The Baby-Sitters Club Club

The Baby-Sitters Club Club is a comedy podcast hosted by Jack Shepherd[1] and Tanner Greenring.[2] The co-hosts read and analyze books from Ann M. Martin’s Baby-Sitters Club series.[3] The first episode released in February 2016, and the episodes release weekly.

The Baby-Sitters Club Club
Presentation
Hosted byJack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring
StarringJack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring
Genrecomedy
Created byJack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring
Written byJack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring
LanguageEnglish
Updatesactive
Production
Theme music composed byScott Lamb
Audio formatpodcast
No. of episodesAs of July 2020, 238 on main feed and 75 on Patreon
Publication
Original releaseFebruary 29, 2016 – present
Related shows"The Baby Sitters Baby Elite, Elite Baby, Little Sister BIG Episodes" (on Patreon)
Websitehttp://babysittersclubclub.com/

Background

Shepherd first read the books as a child, borrowing them all from his cousin, shortly after moving from England to the United States.[4][5][6]

Shepherd and Greenring are former colleagues at BuzzFeed and have been friends for many years.[3]

Format

Episodes are generally one hour long and focusing on one book.

A large part of the show is about conspiracy theories, such as that the characters are bees rather than human.[7][8]

Segments/bits

Beyond the general format of discussing the book, Shepherd and Greenring host different recurring segments included randomly in episodes. Segments include:

  • "Identifying the ghostwriter". Discussing which ghostwriter worked on the book, such as Ellen Miles,[9] Nola Thacker,[10] or Peter Lerangis.[11]
  • "Burn of the week." Pointing out the best insults that characters throw at one another.[12]
  • "Claudia's Closet." Discussing the characters' clothing. Often about Claudia Kishi, but not always.[13]
  • "Tearful moment." Discussing emotional moments in the text.[14]
  • "I'll Soileau You Into the Dark" / "Soileau Me Down." Discussing the books' cover art, usually the work of Hodges Soileau.[15]
  • "Alan Gray Will See You Now." Discussing what the troublemaker character Alan Gray is up to in the book, based on the line "Mr. Gray will see you now" from Fifty Shades of Grey.[16]
  • "Abby's Tight 20." Pointing out funny things said by the character Abby Stevenson.[17]
  • "Great American Novel of the Week." One of the hosts reads a passage from either a great American novel or the book of the episode. The other host must guess which book it's from.[18]
  • "Trackin' Jackie." Discussing the movements of the character Jackie Rodowsky, who the co-hosts believe blips in and out of alternate timelines whenever he has an accident.[19]
  • "Typo Negative." Discussing typos found in the books, and whether they have any secret meaning.[20]
  • "Tanner Googles." Greenring Googles things while Shepherd is talking. Theme song is sung to the tune of "My Sharona".[21]
  • "Jack Googles." Shepherd Googles things while Greenring is talking. Theme song is sung to the tune of "Mad World".[22]

Special episodes

  • "BSCC: Secret Santa - Secret Episode." The 2016 Christmas episode.[23]
  • "BSCC Special Christmas." The 2017 Christmas episode.[24]
  • "SVBB 001: Double Love." A pilot episode about the Sweet Valley High books.[25]
  • "BSCC: On Christmas Eve." The 2018 Christmas episode.[26]
  • "1998: The Podcast 001." A pilot episode of a show about pop culture from 1998. The episode includes material about The REM album Up, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season two finale "Becoming"[27]
  • "High Brow/Low Brow 001." A pilot episode of a show about highbrow culture versus lowbrow culture. The topics are The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot and Green Lantern comics.[28]
  • "The Baby-Sitters Club Movie." Discussion of The Baby-Sitters Club movie.[29]
  • "Daddy Eats Cat Food." Shepherd and Greenring explore ideas after finishing the Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries series.[30]
  • "The Lerangismas Episode." The 2019 Christmas episode.[31]
  • "BSCCD-ROM: The Baby-Sitters Club Friendship Kit." Shepherd and Greenring play the PC game "The Baby-Sitters Club Friendship Kit."[32]
  • "Two Men Play With Dolls." Shepherd and Greenring play with dolls they bought on EBay.[33]

Patreon

The show has a related mini-show on Patreon, called the "The Baby Sitters Baby Elite, Elite Baby, Little Sister BIG Episodes," about the Baby-Sitters Little Sister series.[34]

