Review: Mary Anne and the Brunettes (BSC TV Series Episode 1)

Here's a confession. I always felt that on the front covers of the Baby-sitters Club books, they never really got Mary-Anne right. Initially, she looked like a clean cut version of Wednesday Adams, later she looked well, what teenager in the 1980s or early 1990s wore their hair in two ponytails? (Especially after they'd just spent years resenting the fact that their father made them wear their hair in braids?) And then came the haircut that made her look like she was about thirty. Fortunately, when they cast the BSC TV series, they got it right. Meghan Lahey who plays Mary Anne looks like an ordinary teenager. An ordinary teenager with medium length hair (that she wears down,) and who comes across as a bit shy, but perhaps a little bit more mature than some of the other girls in the club. 

Anyway, because in some senses Mary Anne is a bit more mature than the others, it seems fitting that the first episode of the TV series (and the only one to have Mary Anne take centre stage,) focuses on Mary Anne's relationship with Logan Bruno. The pair have a cute puppy love vibe happening, one that may or may not develop into something more once they get older. Logan attractive and extremely nice. He's a good catch, which may explain why Marci, the most popular girl at Stoneybrook Middle School wants Logan for herself. Misunderstandings abound as Marci and her friends scheme to make it all happen, and Mary Anne finds herself having to pluck up the courage to throw a pie in Marci's face ... I mean to stand up for herself and talk to Logan.

The plot of this one is pretty simple, perhaps more so than the others, because some time is spent introducing viewers to the characters and the concept of the club. I'm guessing they were trying to bring viewers who had not read the books up to speed. 

This is enjoyable enough viewing, for a tween TV series. The only other thing worth commenting on was the actor who played Jackie Rodowski reminded me a lot of Sam from Diff'rent Strokes, to the point where I looked it up to see if they were played by the same actor. Turns out they're not.

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