Readyman Scouts!
Christian (standing) and Michael, the stars of Readyman Scouts! - Studio publicity photo
Readyman Scouts! is a television series in the action-adventure genre. It is being produced by Pack 463 Studios and distributed by PapioTom Universal.
The show focuses on Webelos 2 (Arrow of Light) Scouts Michael and Christian of Papillion, Nebraska's Cub Scouts Pack 463, and the firemen and paramedics of Papillion Fire Department Station 1, with whom the Scouts work to save lives. Together they respond to emergencies ranging from false alarms to major disasters. The Scouts are in the final year of the BSA's Webelos Program — more challenging than programs for younger Cub Scouts. As the boys are legally minors, they must be guided by licensed medical personnel through cellphone contact on site. This is where the staff of Station 1 comes in, with Paramedics or EMTs providing the necessary instructions for the Scouts to do their jobs.
Each episode of Readyman Scouts! covers a variety of incidents that the Webelos encounter as they fulfill requirements to obtain the Arrow of Light award, the highest award in Cub Scouting. From the tragic to the trivial, from the horrendous to the hilarious, the show portrays the professionalism of the Webelos Scouts and the Papillion Fire Department. With a thirty-minute running time, Readyman Scouts! typically opts for action sequences over plot and character development.
The boys report a victim to the Captain.
A typical episode follows the Webelos, and the crew of Station 1, through two or three incidents which advance an overall plot thread that serves to unify the episode. Usually, the first incident or its aftermath will begin the overall plot. Most episodes include at least one incident intended strictly for comic relief, involving someone or something humorously caught in a basically harmless but unexpected situation that requires intervention by the Scouts. Episodes often conclude with a spectacular fire or rescue taking up the entire final act, with the overall plot usually concluding in concurrence with the final incident in some way.
The Webelos undergo rigorous training in this scene from the series.
In the pilot episode, the boys receive training to earn their Webelos Readyman Activity badges. Soon thereafter, they attend a workshop at a home improvement store, where dozens of younger Cub Scouts are building Pinewood Derby cars. As the day wears on, it seems the Webelos' skills will only be needed to remove a splinter from a Tiger Cub's finger — until an electrical short in a bandsaw ignites a stock of spray paint cans. The resulting explosion injures parents and Scouts alike, and in the midst of chaos the Webelos are put to the test.
Michael is already "buckling up for safety" as Christian jumps into Engine 1.
With grim determination, the boys respond to a call.
On the lighter side, one recurring theme in the show consists of a victim or bystander being dismissive of the Scouts' warnings or advice, sneering that "they're only Cub Scouts." The boys wearily correct, "Actually, we're Webelos."
Episode Guide
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Pilot Episode — Synopsis above.
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Cats & Dogs — The boys spot a kitty in a tree, and Michael has no problem climbing up to
rescue it. But when Christian brings his giant German Shepherd onto the scene, Michael decides he's trapped, too.
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Aquanaut Badge — The Scouts go out on a boating expedition on Lake Halleck, but get lost in a fog and run aground on
Haunted Isle. They decide to venture to an abandoned windmill on the island for help, but instead encounter
a transparent phantom who threatens them to leave the island. The boys try to capture him,
resulting in a number of problems and hi-jinks.
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Out of This World — After meeting Nebraska astronaut Clay Anderson, Michael and Christian begin wondering about life on
other planets. Their wonder turns to excitement when they claim to have spotted a UFO and camp out in the backyard
with a digital camera.
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Scouts and Robbers — The Webelos help a middle-aged homeowner who has adopted two orphan children
prove to one of them that a life of crime is not as exciting or heroic as a life of rescue.
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Incident at Papio Creek Bridge — When they try to defend an ex-convict trying to go straight in a prejudiced
town, the Scouts face lynching by a mob incensed at the shooting of a local rancher.
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Weekend Warriors — Michael and Christian attend a Local Emergency Response
exercise, but when a scripted
death turns real they end up donning their uniforms in order to find the murderer and prevent another.
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Hello, Goodbye — In this poignant episode, a warm, outgoing young school teacher finds out that she only
has a few months to live, and
goes into seclusion. Michael, who has become strongly attached to her, attempts to bring her back into the current
of life.
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Family Game Night — While on the trail of a scientist who has stolen a vial of deadly germs,
the Scouts are pulled into a night of
deadly parlor games. Michael and Christian must recover the vial before it bursts and releases a
plague, while managing to live though the "games" of their host.
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Who Do the Voodoo? — The ritualistic murder of a teenager in their small town gets Michael and
Christian caught up in a secret occult practice within the local school's PTO, and a substitute teacher
with strange powers.
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A Girl Scout's Cookies — The Scouts are assigned to protect the impetuous teenage daughter of
a Colorado congressman vacationing in Papillion. They're told to keep her out of trouble, but she soon
stumbles into a drug smuggling operation.
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What In The Sandhills — The Scouts pose as oil workers to investigate repeated sabotage of the
Keystone XL pipeline. While a conservation group intent on halting construction appears to be the likely culprit, the Scouts
uncover a crooked alliance between a Washington politician and a foreman seeking to extract uranium located on the same land.
- Boy Scouts of America — (One-hour season finale) A top-secret division of the CIA has built a high-tech, weapons-laden new helicopter, but the craft's twisted creator, Dr. Moffet, turns the lethal firepower onto the flight tower, before taking off in the chopper with his two co-pilots to Libya. The BSA National Council calls upon Pack 463's Webelos to bring the helicopter back from Libya, where Moffet is using it to destroy for his own sadistic pleasure.
