The Bailey Family (Season 1)

For The Bailey Family (Season 8) see here

The Bailey Family is the sixth episode of Season 1 of the American Supernanny show.

Episode summary

Jo visits the Bailey family in Palmdale, California. Bill is a police officer, whilst Stacie works as a teacher. The couple works opposite schedules, with Stacie working the day, Bill taking charge at night. However, they are struggling with their two young children: 6-year-old daughter Jadyn and 2-year-old son Billy.

Jadyn is 6 going on 16, as she talks back to her mom. Billy can laugh at his parents when they discipline him, but like any other kid his age, he constantly throws temper tantrums. However, it is Stacie and Bill's frustrations towards Jo's frank ways that spark the most conflict. Both parents, especially Bill, are primarily angered by Jo's words during the Parents Meeting, which leads Bill to consider kicking Jo out while writing notes that she's "full of s***."

Can Jo help the Baileys find balance and restore discipline to their hectic household?

Episode recap

See episode recap on the Fans of Reality TV forum.

Observation

After watching the Submission Reel and meeting the Baileys, Jo observes the family. Billy plays with blocks but quickly gets bored. When he asks Stacie to take them away, she refuses to do so, causing Billy to start throwing them. Billy's throwing escalates into a tantrum, and Stacie tries to give him a timeout in his bedroom.

At 1:30 p.m., Stacie and Bill put the kids down for a nap, and Jo notices a makeshift bed in the hallway. Stacie reveals that it's Jadyn's extra bed. Billy gets out of his bed several times, while Jadyn resists until Stacie allows her to sleep in her extra bed. While the kids nap for three hours, Stacie works on her laptop downstairs. Jo is stunned that the kids take three-hour naps and are expected to be ready for bed at 7:30 p.m. Bill, who cooks dinner, admits that he'd rather do the housework than deal with the kids. Jo applauds his honesty.

Jadyn and Billy help themselves to snacks just before dinner, but Stacie catches her son and demands that he spit out the snack he already put in his mouth, resulting in another tantrum and trying to get into the pantry. To Jo's shock, Bill and Stacie put Billy in a high chair like a baby, and Jo goes on to explain that Billy should be in a toddler chair instead of a high chair.

Right before bedtime, Jadyn jumps on Billy's bed. When Stacie tells Jadyn to get down, Jadyn says something rude to her mom and Stacie sends her to her room. At bedtime, Billy keeps getting out of his bed. Jadyn comes out of bed at 9:33 p.m. Stacie ends up putting her to bed in the hallway.

Parents Meeting

At the Parents Meeting, Jo states that while she does see a routine in the house, she notes how it is very inconsistent and that there's no discipline for the kids. She also notes how 3 hour naps shouldn't be happening, and that Jayden shouldn't be having them at her age. As the meeting progresses, Stacie, and primarily Bill begin to fall under the impression that they're being "attacked."

When Jo brings up how unacceptable the behavior is, Bill promptly interrupts her, and sternly tells him they aren't accepting the behavior from the children, and then proceeds to tell his frustrations to Jo. They didn't come to Supernanny to be criticized for their issues: they came to find solutions to them. He notes how Jo's personality has become severely out-of-character with how she first presented herself to him and Stacie. To them, the once, kind and respectful demeanor Jo displayed towards them, has now been replaced with a more “rude” and confrontive one. He says that he wants Jo to talk respectfully, and ends with saying: "People don't come into my house and talk to me the way [Jo] just did."

Bill says in an interview segment, that he was just about ready to throw Jo and the production crew out of the house. Stacie also states that she felt very offended by Jo's words.

Jo tells Bill that she isn't one to mince words. She will point out what she sees is wrong, so they can all work on solving these problems. When she asks if everyone is ready to get to work, Stacie shrugs, stares away from Jo and says, "We'll see," while sipping a cup of water.

