Trailer Park Boys
is a popular Canadian mockumentary television series created and directed by Mike Clattenburg that focused on the misadventures of a group of trailer park residents, some of whom are ex-convicts, living in a fictional trailer park located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The television show premiered on the Showcase television network in 2001. The final season ended in 2007, and the final episode, "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys", premiered as a special on Showcase on December 7, 2008, ending the series. A second film, Countdown to Liquor Day
, is scheduled for release on September 25, 2009.
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TRAILER PARK BOYS TICKETS
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History
In 1999, director
Mike Clattenburg wrote and directed a
film short entitled 'Trailer Park Boys', which was shot in black and white. The film followed the exploits, in
documentary style, of Ricky (
Robb Wells) and Julian (
John Paul Tremblay), two criminals doing what they did just about every day. The character Julian states to the camera in the film that he wanted his life to be documented after receiving a telephone psychic's prediction that he would die soon. He hoped that the film would deter others from the life of crime he had chosen.
The film was shown at the
Atlantic Film Festival in 1999, and it caught the attention of producer
Barrie Dunn who saw potential for a TV series. Clattenburg and Dunn, along with Wells and Tremblay worked on a proposal for a 13-episode season of the show, and traveled to
Toronto to pitch the show to
The Comedy Network. After being turned down, they made a snap decision to pitch the show to
Showcase before returning home to
Nova Scotia. They found that the network was receptive, and sent them back with a commitment to a first season, with the proviso that a second experienced producer (which ended up being
Michael Volpe) be brought on board to assist the team. The first six 30-minute episodes were then written and filmed. Some modifications were made to the characters and story line for the series, and more humour was added to the series in comparison to the film. The biggest change from film to series was the addition of Mike Smith's "Bubbles" character, who was originally developed for the earlier short film
The Cart Boy; a film that Smith, Wells, Tremblay, and Clattenburg worked on together in 1995. Smith's character was soon to grow from a
recurring character to one of the show's primary protagonists (even though in the earlier film, "Bubbles" was the name of Smith's character's cat). 'Trailer Park Boys' resided with Showcase for its entire seven-season run.
[1]
Plot
Each season follows the same basic pattern. Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles are trying to figure out new ways to get rich, get high, and stay out of jail; their "get rich quick" schemes are usually foiled by the trailer park supervisor, Jim Lahey, and his assistant, Randy (or by their own incompetence). Early seasons began with the boys getting out of jail and would end with them being reincarcerated. Later seasons changed this formula with the final episode of the season showing that their schemes had been successful, and the boys' future looking optimistic. The first episode of the following season would then show them sheepishly explaining how everything went wrong for them in the interim, thus bringing the story back to square one.
Characters
Main Cast Members
Actor
| Character
| Duration
|
Lucy Decoutere
| Lucy
| Season 1-7
|
Barrie Dunn
| Ray
| Season 1-7
|
John Dunsworth
| James "Jim" Lahey
| Season 1-7
|
Sarah E. Dunsworth
| Sarah
| Season 1-7
|
Jeanna Harrison-Steinhart
| Trinity
| Season 1-7
|
Tyrone Parsons
| Tyrone
| Season 1-7
|
Patrick Roach
| Randy
| Season 1-7
|
Mike Smith
| Bubbles
| Season 1-7
|
Jonathan Torrens
| J-Roc
| Season 1-7
|
John Paul Tremblay
| Julian
| Season 1-7
|
Robb Wells
| Ricky
| Season 1-7
|
Cory Bowles
| Cory
| Season 1-6
|
Michael Jackson
| Trevor
| Season 1-6
|
Shelley Thompson
| Barbara Lahey
| Season 2-7
|
Garry James
| Detroit Velvet Smooth
| Season 3-5
|
Recurring Cast Members
Actor
| Character
| Duration
|
George Green
| Officer George Green
| Season 1-7
|
Jacob Rolfe
| Jacob Collins
| Season 1-7
|
Jim Swansburg
| Detective Ted Johnson
| Season 1-7
|
Bernard Robichaud
| Cyrus
| Season 1-5
|
Ellen Page
| Treena Lahey
| Season 1-2
|
Sam Tarasco
| Sam Losco
| Season 2-7
|
Richard Collins
| Philadelphia "Phil" Collins
| Season 4-7
|
Mio Adilman
| Terry
| Season 5
|
Nobu Adilman
| Dennis
| Season 5
|
Sebastian Bach
| Himself
| Season 7
|
Brian Huggins
| "Shitty" Bill
| Season 7
|
Each of the characters has their own particular trademark mannerism or trait. For example, Julian is never seen without a tumbler of
rum and Coke in his hand. Ricky's manner of speech is often laced with
malapropisms and
eggcorns, and Bubbles, who lives in a shed, has coke-bottle glasses and a predilection for cats.
Style
The series was consistently shot in a mockumentary style (including the use of long takes), but often the
camera crew became engrossed in the plot. On several occasions, the camera and boom mic operators are spoken to by the characters, and often end up becoming directly involved in the action. In one episode, a
crew member is shot, and they are also enlisted several times to help the characters when a pair of extra hands are needed. All of this is intended to produce the feeling that these are real events that are happening to real people, when in reality, the show is loosely scripted and much of the dialog is ad-libbed from very basic plot points laid out beforehand.