Reception

Katie MacBride, writing for Bookriot, said, "Yes, Jack borders on being the annoying guy in Literary Theory 101 who came to class wearing a fedora and refused to refer to the book as anything other than 'the text.' I know, doesn’t seem worth listening to on its own. But Tanner is the guy who came to that class solely so he can make fun of Jack and that is super worth listening to."[35]

USA Today called the show "a bizarre premise that's wonderfully executed . . . It’s roughly as productive as an actual book club, in that it includes a good amount of alcohol, very little discussion of the novel at hand and a ton of fun."[36]

M.J. Franklin, writing for Mashable in 2018, said of the show, "...what makes the show so hilarious are the many theories that Shepherd and Greenring generate about what's actually going on in the town of Stoneybrook. Is the Baby-Sitters Club marxist? And are the characters secretly in a parallel universe that's actually a beehive? Who knows, but after listening to this podcast, you won't be able to read The Baby-Sitters Club the same way again."[37]

In September 2019, Muck Rack ranked the show 14th based on their number of unique visitors per month, with nearly 7 million.[38]

In November 2019, the show was mentioned as an example in a New York Times article titled "Even Nobodies Have Fans Now (For Better Or Worse.)"[39] Lizz Schumer, writing for Good Housekeeping, listed the show among the 25 best comedy podcasts of 2020.[40]

References

  1. Schwedel, Heather (2020-07-04). "How a Certain Clear Phone Became a Cultural Obsession". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  2. "Podcasting". Hi, I'm Tanner. 👋. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  3. Ruiz, Michelle. "What 'The Baby-Sitters Club' (Still) Means to Me". Vogue. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  4. "BSCC 001 - Kristy's Great Idea from The Baby-Sitters Club Club". www.stitcher.com. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  5. Eater, Culture (2018-09-30). "Friends Forever: Jack & Tanner of The Baby Sitters Club Club Podcast". Culture Eater. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  6. Jensen, Kelly (2019-09-04). "What Makes The Baby-Sitters Club Endure?". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  7. "Bee Theory". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  8. "BSCC 006 - Kristy's Big Day". ART19. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  9. "Miles Moment". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  10. "Nola Thacker Moment". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  11. "Lerangis Moment". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  12. "Burn Of The week". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  13. "Claudia's Closet". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  14. "Tearful Moment". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  15. "Soileau You Into the Dark". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  16. "Alan Gray Will See You Now". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  17. "Abby's Tight 20". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  18. "Great American Novel of the Week". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  19. "Trackin' Jackie". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  20. "Typo Negative". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  21. "Tanner Googles". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  22. "Jack Googles". The Baby-Sitters Club Club Wiki. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  23. "The Baby-Sitters Club Club - BSCC: Secret Santa - Secret Episode". Headgum. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  24. "BSCC Special Christmas". ART19. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  25. "SSVB 001 - Double Love". ART19. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  26. BSCC: On Christmas Eve, retrieved 2020-07-11
  27. "1998: The Podcast 001". ART19. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  28. "High Brow/Low Brow 001". ART19. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  29. "The Baby-Sitters Club Movie". ART19. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  30. "The Baby-Sitters Club Club - Daddy Eats Cat Food". Headgum. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  31. "The Baby-Sitters Club Club - The Lerangismas Episode". Headgum. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  32. "The Baby-Sitters Club Club - BSCCD-ROM: The Baby-Sitters Club Friendship Kit". Headgum. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  33. "The Baby-Sitters Club Club - Two Men Play With Dolls". Headgum. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  34. "The Baby-Sitters Club Club is creating podcasts". Patreon. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  35. MacBride, Katie (2016-10-21). "The Baby-Sitters Club Club Podcast: Hi hi!". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  36. Yasharoff, Carly Mallenbaum and Hannah. "13 of the best podcasts for a summer road trip". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  37. Franklin, M. J. "11 podcasts to listen to if you want to laugh your ass off". Mashable. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  38. Mercier, Andrew. "The top 50 podcasts, according to UVM". muckrack.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  39. Keiles, Jamie Lauren (2019-11-13). "Even Nobodies Have Fans Now. (For Better or Worse.)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  40. Schumer, Lizz (2020-02-19). "These Brilliant Comedy Podcasts Will Keep You Smiling All Day Long". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
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