Teaching

The next day, Jo fortunately manages to return, and both Bill and Stacie appear to have gotten over what occurred in the meeting. Jo returns with a more structed routine for the family, which includes just a 90-minute nap for Billy. She also introduces the Naughty Step for Billy and the Naughty Room for Jadyn. They all play a board game together. When Billy deliberately pushes the piece over after a warning, he is sent to the Naughty Step by Jo. Billy remains calmly seated for his two minutes with no fuss or tantrums. Bill and Stacy report their surprise that Jo's methods actually worked.

While Stacie attempts to put Billy to bed, Jadyn plays with bats and balls. When Stacie tells her not to, she ignores her and walks off. Stacie gives Jadyn a warning, but Jadyn slams the door in her mother's face. Jo instructs Stacie to talk to Jadyn. She needs to know how rude and wrong that is. When Stacie asks Jadyn if she understands that she is being rude, Jadyn ignores her. Stacie follows through with the discipline and no argument.

The next day when dinner comes around Jo has the Idea to get rid of Billy's Highchair and put him in a big boy chair. Bill is worried about Billy acting out. However Billy proves his family wrong.

At bedtime, Jo tells Jadyn that she will from now on sleep in her bedroom. Jadyn gives her mom a hug as she becomes very upset when Bill and Jo dismantle the extra bed. Stacie does her best to reassure her. After Stacie reads Jadyn a book, Jadyn falls asleep in her real bed as if nothing happened.

Family Test Run

Jadyn and Billy are fighting over a toy snake. When Stacie breaks it up and tells Billy he can have it, Jadyn becomes jealous. She grabs her toy piano and throws it across the floor, almost hitting Billy. With no warning, Stacie takes her to the Naughty Room and successfully follows it through.

When Jadyn is done with the timeout, she still feels pretty upset about the whole thing and decides to sit on the couch in silence. However this time, Jadyn hardly did anything. When Stacie sees her, she warns her. The only thing Jadyn says is that she wants a hug. Still angry at Jadyn, Stacie refuses and sends her back to the Naughty Room.

Before dinnertime, Stacie asks Billy to put his toys away. Billy refuses and Stacie puts him on the Naughty Step. Unfortunately, Stacie was unable to handle the Naughty Step Technique for Billy alone as he keeps escaping. Stacie doesn’t explain to Billy why he’s on the step so now he thinks it’s a game. Bill comes in to help but with no luck and success because just like with Stacie, Bill puts Billy back on the Naughty Step but does not explain to him why he is placed in timeout. Every time Billy gets up from the step, Stacie and Bill tell him to come back on the step. Then, Billy goes behind Stacie with Bill then finally having enough, comes in and smacks him, saying "I said no, now sit down. You stay there", undermining the technique.

Parent Evaluation

The following day, Jo showed the parents the first clip, which is Jadyn playing video games with her parents in the Naughty Room. When realizing that the TV and video games would give Jadyn mixed messages, Bill declares that he will plan on putting the TV somewhere else, as to not give Jadyn mixed messages when she's sent there for timeout.

Next, Jo shows the scene where Jadyn was sitting on the couch feeling upset, and Stacie sending her to the Naughty Room. Jo points out that Jadyn hadn't been doing anything that would warrant her going to the Naughty Room. Kids have the right to feel the correct emotions when need be, but they shouldn't be punished because of it. Jo explains that if Jadyn is upset because of something (such as having a timeout), she has the right to feel what she wants to. Ultimately, Jo suggests to the parents, especially Stacy that when this happens, they should ignore the sulking and encourage Jadyn to do something else, such as helping in the kitchen or playing a game. Discipline is one thing, but when timeout is over when Jadyn is allowed to leave the Naughty Room and Billy is allowed to go off of the step, that is when parents can change their tone of voice to an everyday voice.

