We reported last year that The Baby-Sitters Club was reforming under the eyes of Broad City’s Lucia Aniello and GLOW’s Rachel Shukert, and now we’ve learned that it will grow its ranks at Netflix. The streamer has ordered 10 episodic, half-hour episodes about the characters at the heart of Ann M. Martin’s ubiquitous, Connecticut-set book series.
In addition to chronicling the girls’ entrepreneurial efforts, the family-friendly series will, per Deadline, also tackle subjects including “racism, divorce, and belonging while continuing to push the bar and explore relevant issues” of today’s youth. Melissa Cobb, vice president of Kids & Family at Netflix, says the series seeks to “contemporize the storylines and adventures of this iconic group of girlfriends to reflect modern-day issues.”
“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 in a statement. “So I’m very excited about the forthcoming series on Netflix, which I hope will inspire a new generation of readers and leaders everywhere.”
Walden Media, Michael De Luca, and Lucy Kitada will executive produce, with Shukert serving as showrunner and Aniello directing. One can only hope that De Luca’s involvement bodes well for the return of German exchange student Luca, who occupied more than a few pre-teen dreams in the ‘90s.