I meant to post this way back, but got sidetracked by work and other things... and at the very beginning I found THIS when I just randomly reached into a box of old books and pulled one out without looking:
OBVIOUSLY I had to read that first before rewatching the episode and have some more notes to pull for comparison. Then life got in the way and I started writing a post...and never finished it, but here I am... RIGHT after rewatching the first episode for the fourth time (or so) .
The episode starts off with Mary Anne and Kristy walking out of SMS and Kristy rambling on about how hot it was and that her teacher was rambling on about the constitution and how it said "all men are created equal" and how great that was. Instead of Kristy shouting "Hooray!" when the bell rang because it was so hot, she stood up and said something along the lines of "If it was so great how come it doesn't say all PEOPLE are created equal?" That is what garners Mr. Redmont assigning her the "decorum" essay and according to Kristy, completing ignoring the boys in the back of the room who are stuffing tissue paper down their pants. (sounds like she knew what decorum meant.)
Already a LOT more forward in that way than the books.
In the show, Claudia lives on the other side of Kristy's house (unlike the books where she's across the street). We get a sneak preview of Stacey as Claudia and Kristy wave to each other, and Kristy walks towards the house.
Ut-oh. David Michael had an accident (instead of almost having one). But being the good big sister Kristy is, she helps him inside and offers to make him a snack.
Kristy's mother (All hail Alicia Silverstone) comes home with boxes of pizza while Charlie and Sam are playing a video game and David Michael. Kristy immediately knows something is up and is worried her mother got fired. There is no mention of a regular sitter cancelling. Alicia...excuse me... Elizabeth... has clients that are in town for the weekend and are wanting to look at a house the next night and needs someone that can watch David Michael. (Cue Charlie having a date and needing the car) . Kristy has sleepover plans with Mary Anne (whose father is apparently letting them possibly order off of Post-mates) and offers to cancel them , but Elizabeth told her not to worry.
Cue Elizabeth trying to find a sitter.
This show takes place in present day, so many sitters ...don't answer the phone. (Like me, unless I know the number... I don't answer. Most of the time it's on silent anyway.) Elizabeth is griping about noone answering, and annoyed at one person's hourly rate ("What are you going to do? Breast feed him?") , goes to an online website and is astounded by the rate. (I think it was something like $79.99. What the hell website is THAT?) And in the midst of all of this is when Kristy gets her "Great Idea." and proceeds to start to choke on pizza. Elizabeth starts to give her the heimlich maneuver and a look of wonderment crosses Kristy's face.
The next night is when she tells Mary Anne about her idea for the club at their sleepover. Not by flashlights (though I do believe that comes in a later episode. Kind of a little bizarre Kristy living in the middle of Claudia and Mary Anne's house (instead of Claudia living across the street) and Kristy's house LOOKING like one story ...at least from the front. At least their houses are different and not cookie cutter neighborhood same? (like a lot of the houses in the neighborhood I grew up in).
Mary Anne has a look of astonishment and worry on her face. This takes place in present day and all the girls have cell phones and other electronics, but Richard still keeps a strict eye on Mary Anne's phone and contacts. (Honestly, I think a lot of parents do regardless). But Kristy tells her not to worry, and on Monday she throws a note at Claudia in Mr Redmont's class (Claudia is sitting right in front of her.)
Mr Redmont calls them out but Claudia feigns innocence. Mr REdmont is an ass. First he calls out Kristy's decorum essay which hasn't been turned in yet, and then he mentions how badly Claudia does on tests. What kind of teacher DOES that? That's private. That doesn't need to be announced in class. Claudia manages to hide the note (denying she got one and compares note to a text...because her phone is in her locker). She writes something on her shoe and shows it to Kristy confirming the meet up at her house later that day.
Yay for getting seeing Mimi!! I love her. I can't help but love her. She greets Mary Anne and Kristy happily and lets them know that "they" were waiting for them upstairs. (Some phrasing might be off, I'm not about to go back and rewatch certain little details all over again). Kristy is confused by the word "They" and they both head upstairs. We get a glimpse of Janine in her room typing on her computer. Kristy and Mary Anne greet her, and Janine just looks over at them, stares, and closes the door without even getting up from her desk. They enter Claudia's room... and there we see Stacey.
Like the book , Mary Anne is completely awestruck when she hears where Stacey is from . Stacey baby-sat a lot when parents needed a sitter ...even if they had nannies because there were always events .."Like the Tony's????" (Mary Anne).
Claudia passes around watermelon gummies and twizzlers, both times Stacey (obviously) turns them down, as does Mary Anne (at least for one of them), sending questions across Kristy's face, but she doesn't voice them.
They sit and organize when they will meet (Have to make room for Claudia's art classes... and let her finish her "menstruation" sculpture) . Claudia has her own landline thanks to Janine's high speed internet. Noone else needed a landline and she got it off of etsy. (yay for at least keeping that in there. It would have been so bizarre otherwise!). Stacey throws out the times and days when they would meet because convenient and easy to remember, and also mentions she's pretty good at math ("Whoa" from Claudia).
As Kristy and Mary Anne are leaving, Kristy mentions Stacey's diet, and says that that doesn't set a good example to their clients. Mary Anne pretty much tells her to chill out. Stacey's "nice."
They're having chinese food for dinner when Elizabeth announces that Watson proposed to her, but she hasn't reached an answer because she wanted to talk about it with them. Kristy flat out tells her "No. I don't feel okay about it. End of discussion", leaving Sam and Charlie just starting at her . (Kristy mentions that she needed to still learn about decorum). She leaves the table.