Lastly, Jo shows how the Naughty Step was executed wrong. Jo explains that Billy's constant escapes are the result of both Stacie and Bill not coming down to his level and explaining why he was placed there. Now, Billy believes he's playing a game, and is deliberately testing his parents. When Bill is shown smacking Billy, Jo says that she doesn't want the latter to think that it will take a smack in order for him to sit down. Jo knows that Bill and Stacie are capable of placing him there without one. At first it will take them about an hour, before the time to do so gets shorter, because consistency is the key.

Reinforcement

After the DVD meeting, Jadyn and Billy are running around the house having fun, but when Stacie tells Jadyn and Billy, "Not in the front room please", they listen. They understand that when they protest against it, they go to timeout. Stacy says she has hope that Jadyn's attitude will be under control with the Naughty Room because she hates going there. Bill then takes the television out of the Naughty Room, as promised in the evaluation. During dinner, Billy flips his plate upside down. Bill comes down to Billy's level, and warns that if he does it again, he'll get placed on the step. Billy understands, and eats his dinner safely.

Then, Jo and the Baileys had a fun time in the living room and outside. Bill admitted that after the Family Meeting he had wrote notes about Jo, that stated she was "full of s***" which he showed to Stacie. Now that Jo's completed her time with his family, Bill has come to the realization that in reality, he was the one in the wrong rather than Jo. He then apologizes for his mistakes, and admits that he's the one full of s***.

Jo now leaves the Bailey Family for good. During the credits, there is an extended scene of a scene from the submission reel, in which Billy is shown touching the camera with his fingers (which he had been eating with). The cameraman is then shown cleaning off the mess Billy had made on the lens.

Pop Culture

When Jadyn and Billy fight on the train table, Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway trains of Thomas, Percy and Duncan are seen on the table.
The Rolie Polie Olie book, "Big Time Olie" is seen on a shelf in the hallway a couple of times.
There is also a Rolie Polie Olie teapot toy.
Jo, Billy, Jadyn and Stacie are playing Candy Land, in the scene where Billy is first sent to timeout.
During the Observation when Jadyn was jumping on the bed, Billy can be seen playing with the Busy Ball Popper by Playskool.
A Hello Kitty backpack can be seen in Jadyn's room during the teaching.
Jadyn has a Disney Princess lamp in her room.
During the teaching when it was bedtime, the books, "Froggy's Best Christmas" and "Lily's Purple Plastic Purse," can be seen in Jadyn's room.
When Stacey is telling Jadyn it’s not time to play, what looks to be a Shrek plush can be seen next to Billy’s drawers.
Jadyn wears a Winnie the Pooh nightgown when Stacy tells her to stop giving her dirty looks.
When Stacy tells Billy to pick up the toys, one is what looks to be a Spider-Man toy.
Stacy mentions Jadyn being like Jekyll & Hyde in one of the interview scenes.

Fan Reception

The Bailey Family received mix responses from fans, and is often considered one of the weaker episodes of season 1, alongside The Christiansen Family. For starters, one of the main criticisms was Billy, who fans took a disliking to because of his outbursts, and tantrums. Although he received sympathy from fans who were shocked to see him be treated like a baby. The main criticisms were targeted towards Bill and Stacie. For instance, many actually blamed Billy's tantrum at the start of the Observation on Stacie, given that she refused to put the blocks away for Billy. However, the main aspect of the episode people focused on the most was Bill, often considered the first real antagonistic person to appear on the show, and therefore became Supernanny's first "villain". Many were shocked to see him actually take issue to Jo's criticisms, and act as if he and Stacie were being attacked for their issues. In addition, many disliked him even more when he revealed the notes he had been writing despite of his apologies. Finally, him smacking Billy to get him to stay on the Naughty Step was heavily disliked. Stacie was also disliked for giving Jadyn a timeout for pouting after a previous timeout.

