The Jeans Family

The Jeans Family is the first episode of Season 1 of the American Supernanny show.

In addition to this episode, The Jeans Family members also appeared on the Season 1 Family Update Special.

Synopsis

In the premiere, Jo Frost visits David and Barbara Jeans and their three daughters in Denver, Colorado. Supernanny will help the children's problem with authority and teach the family how to deal with their issues." - UpTV

Recap

Submission Reel

Jo finally arrives in the USA, ready to help her first American family, the Jeans family. Barbara (43) had initially been set up with another man; when the other man fell ill, David (51) took the opportunity, subsequently leading to their 20 year marriage. The two were also late bloomers, who waited a very long time to have kids. Their kids are Andra (4 1/2) and their twins Jessie & Leah (3).

According to Barbara, Andra tends to set the tone in the house quite a bit due to her being the oldest, and her choleric temperament. She is very bossy and can also rough towards her sisters, which Barbara thinks is scary. She also would throw a fit when she doesn't get her way. Worryingly for Barbara and David, Jessie is copying Andra’s aggressive behavior and Leah has a tendency to cry a lot and is copying Andra’s hissy fits. As a result the girls are constantly fighting for the control. Barbara also states that it's very hard to take the girls anywhere in public, and David finally states they're looking for a lot from Supernanny, because her guidance is what they need.

Observation

When Jo enters the Jeans' house, Jessie and Leah hug her, which pleases Barbara. Andra happily shakes Jo’s hand. David says that he reads the kids to see if they like people or not. Jo thinks that the friendly moment was actually a sigh of relief that she's here. Soon, it's time for the girls to have breakfast; to Jo's surprise, Jessie ends up having chips for breakfast, and Leah has nothing (although she is seen asking for chocolate milk.) Getting the girls dressed was another tough problem when Jo, David, and Barbara were looking for shoes. Jo then quickly concludes that the household didn't have much organization, and desperately needs it.

Barbara then needs to take the girls shopping, much to her dismay since the girls always embarrass her in public. Sure enough, problems start right as the parents get the girls in the van. Things appear to be going fine at first, when Andra suddenly calls out "Not my Care Bear book!" Claiming to have saw a Care Bear book that belonged to her, which according to David she hadn't seen in a month. When Andra kicks David, and the latter refuses to return it, she starts having a tantrum and begins to scream for Barbara. Barbara however, ignores the screaming entirely instead telling Jo "I can't wait to hear what you have to say." And driving off. Jo was understandably shocked that Barbara was able to casually drive the car with Andra screaming in the back.

Then all kids start acting out as soon as all of them get out of the car. As they get into the supermarket, they begin to fight over who will sit in the shopping cart, so Barbara ends up squishing them in all together. Immediately after, chaos ensues with Andra running around everywhere demanding things and Jessie putting Leah in a headlock to stop her from driving. Throughout all of this, Jo is appalled of how Barbara tends to tolerate her children when they misbehave.

When they got home, Jo asked what would happen next. This is something Barbara is hoping Jo will help her with, as she doesn't know what's next. Jo once again notes the lack of structure, even questioning how Barbara doesn't know what to do, especially since she spends so many hours with the girls. As a result of the lack of structure, the girls begin misbehaving for Barbara's attention. They constantly fight with one-another. Andra, understandably continues to show her dominance, and leads the chaos. At one point, she is shown trapping Jessie inside of a ball bucket, tipping it over, and rolling it around, as her younger sister cries for help.

David finally comes home and the girls have ravioli for dinner. Jo points out almost immediately that the children eat with their hands, even though they have cutlery. From there, Dinner just became chaos; the girls constantly keep David on edge with them screaming, and constantly not sitting down and leaving the table. Andra demanded the cup Leah had been given and subsequently snatched it off of her, and threw a tantrum shortly after. Then when she is scolded by David, Andra starts to cry into her mom’s arms and says she doesn’t want to go to her room. Jo is disgusted by how much Barbara and David tolerate Andra’s tantrums, and the girls’ lack of manners in generals.

