August 18, 2000 – The Disney Channel Original Movie Quints Premieres
“You see, this is my story. And yeah, it’s one of those ‘girl finds herself even though she didn’t know she was lost’ stories. But I promise you: it’s not going to be lame, and it’s not going to be boring.”
On August 18, 2000, the Disney Channel Original Movie Quints premiered. It was written by Matthew Weisman and Gregory K. Pincus, and directed by Bill Corcoran. It starred Kimberly J. Brown as Jamie Grover, Daniel Roebuck as Jim Grover, Elizabeth Morehead as Nancy Grover, Shadia Simmons as Zoe, Jake Epstein as Brad, James Kall as Mr. Blackmer, and Vince Corazza as Albert.
The movie begins with Jamie Grover introducing her family, and the story of how her brothers and sisters arrived. Taking the story back to January, she introduces her father, who is going back to college, and her mother, who publishes a small-town paper in Milford. She introduces her life, including her school, although she embellishes quite a bit. Her friend Zoe tries to get Jamie to go to Art Club, but Jamie has to go work on her science project. She has a goal to attend the science magnet school, and relates her pressure to not let her parents down as the only child, and the first of her family to go to college. Her parents are almost smothering her with attention, and poor Jamie can’t stand it anymore, although she understands that her parents just want to best for her.
The spare room is quickly made over into a nursery to house the new arrivals
Later on, she heads home to find her parents rather stressed. They tell her the news that her mom is pregnant, and Jamie is thrilled. Her mother then drops the bombshell: she’s carrying quintuplets. The family quickly sets to work turning the spare room into a nursery, and Jamie reveals that during those months, nothing really changed, save for her mom’s appearance. Finally, the babies are ready to arrive, and Jamie experiences her first bout of being forgotten, as her parents almost forget to take Jamie with them to the hospital. Her siblings were the first quintuplets in the state, and they arrive home to a whole media frenzy. Jamie then shows off the new life with her siblings, who are crying and creating chaos.
Jamie heads to school, completely exhausted. Her friends ask her what she’s going to do with her new freedom, and try to get her to join art club. Her teacher asks her where her heart is, and Jamie can’t answer, as she’s never had to answer that question before. The moment she gets home, Jamie is roped into baby duty, and a baby nurse is hired to help take care of the quints. Not wanting to keep doing baby duty, she decides to join Art Club, although she has no idea what to do. The baby nurse, Fiona, tries to keep everything on schedule, but with all the financial woes and exhaustion, the family is soon falling apart. After a few weeks, Fiona quits, as she can’t handle it anymore, and the parents panic. Jamie volunteers to take care of the kids, although she isn’t exactly sure of how she’ll be able to do so.
The Grover’s money troubles are over with the arrival of Albert
Suddenly, their wishes are answered when Albert Lensley, an agent, appears at their door to give the family free diapers and other gifts if the babies do some advertising and marketing for Cutie Pants Diapers. While Jamie focuses on her life, she realizes that she actually has a real talent for art, and might have to come up with a new plan for her life. Her teacher, Mr. Blackmer, asks her to draw people, and she starts drawing the quints, getting inspiration mostly from her sibling Adam. However, the family is photographed without Jamie, and it is almost as if she’s not part of the family anymore. Mr. Blackmer convinces her that she has enough distance to see the entire situation and point out the details. Her parents finally listen to her when she’s able to correctly identify the baby and the reason she’s crying, while her parents can’t tell at all. Her parents are all caught up in the marketing, forgetting they have five babies instead of just one set of quints.
Later that night, her father comes into Jamie’s room to confess that he’s upset that he can’t tell the babies apart, because he was working so much and not spending time with his family. Her further confesses that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but Jamie tells him just to love them. Unfortunately, her parents are further sucked in to the quints marketing campaign, and Jamie is completely ignored. Her friend Brad reassures her when they forget to go to her parent-teacher conference, but she’s still angry at them. Her mother suggests that they get Jamie in the national commercial with the quints; unfortunately, Jamie refuses to appear when she’s dressed as a giant diaper. Jamie feels she’s completely forgotten, and accused of being selfish. Her friends and teacher tell her that her future lies with her, and she can make her future great, especially when Mr. Blackmer is going to feature her sketches at the school’s art fair.
Albert brings the Grovers the exciting news about the “Parents of the Year” award
Jamie announces her good news to her parents, who are thrilled at hearing this. They promise to be there at the gala opening, but Albert arrives with news that they’ve won Parents of the Year, and the dinner is the same night as the art show. Jamie is heartbroken, and heads to school to rip up all of her sketches. Zoe and Brad try to ask her what’s wrong, and she explains that her parents are choosing their awards dinner over her art show. She refuses to go to the art show, but Mr. Blackmer will still showcase her art. One day at school, Mr. Blackmer rushes Jamie to the hospital, where Adam is rather ill. Her parents finally admit that they understand what Jamie meant when the quints were five different babies rather than a unit. Jamie then admits that she wants to follow her own plan for her life, not their parents. Her parents accept her the way she is, and the relationship is mended. After Albert pushes his marketing campaign too far, the Grovers fire him.
Brad and Zoe volunteer to help Jamie take care of the quints while Jamie’s parents head to the gala dinner, although the parents forgot to bring the quints with them. Mr. Blackmer helps to save the day, driving the quints, Jamie, Brad, and Zoe to the dinner. Unfortunately, Mr. Blackmer’s car breaks down on the way there, and the kids quickly board a bus and the subway to get there. The Grovers begin to panic while at the dinner, but Jamie and the quints arrive just in time. The Governor offers to give Jamie a ride anywhere, and she decides to go straight to the art show. At the art show, the winner is Jamie, and she is awarded her first blue ribbon. When she receives the ribbon, she is also surprised by her parents, who wanted to be there for her big moment. In the end, while she is eligible to go to the science magnet school, she decides to go to Milford High for the great art program.
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