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Ready or Not is a Canadian teen drama television series that aired on the Showtime Movie Channel (April 3, 1993 – 1997) and later on The Disney Channel (April 4, 1996 – 2000) and Global Television Network for five seasons and 65 episodes between 1993 and 1997 in both Canada and the United States.
The show centered on two adolescent girls and their friendship and coming-of-age, addressing difficult topics like divorce, racism, consent, and body image. As of June 2021, the show is in preliminary development for a reboot series.
Plot[]
The program follows two teenage girls in the suburbs of Toronto, best friends Amanda Zimm (Laura Bertram) and Elizabeth "Busy" Ramone (Lani Billard), throughout life's struggles as well as showcasing the different households they grew up in. Amanda was an only child raised by liberal former hippie Jewish-Canadian parents including a mother that was into New Age philosophy and often tried to incorporate it into her parenting. Busy, in contrast, was from a more conservative and traditional Italian-Canadian Catholic household with three older brothers. Busy and Amanda's personalities and interests are opposites; while Busy is a tomboy who drums and loves sports, Amanda is a girly girl who is boy-crazy and dreams of being a model or actress. The show's 5-year run starts with the girls in grade 6 and ends when they are in grade 9. In the series finale, a flashback shows how Busy and Amanda met as young girls.
Why It Rocks[]
- Awesome episodes, such as "Thirty-Two Double A", "Busy's Curse", "Black, White and Maybe Gray", "He Loves Me", He Loves Me Not", "White Girls Don't Jump", "Am I Perverted or What?", "The Worst Thing That Happened and The Best Thing That Didn't", and many more.
- Likable and relatable characters such as Amanda Zimm, Busy Ramone, Troy Edwards, Monkey Ears, Bernie Sagittarius "Sag" Chearney, Danny Masters, Frankie Ramone, Carla, etc.
- Catchy theme song.
- Great acting.
- Many funny and memorable moments to choose from.
- It tackles serious issues from puberty such as getting your first bra, menstruation cycles, first crushes and wet dreams to more social issues such as divorce, homophobia, racism, death, Anti-Semitism, infedeality, drug abuse, underage drinking, sex, double standards between boys and girls, body image, bullying, financial issues, child abuse, peer pressure, disabilities, and many more.
- It launched the careers of Ryan Gosling and Tamara Podemski.
Bad Qualities[]
- Amanda can be seen as the show's butt monkey; aka, a character that gets in trouble, humiliated and bullied throughout the course of the series.
- Nina Paperman and Phyllis Zimm are very unlikable characters. Amanda herself can be pretty unlikable at times, such as being whiny, selfish or insensitive.
Reception[]
- Ready or Not has gained many positive reviews and has since gained a cult following for being a rare show that depicted adolescence through the perspectives of two female best friends. Kathleen Newman-Bremang of Refinery29 wrote, “For a very specific demo (older Canadian millennials, mostly women), Ready or Not episodes are seared into our brains like Backstreet Boys lyrics or Spice Girls outfits." The show was notable for depicting situations ranging from interracial relationships, homophobia, bullying, and peer pressure, “and for not shying away from conversations about sex or the societal expectations associated with it.” It has been compared to My So-Called Life, another 1990s TV show that dealt with similar topics. Though the show Degrassi is the more well-known Canadian teen TV series, Newman-Bremang argued Ready or Not was at times more adept at “navigating life’s big problems with nuance,” commenting, “teen girls are often portrayed on television as one-note bratty caricatures, but Ready or Not gave us two with depth, and the show treated girlhood mistakes with the levity and gravitas they deserve.” In 1996, Ready or Not won a Gemini Award for best youth series. The show has been said to be in development for a reboot.