Parents Meeting

At the parents meeting, Jo confronts David and Barbara about many things such as how the family has no structure, and the lack of discipline in the house. Jo points out that they tolerate the children’s temper tantrums, misbehavior and how Jessie is picking up Andra’s aggressive behavior.

Teaching

Jo arrives the next day and brings over the show's first ever routine. This is so Barbara can actually have structure while David is gone.

Next up Jo introduced The Naughty Stool to discipline the kids. Barbara is worried about the Naughty Stool episodes with Andra because in her words "she is a fighter". Later on, Andra beings shouting because Barbara wouldn't let her choose what Jessie and Leah would wear. After a warning, Andra refuses to stop shouting at her mom and she ends up doing timeout. Andra stays for the four minutes. After her time Barbara tells Andra that she will be at the stool again if she plays up again. Andra apologizes.

Next, Jo brings in the Shared Play technique in order for the girls to stop fighting one-another. She has the three play a shopping game. However Andra once again begun to throw a fit, this time over how Jessie got to be the cashier instead of her. With Barbara struggling to calm Andra down Jo steps in to talk to her and shows Barbara another angle of how to handle the situation. Andra realizes that she has to be flexible and has to take turns. Then all the girls play together harmoniously.

Then Jo brings the shopping to the real world. She introduces the Involvement technique so the kids can help Barbara shop. She makes a list for each girl to find at the store, and then tells the girls what her expectations of them are. The girls are eager to help and they get in the car without a fight. Jo tells Barbara to not be in the store any longer than necessary. When they get into the store, the girls are doing a fantastic job helping their mom get what is on her list and mom is giving them lots of praise. After they are done, Barbara is pleased that the kids did amazing, and let’s them ride the horse ride. The girls are contented. After that, Jo leaves for a few days to let Barbara and David practice her techniques.

Family Test Run

Barbara is trying to get the girls into the car when Andra suddenly runs off, in search of a hairband. Jo notes that Andra is stalling the process. Andra screams, talks back, and angrily yells at Barbara yet she does not go on the Naughty Stool in-spite of the latter's warnings. Barbara admits that things have been a lot more challenging for her since Jo's left.

David explains that because of how long he's been away, he's not been able to properly understand or utulise Jo's techniques to the fullest; as a result it has confused him. Because of that when Andra screams, she is taken to the Naughty Stool (which David incorrectly calls the "Naughty Chair") immediately without a warning. David admits how uncomfortable it was for him, as with it being his first time using it, he's unsure of if he did everything correctly. When Andra's timeout is up she apologises in a rude way, yet David lets her off the stool regardless.

Sometime later chaos starts breaking out when David is away. Leah is pushed off of a tricycle by Jessie, the latter continuing to torment her sister with it. Despite this, Barbara does not discipline her at any point. Things get worse from there. The girls fight, scream, talk back, and the moment Jessie is shown hitting Barbara, Jo is prompted to return.

Parent Evaluation

Jo returns sometime later and shows David and Barbara their mistakes.

Reinforcement

With David now at home it gives Jo the oppertunity to properly guide him through the Naughty Stool. As usual Andra throws another meltdown whilst on the stool. David admits to Jo about how difficult the discipline is for him. Jo explains to him that by following through with the Stool, Andra will come to learn that she needs to listen to him. Once returning for an apology David this time does not let Andra off on the first apology, and asks for a genuine one. The fourth time around, Andra is let off. David jokes that he'll be at Jo's level in 15 years time.

With David now being able to discipline the kids better, Jo's next plan is to help Barbara with projecting her voice. Whilst appearing to be difficult at first for her, Barbara quickly manages to get ahold of things, and soon enough she learns to properly change her tone of voice. We then see a montage of Barbara being able to use her tone of voice in a proper way, thanks to her practicing.

With a routine being around and Jo's help, Barbara is glad to be able to have less stress and a structure in her day. She highlights how not only Jessie, but Andra have significantly improved over the two weeks Jo has spent with her family. In fact she reveals that Andra hasn't been back to the Naughty Stool in ages. David is amazed by the sudden change in the short time, and says that breakfast and dinner have become his favorite parts of the day instead of the worst. Jo has a heart-to-heart moment with Barbara before she leaves, both getting tearful with one-another. Jo says that the energy she felt from hugging Barbara touched her emotionally. After saying goodbye to Barbara, David and the girls one final time, Jo leaves her very first family in succession.