However 2FromBFB, a user on this very wiki, came to the defense of the Baileys, and theorized a possible reasoning to explain Bill and Stacie’s behavior in the Parents Meeting. He speculated that the rant from Bill during the segment may have actually stemmed from his and Stacie's misinterpretation of it; he pointed out that Bill's rant may have implied that he and Stacie fully expected the meeting to be where Jo tells them how to fix their problems, and how clearly they were taken aback from Jo's stern criticisms. He speculated that they had no prior knowledge of the Teaching process of Jo's visit, and again, believed that the meeting would be Jo telling them the solutions to their problems. Other fans showed support towards the episode as well, pointing out that Bill and Stacie did redeem themselves by the end; they were nowhere near as harsh to Jo as they likely could’ve been after the Parents Meeting, and fully supported the techniques in-spite of Jo’s harsh words. Many fans especially pointed out Bill’s redemption, given that he would fully acknowledge that he was in the wrong in the end, and owned up to the notes he had written.

In general, The Bailey Family is considered one of Supernanny's more mediocre episodes, yet one of its first seasons more weaker ones.

Trivia

Had Bill and Stacie fully denied Jo's access to the house after the Parents Meeting, not only would Jo have fully failed to help them, it would have resulted of the entire episode not being aired on TV, as Bill and Stacie's banning would have resulted in unfinished filming. This in general would have made the Baileys the first U.S family where Jo had failed to help.
Jadyn's second timeout in the Family Test Run was seen similar to how Brandon Kerns from The Kerns Family, was sent to timeout for crying over skateboarding shoes, given both timeouts were the result of a child acting upset.
- The big difference between these timeouts was that whilst Jo showed clear disapproval with Jadyn's, Brandon's timeout was fully approved by her.
This episode was the first instance of a parent openly breaking the fourth wall outside of interviews; Bill's mentions of "doing this" in the Parents Meeting very likely refer to how he and Stacie agreed to participate on the show.
There were noticeably two slight inconsistencies with what Jo was saying in the Parents Meeting.
- Firstly, she claimed that both of the kids were grumpy after they woke up from their nap. Whilst this was the case with Jadyn judging from her facial expression, nothing was shown which would indicate Billy was feeling the same way.
- Secondly, she said that she expects no child to throw toys at her. Unless this was subtly calling back to Billy throwing the blocks, at no point during the observation does it happen that either child is seen throwing toys at Jo or the parents.
  - Even if Jo was referring to Billy throwing the blocks, it would not make sense, as Billy did not throw the blocks directly at Jo or Stacie's direction.
Even though Billy was disciplined through Naughty Step, and Jadyn was done so through the Naughty Room due to being older than Billy, older children would be disciplined with the step in later episodes.
Despite noting, and criticizing Billy using a high-chair, Jo was not shown bringing it up in the parents meeting.
The clip of Jo opening her DVD player and saying "Let's take a look and see who we've got here." was reused from The Orm Family.
While Billy escaped during the test run, he one of the few children that stayed in timeout without walking away or yelling, as he did not attempt to do so during the teaching. This also applied to Jadyn, who did not escape during both of her timeouts.
- The others were Blake from The Ririe Family, Brandon and Zak from The Bixley Family, Leo from The Wilson-Knutson Family, Naomi from The Mann Family, Teddy Jr., Milo, and Giada (the triplets) from The DeMott Family, and Sean from The Evans Family.
- In 2025, Bill is 57, Stacie is 49, Jadyn is 27, and Billy is 23.

Gallery

Family Members

Person	Age	Relation to Family
William "Bill" Bailey	36 (born November 24, 1968)	Father
Stacie Bailey	28 (born August 6, 1976)	Mother
Jadyn	6 (born June 16, 1998)	Daughter
Billy	2 (born July 23, 2002)	Son

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

In the News

Teachers in L.A., across California file complaints against virtual academy - San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 6/18/2015.

Links

Behind the Scenes

This episode was filmed in August 2004.

Events Post-Episode

Bill and Stacie became real estate agents in Bradenton, Florida, leading to the family moving there.
Stacie gave birth to her third child, a daughter named Aurora.
Jadyn got married to a man named Austin Konitzer. She gave birth to two daughters named Blair (born on March 16, 2021) and AJ (born on July 28, 2022).

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