‘Girls are expected to go straight to Euphoria’: The Baby-Sitters Club creator mourns Netflix cancellation

The cancellation comes after two seasons

The creator of Netflix series The Baby-Sitter’s Club has opened up about her disappointment at the recent cancellation of the critically acclaimed show.

Just last week, it was announced that the comedy-drama – about a group of middle school friends who form a babysitting business – would be scrapped after two seasons.

Rachel Shukert, who has worked with Netflix on a number of shows including GLOW in 2016, said she feels that the streamer’s “philosophies and priorities have come and gone” over the years.

“I don’t know what [Netflix] wanted that they didn’t get,” she told Vulture in an interview published on 17 March. “Our numbers seemed fine. It was what they expected.”

“As far as I can tell, everything Netflix does is based on how it’s driving subscriber growth,” she said.

“Initially at Netflix, it was okay to have a smaller audience and be quirkier or more particular,” she said. “For this show that has a fine viewership but is not a monster hit, but it’s beloved by fans … does that matter?”

“People are extremely uncomfortable with this period in girls’ lives,” Shukert said of her TV series.

“Girls are expected to go straight from Doc McStuffins to Euphoria,” she said. “The Baby-Sitters Club speaks to so many girls because it meets them where they are.”

Based on Ann M Martin’s 1990s children’s novels of the same name, Shukert’s adaptation puts a modern twist on some of the storylines, while staying true to its original characters’ personas.

The series also included a broader range of racial identities and sexual orientations, as well as maintaining original character Claudia’s Japanese-American heritage.

The first two seasons of The Baby-Sitters Club are available now on Netflix.