Family Members

Person	Age	Relation to Family
Barbara Jeans	43 (born August 25, 1961)	Mother
David Jeans	51 (born November 13, 1952)	Father
Andra	4 ½ (born April 2000)	Daughter
Jessie	3 (born November 2001)	Twin Daughters
Leah	3 (born November 2001)	Twin Daughters

The child was disciplined via one of Jo Frost's techniques.

Trivia

This is the first episode to feature The Powerpuff Girls merchandise. The second is The Naszkiewicz Family.
Andra is often compared to Meghann from The Cooke Family for being one of the most aggressive girls in Supernanny, due to their similar personalities.
This is the only episode in Season 1 to show the parents ages. The rest of the episodes this season do not display the other parents' ages.
When Andra is put on the Naughty Stool during the test run, Jo is heard saying “David, what did I teach you: warning first!” However as pointed out by David himself, he was not present when Jo was implementing her techniques. As such, it is impossible for Jo to have taught him how to use the stool before the Reinforcement.
- In addition, David is also heard incorrectly referring to the Stool as the 'Naughty Chair'.
This is the very first episode and pilot episode of the series.
This is the first ever US Family Jo helped. However going by the filming dates The Weston Family was the first to ever be helped by Jo.
This also the very first episode to feature Jo wearing her iconic indigo nanny suit for the rest of Seasons 1-2.
This was the first episode to take place in Colorado.

Pop Culture

A Hello Kitty paper plate can be seen when Andra was picking up her food in the Submission Reel.
The girls seem to be huge fans of the Care Bears as there are a lot of merchandise based on the franchise, scattered throughout the house. These are some of the more notable ones:
- Andra was seen playing with a Cheer Bear Plushie when she first met Jo.
- A plush of Bedtime Bear is frequently seen throughout the episode, primarily in the living room.
- Andra whined when David took her Care Bears Book away from Andra. It is unknown which book it was.
A Cartoon Coloring Book was seen in one scene.
After the shopping scene, the girls are seen watching a show on the TV, which Andra responds to "I'm not your daddy!" The show is just out of frame, leaving it unknown as to what they were watching.
A Barbie doll was seen in the supermarket.
- Other things included were
  - A Jimmy Neutron (or Possibly a Nickelodeon) Coloring Book
  - A Powerpuff Girls Coloring Book
  - A Power Rangers Coloring Book
  - A Shark Tale Coloring Book
  - A Sagwa The Chinese Siamese Cat Coloring Book
  - A Jungle Book Coloring Book
  - An M&M's Coloring Book
  - Crayola Crayons.
A Dora the Explorer ball and a Clifford the Big Red Dog inflatable ball can be seen when Andra was trapping one of the twins, during the observation.
Andra seemed to have been holding some sort of action figure (seemingly a Sailor Moon one) during her Care Bear book tantrum.
- She was also seen holding a Fruit Leather Bar.
The board of the Gearation toy by TOMY from Baby Einstein can be seen on the floor.
In one scene during the observation, the girls were seen playing with Play-Doh.
During the teaching when Jo's techniques were introduced, a Winnie the Pooh poster can be seen.
Andra was holding a Polly Pocket while being placed on the Naughty Stool.

Behind The Scenes

This episode was filmed in November 2004.

Events Post-Episode

David and Barbara attended the 2005 ABC Winter Press Tour Party with Jo. The event was held on January 5th 2005, 12 days before the premiere of Supernanny.
David and Barbara presumably divorced.

Transcript

The Jeans Family/Transcript

Gallery

External Links

Season 1
The Jeans Family • The Bullard Family • The Orm Family • The Wischmeyer Family • The Weston Family • The Bailey Family • The Gorbea Family • The Ririe Family • The Collins Family • The Burnett Family • The Christiansen Family • Family Update Special