Stuff I like: 'Trailer Park Boys'

An American friend of mine introduced me to this Canadian show which I find, well, hilarious. Low budget, shot in documentary style, this series follows the escapades of Ricky and Julian, residents of the Sunnyvale trailer park in Nova Scotia, Canada. Ricky and Julian are always getting in and out of jail. Both not very keen of work, the boys and their friends come up with crazy ideas to get rich. Many of them include growing dope and stealing money. Trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey and his assistent Randy try very hard to get the boys back behind bars. And if that isn't enough, problems with Lucy, Ricky's on-and-off girlfriend are never far away. But luckily they have each other, and the friends stick together no matter what. At least most of the time.

The series currently has 7 seasons, with a 8th and 9th season on the way. The new episodes will not air on television, but on their website, www.swearnet.com. Also, 3 movies have been made: 'Trailer Park Boys: the movie' (2006), 'Count down to liquoir day' (2009) and 'Don't legalize it' (2014). To top it of, you can also watch 'Live in fucking Dublin' (2013), which consists of footage from the boy's comedy tour.

Because I love this series so much, and because I too get tired of b*ing all the time, I'll give you a description of the series main characters, to make you warm for it.


Ricky: the fun loving criminal

Ricky, in short, loves getting drunk, smoking dope, pepperoni, his daughter Trinity, canned ravioli, chicken fingers, cigarettes and his dad. He also loves to get in trouble and refuses to work. While hot-headed, he is also a loyal friend and has a big love for the people in his live, including Julian, his father Ray, Trinity and of course Bubbles. On the other hand, he can be really agressive towards other people and he swears a lot.
While trying to earn some money with mostly illegal activities, he f*s up a lot because he simply isn't that smart. Luckily he has his own way of getting out of trouble, since he is a pro when it comes to lying to the police. He is also known for his malapropisms. He loves Lucy, the mother of his child. Ricky lives in his car and is pretty happy about that.


Julian: the man

Julian is the reason the guys are being filmed, because he hired the camera crew to make a documentary on his life. Julian is much smarter than Ricky, he likes to read and think about things. He is softer and more accesible, and all the people who live in the trailer park treat him with respect. Julian and Ricky have been best friends since childhood. Julian wants to get rich and retire, so he spends most of his days commiting crimes such as bootlegging to earn some money. Julian is always seen with a drink in his hand. He is muscular and always wears a tight black shirt. As a kid, he was obsessed with Patrick Swayze in 'dirty dancing', and he hates it when someone mentions this to him. Julian is intimidating, but deep inside he is very compassionate and tries to avoid confrontation as much as possible. When trouble arises, the whole park looks at Julian to fix it.


Bubbles: the cat-loving, weird but loyal friend

Bubbles is the third and last main protagonist. His real name is never revealed. Bubbles loves cats and goes through a lot of trouble to take care for them. His eyesight is really bad, but don't let those silly glasses fool you: Bubbles is very smart. He always tries to calm Ricky and Julian down and sort of acts like their conscience. For a living, he steals and fixes shopping carts, which he then sells back to the stores. He often helps the boys with their illegal plans, although deep inside he would rather spend time with his cats. He is easily scared and tends to cry fast while he is upset. But don't make him angry, he can wrestle! He loves pickled eggs, dope, drinking, working on carts, and of course, kitties.


Corey and Trevor

These two best friends look up to Ricky and Julian and try everything to get some respect from the boys. Sadly enough, they are both pretty dumb and a lot of illegal operations go wrong because they f* up. Always being picked on by Ricky, the boys have little self esteem and would do anything to get on a good note with them. Because of this, they always have to do the most dangerous jobs. Corey and Trevor are naieve, but also good-hearted.


Jim Lahey: the trailer park supervisor

Jim is the main antagonist of the series. After being kicked out of the police force, Jim has taken the job as trailer park supervisor, and he takes his job seriously. He is a notorious alcoholic, which brings him and the park in big trouble. He hates Ricky but secretly has a crush on Julian. He is always making up words and sentences including the word 'sh*t', as in 'sh*tstorms are coming' and 'a sh*t apple doesn't fall far from the sh*ttree'. He is often seen driving or stumbling around drunk. He has one daughter, Treena. Despite being a drunk, he can always think clearly and most of the time he knows what the boys are up to.


Randy: the assistant trailer park supervisor

Randy has a very close relationship with Jim Lahey. He loves cheeseburgers, drinking and onion rings. He never wears a shirt. He is constantly mocked by Ricky, JRoc, Bubbles, and almost every other inhabitant of Sunnyvale. He used to be a prostitute, selling his body for cheeseburgers, because 'a man's gotta eat'.


JRoc: the white rapper

JRoc is the 'gangsta' from Sunnyvale, trying to launch his rap career. He honestly believes he is black, and he hates it when people call him Jamie, his real name. He constantly says the words 'knowm sayin' and 'ma-fucka'. He acts likes a gangster but deep down he is a bit of a coward. He always hides when trouble occurs and he states that 'he doesn't do guns'. He has many criminal contacts and also holds some lucrative businessess, the most important one being his low budget porn movies.


Ray: Ricky's drunk father

Ray used to be a truck driver, but his current occupation is lying to the government about being disabled. He can walk perfectly but he prefers to sit in his wheelchair. Ray is an alcoholic and his favourite hobby is, no surprises here, drinking. He loves Ricky but he isn't what you would call a good father figure. As an old trucker habit, he always urinates in giant jugs which he then throws out of his window. He constantly refers to himself as 'the man in the chair'. He believes he is a Calvinist, but he doesn't really understand the religion. He is also addicted to gambling.


Why I love this show so much

1. The 'violence' shown is clearly fake and over the top, but no people are injured or hurt. Gunfights occur pretty regularly, but no one is ever hit, except for Ricky. I've never seen gunfights being so silly.

2. No nudity. No, I'm not a prude (I love, LOVE Game of Thrones), but it's nice to see a series without boobs flashing up every five minutes. The scenes in which the boys are recording a porn flick are funny without showing flesh.

3. The running gags are great.

4. Ricky is hilarious. Everytime I rewatch an episode, I stumble upon funny stuff he says which I didn't notice before.

5. There is no racism. Randy and Lahey are both bisexual, but they are never mocked because of this. I haven't heard one racist remark in all the episodes.

There's so many other reasons why this show is worth some of your time, so I suggest you check out some episodes. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!


Mary Jane
pissedofpenguin@gmail.com