Also before that happens, Watson asks her about the club and asking if it's to "learn" about baby-sitting . Kristy says no... it's a business, and boys can join, too. (VERY foward!) Watson "Seems" very different from the books. At least from the picture I had in my head. He's just very goofy. At least with the Thomases... trying to get on their good side. Asks tough questions but is very nice about it.
They're walking down the street when Kristy is discussing officers. She' announces she'll be president and Claudia vice president because they're using her room . ("I'm bossy. Get used to it.). Then she starts contemplating organizing jobs and who gets what and keeping the schedule, etc etc etc. Mary Anne tries to say something, but Kristy keeps talking. Finally Mary Anne has it. "KRISTY! I want to be secretary!" Leaving Kristy absolutely dumbfounded Stacey just looks at Claudia "That's the most I've ever heard her say." (It's also the most Claudia has ever heard her say.) While they're putting together fliers and what not (especially after Janine tells them to advertise via fliers) . We do get a glimpse of someone who will show up in another episode as they're walking down the street. (It was nice to know that my suspicion was confirmed). We also see LOGAN! Already!! Reading books to kids in the library. Mary Anne has an immediate crush and accidentally leaves her fliers on the table, and has to go back and retrieve them. As they're organzing announcement and what not, Stacey says she'll be treasurer. (She's already said she's good at math.)
The first meeting has them all sitting in Claudia's room staring at the phone. Kristy questions whether the phone even works (Etsy shop line) and then the phone rings causing all of them to jump/ squeel. Stacey apologizes saying she was just testing it out. Mary Anne is nervous and doesn't want to be home late because of her father. Kristy asks what is she supposed to do if a parent is running late?
Then the phone rings for real... and this time it is Watson. Kristy is super annoyed, and Claudia has to mute the phone so that Watson doesn't overhear them speaking. (Kristy completely forgot she had handed Watson a flier) Kristy refuses to sit, Claudia has an art class, and Stacey mentions that she'll be in New York the next day. (Obviously completely annoying Kristy.) Kristy refuses to even ask Mary Anne and Claudia finally jumps in, (Now I remember why I stopped hanging out with you) causing Kristy to shut up. Mary Anne takes the job and Claudia takes the phone back telling Watson .
This episode doesn't cover everything like the first book. It IS only 30 minutes long (well, not even that.), so that's the only phone call we see at the next meeting. The next day Kristy takes Louie (YAY!!) out for a run ...conveniently over to Watson's neighborhood so she can spy on Mary Anne. We get a glimpse of Karen and Andrew as Karen is telling Mary Anne about the witch next door. Kristy is peering through the hedges at them when BAM. Morbidda Destiny (Excuse me: Mrs. Porter) confronts her. Louie takes off running, Mary Anne sees Kristy and Kristy leaves feeling extremely guilty, also fearing Louie got hit by a car. As she's walking home she walks in front of a car that has to slam on their breaks. Who peeks out from the backseat?
Stacey of course. She's not in New York. Slight glimpse of her parents.
Later that night, Elizabeth and Kristy have a talk about what had happened that day. About Mary Anne seeing Kristy at Watson's ...what happened with Kristy seeing Stacey, and everything. There is no big "fight." Just a mother and daughter heart to heart talk. I will say, hearing Alicia Silverstone as Elizabeth was a major WTF at first, but she blends in well, and obviously the actress playing Kristy felt comfortable around her. Personality wise, she and this Watson go well together. Elizabeth tells Kristy that she has to also show Stacey some trust. Don't just assume the worst out of her. (Stacey was with her parents after all.) Kristy agrees, and there's some mention of Watson, and Kristy's still not thrilled about it, but she's seemingly more at ease.
The last part of the episode has Kristy bringing pizza to the meeting, along with a salad for Stacey. Stacey looks grateful, and Kristy apologizes for how she behaved, and mentions she's willing to step down as president. The three others look at Kristy like she's crazy. As long as Kristy can admit she's only right about 95% of the time (and not 100%) she'll be okay.
To end on a happy note, the episodes concludes with 2 new clients: Marshall and Papadakis (who live next door to Watson, not across the street like the books)... both of whom got told about them by Watson. Kristy looks annoyed at first, but then grateful. She texts her mom to have her tell Watson thanks... and Elizabeth tells her to tell him herself. Kristy finishes the episode by finishing that decorum essay she never turned in .
The end.
Overall: I'm pretty satisified with how they did this. I wish we could have seen more, but they can only fit in so much in the time slot, so we got what was essential to the story. We don't learn about Stacey's diabetes until later, but there are hints to it, and as anyone who has read the books , they see them bright and clear. Anyone who hasn't? Well, not immediately visible. Charlie and Sam are just in the background. We don't get to see much of them. We see a little bit more of David Michael at least. Karen and Andrew (well, especially Karen) will show up in later episodes. Unlike the beginning books, Watson apparently sees them every weekend instead of every other weekend. Their mom doesn't break a bone this time, because it did have to get shortened. Yay for the glimpses of Mrs. Porter/Morbidda Destiny, Janine, Louie and Mimi. The humans will have larger parts. The episodes follow the books fairly closely in timeline order. At least the first few. (the latter half are a bit more mixed up but it works regardless).
Random note: The credits are in the Baby-sitters handwriting. I will have to rewatch further episodes but the beginning ones I think are in THAT girl's handwriting from the books, and the closing credits start off with Kristy's and then move to Stacey's.
Hopefully it won't take another 2 1/2 months to get to Claudia and the Phantom phone calls.
