is to contemporize the storylines and adventures of this iconic group of girlfriends to reflect modern-day issues.”

As well as playing in syndication on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, “BSC” was also later adapted for the big screen in 1995. The film version starred Rachael Leigh Cook, Larisa Oleynik and Schuyler Fisk.