The Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead Secrets Are Done, Man

Originally appeared on E! Online

Think you'll be able to go to the beach, stay out as late as you want, and do anything this summer?

Well, maybe you will! But that turned out not to be the case for high school graduate Sue Ellen "Swell" Crandell, played by Christina Applegate, in the 1991 comedy Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. At first she's shocked to find out her vacation-bound mom has hired a seemingly kind old lady to watch the teen and her four siblings for two months...

And then she has to find a job and keep the thermostat at 76 after the title of the film comes to pass and the kids accidentally dispose of the cash their mom left for food 'n' stuff with the body. There goes the summer!

But the action heats up when Swell, tired of cleaning the fat vats at Clown Dog (but up for watching the grunion run with sweet delivery guy Bryan, played by Josh Charles), savvily scams her way into a grown-up job as an executive assistant at General Apparel West and fakes it till she makes it.

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Let's just say, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead wasn't what you'd call a critical favorite—but it lives on as a cult-classic, celebrated for its absurd premise, memorable one-liners and power-shoulder turn-of-the-1990s neon fashion.

And now, it's been reincarnated, starring Simone Joy Jones as the teen left in charge of her siblings after their caretaker unexpectedly expires and Nicole Richie as the fashion boss who takes her under her wing.

Nicole Richie, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, 2024
Iconic Events Releasing / BET+ Original Film

Calling the new release, in theaters April 12 and streaming on BET+ May 16, a "reimagination," Richie told E! News' Will Marfuggi at the film's premiere, "It's different, but it's also the same, in the sense that it's a family adventure comedy."

As for taking on the iconic role of GAW boss Rose Lindsey, played in 1991 by Joanna Cassidy, Richie was right on top of that, Rose!

"I am a die-hard fan of the original," the 42-year-old said. "I can recite the whole movie with my eyes closed."

The moral of the story is, don't ever let some deranged Mary Poppins tell you that TV rots your brain. While we still can't tell you what a QED report is, read on for a host of exquisite secrets about 1991's Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead:

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