Furthering the myth that
Trailer Park Boys
is nonfiction, many of the actors (particularly Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay, Mike Smith and John Dunsworth) often make public appearances without
breaking character.
Popularity
The show became very successful in many countries. For example, characters (particularly Bubbles) often appear on novelty
T-shirts. The show's lead trio formerly toured with
Our Lady Peace, and with
Guns N' Roses, with whom Bubbles sings his trademark song "Liquor and Whores."
[2] The Trailer Park Boys have also appeared in
music videos with
The Tragically Hip, while Bubbles has appeared with
George Canyon and
Snow, and they have been presenters at numerous award shows - always in character. Several famous artists appear on the show, such as
Alex Lifeson from
Rush in "
Closer to the Heart,"
singer Rita MacNeil in the season four finale "
Working Man,"
Brian Vollmer from the
rock band Helix,
Sebastian Bach from
Skid Row, and
singer/
songwriter Denny Doherty in the season seven finale "
A Shitriver Runs Through It."
The show is a great success for the
cable network
Showcase, where it is the network's highest-rated Canadian series. It airs in
Australia on
The Comedy Channel, in the
United Kingdom and
Spain on
Paramount Comedy, in the
Republic of Ireland on
Channel 6, in
Iceland on
SkjárEinn, in
New Zealand on
TV 2, in
Israel on
Xtra Hot, in
the Netherlands on
Comedy Central Netherlands, in
Denmark on
DR2, in
Portugal on
SIC Radical, in
Germany on Comedy Central Germany, in
Finland on
Nelonen, and in
Bulgaria on
Nova Television. In the
United States,
BBC America formerly aired a censored version of the show, but it is no longer part of their lineup. The show just launched in
Poland on Comedy Central Polska.
[3] On February 5, 2009, satellite provider
DirecTV began airing the series in the US on its channel
The 101 Network, uncensored, at the rate of two episodes per week. DirecTV will air the entire seven-season run of
Trailer Park Boys
, plus both specials.
[4] All episodes aired to date on DirecTV are in
16:9 widescreen format (although not in
High Definition resolution), as opposed to the standard definition
4:3 aspect DVD releases of seasons 1-5.
Actors John Dunsworth, John Paul Tremblay, and Rob Wells can be seen in the MGM 2002 movie
Virginia's Run starring
Gabriel Byrne and
Joanne Whalley. John Dunsworth plays a local cop while John Paul Tremblay and Rob Wells play active and verbal townsmen similar to their Trailer Park Boys characters. Actors are credited as cop for John Dunsworth, J.P. for John Paul Tremblay (credits as J.P. Tremblay), and Rob Wells as Rob. The movie was filmed in
Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The characters have also appeared in
Spider Robinson's completion of
Robert Heinlein's
unfinished novel,
Variable Star. In the novel, they attempt to grow poppies, presumably in their general aim to get high.
Episodes
Feature Films
The Movie
The second Trailer Park Boys movie to be produced (The first being the original black and white production that sparked the series),
Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
(Tagline: Greasiest Movie of The Year) was released on
October 6,
2006, and distributed by
Alliance Atlantis.
Ivan Reitman is a producer of the project.
Mike Clattenburg directed. Also known as "
The Big Dirty", it was nominated for a
Genie for best picture of the year, but did not win.
Countdown to Liquor Day
The franchise's second feature film,
Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day
, is scheduled for Canadian release on September 25, 2009.
[5] A trailer was released on the official .
DVD releases
Alliance Atlantis Home Entertainment has released seven seasons of
Trailer Park Boys
on DVD in Region 1.
Season
| Ep. #
| Originally aired
| Release Date
|
1
| 6
| 2001
| May 27, 2003
|
2
| 7
| 2002
|
3
| 8
| 2003
| April 6, 2004
|
4
| 8
| 2004
| April 12, 2005
|
5
| 10
| 2005
| May 9, 2006
|
6
| 6
| 2006
| May 8, 2007
|
7
| 10
| 2007
| May 6 2008
|
Future
The cast and crew took the summer of 2008 off, but a new special one-hour episode titled "Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys"
[6] aired in Canada on December 7, 2008.
[7] Series creator Mike Clattenburg announced on November 12, 2008 that the special will be followed by a sequel movie scheduled for Canadian release on September 25 2009, which will be "the end of
Trailer Park Boys
," and that no additional seasons will be made.
[8] the title of the sequel to
The Big Dirty
is
Countdown to Liquor Day.
In January 2009, the boys were in character at
Massey Hall in
Toronto, Canada. They performed the Ricky, Julian and Bubbles Community Service Variety Show. The premise was that they were fulfilling
court order community service and must put on a
puppet show aimed to demonstrate the dangers of using alcohol and drugs.
East Coast Music Awards
The Trailer Park Boys hosted the 2006
East Coast Music Awards
as
Ricky,
Julian and
Bubbles (in character).
Bubbles performed his single,
Liquor and Whores,
which has the same melody as a song he sings while drunk in the first episode of season 4.
References
- The Beginning
- Title Unavailable
- Title Unavailable
- http://www.trailerparkboys.com/site_news_detail.php?news=6
- http://www.cineplex.com/Movies/MovieDetails/D9BEE210/Trailer_Park_Boys_2.aspx?tab=2
- http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1675
- Title Unavailable
- http://www.showcase.ca/blog/blogs/sideshow/archive/2008/11/12/trailer-park-boys-say-goodbye.aspx