| Trailer Park Boys | |
 Trailer Park Boys cast, circa season 4 |
|
| Format | Mockumentary |
|---|---|
| Created by | Mike Clattenburg |
| Written by | Mike Clattenburg John Paul Tremblay Robb Wells Mike Smith Barrie Dunn Jackie Torrens Iain Macleod |
| Directed by | Mike Clattenburg |
| Starring | John Paul Tremblay Robb Wells Mike Smith John Dunsworth Pat Roach Lucy DeCoutere Sarah Dunsworth Cory Bowles Michael Jackson Barrie Dunn Jeanna Harrison Ellen Page Shelley Thompson Tyrone Parsons Garry James Sam Tarasco Jonathan Torrens |
| Composer(s) | Blain Morris Tonicsounds |
| Country of origin |  Canada |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 56 (including prequel special) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Mike Clattenburg Barrie Dunn Michael Volpe |
| Editor(s) | Jeremy Harty Irving Thatcher Sarah Byrne |
| Location(s) | Halifax Regional Municipality |
| Running time | 22 Minutes |
| Distributor | DEX Distribution |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Showcase |
| Original run | April 22, 2001 – December 7, 2008 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Trailer Park Boys was 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 movie will appear in 2009; the working title for the film is Countdown to Liquor Day.
Contents |
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. As a result, the first six 30-minute episodes were shot and filmed, and 'Trailer Park Boys' resided with Showcase for its entire seven-season run.[1]
Plot
Each season basically follows the same pattern. The boys, Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles are nearly always trying to figure out new ways to get rich, get high, and get some dope; their "get rich quick" schemes are usually foiled by the trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey and his assistant Randy (or their own incompetence). Seasons usually begin with the boys getting out of jail and usually end with them going into jail.
Characters
- Ricky (Robb Wells)
- Julian (John Paul Tremblay)
- Bubbles (Mike Smith)
- James "Jim" Lahey (John Dunsworth)
- Lucy (Lucy Decoutere)
- Randy AKA Randy Bo-Bandie (Patrick Roach)
- Sarah (Sarah E. Dunsworth)
- J-Roc (Jonathan Torrens)
- Cory and Trevor (Cory Bowles and Michael Jackson)
- Barbara Lahey (Shelley Thompson)
- Trinity (Jeanna Harrison-Steinhart)
- Ray (Barrie Dunn)
Each of the characters has their own particular trademark mannerism or trait. For example, Julian is never seen without a highball 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 mike 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.
Episodes
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.
There is also a new movie in production titled Countdown to Liquor Day.
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" [5] aired in Canada on December 7, 2008.[6] Series creator Mike Clattenburg announced on November 12, 2008 that the special will be followed by a sequel movie scheduled for Canadian release in October of 2009, which will be "the end of Trailer Park Boys," and that no additional seasons will be made.[7] According to Clattenburg, the working 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, http://www.trailerparkboys.com/site_story.php, retrieved on December 9, 2008
- ^ ""Liquor And Whores" Bubbles and Guns n Roses live Halifax NS". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsp9gos3_8.
- ^ "Comedy Central". http://www.comedycentral.pl.
- ^ http://www.trailerparkboys.com/site_news_detail.php?news=6
- ^ http://www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=1675
- ^ "Showcase". http://www.showcase.ca/BLOG/archive/2007/06/18/trailer-park-boys-the-end.aspx.
- ^ http://www.showcase.ca/blog/blogs/sideshow/archive/2008/11/12/trailer-park-boys-say-goodbye.aspx
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Trailer Park Boys |
- Showcase Site
- Trailer Park Boys at Internet Movie Database
- Trailer Park Boys at TV.com
- Every episode, special, pilot, pictures, blog, forum, movie(s) and download available at TrailerParkBoys.tv
References
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