How did three petty criminals launch a business empire, land a Guinness World Record,
and become hallucinations of themselves? It all started in a little place called Sunnyvale.
While it may appear that the show's central trailer park has always looked the same,
the first four seasons of Trailer Park Boys were filmed at different locations across Nova Scotia,
Canada. Due to complaints by the residents, the boys were supposedly forced out of
these parks and eventually opted to purchase and build their own set in
Dartmouth. This is the park which fans started seeing from season 5 onwards.
"It's a terrible situation."
Of course, the spin-off series, Out of the Park, sees the characters Ricky, Julian,
and Bubbles going on adventures, making stops in Europe and the United States. But while the
trio have gone international, the true home of the Boys is their eponymous trailer park.
There's been plenty of speculation surrounding the departure of Jonathan Torrens' J-Roc from
the show. Torrens announced his departure via Twitter on April 20,
2016, and later said in his podcast, Taggart and Torrens,
"I ultimately felt that I had achieved all that I could with J-Roc,
but he's been in my head and part of my existence for so long, it's weird."
Although fans would love to see their favorite rapper drop more bars at park concerts,
Torrens insists gave the role everything he had.
The show's theme song is tranquil and gives fans a peaceful view of the park before the
F-bombs and complete comedic chaos takes over. It was directly influenced by singer
Tony Bennett's signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," which peaked
at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 when originally released in 1962. And in 2001,
the tune peaked at No. 1 in the hearts of Trailer Park Boys fans when "I Left
My Heart in San Francisco" was adapted by Blain Morris into the theme song "Breeze."
Although fans probably prefer calling it simply the Trailer Park Boys Theme Song,
from Bennett to Morris, the song has and will always be a classic.
While it can be more rewarding to watch a continuous, overarching story from start
to finish — since audiences get to see character development, minor story arcs,
and the plot pay off — Trailer Park Boys is meant to be episodic. People
should be able to watch any episode and still understand what's happening.
"If you guys come back short, you're gonna be responsible. Do you understand me?"
"I'm not stupid, Julian."
"Yes, you are stupid. That's why I have to tell you this."
There are running jokes that any diehard fan will appreciate, such as Randy's "shirt
allergy," but a first-time viewer should be able to watch any episode and understand the plot.
But episodic or not, watching the show in chronological order allows
viewers to better understand the characters. On the surface,
the Boys are just criminals who routinely come up with small-minded plans,
break laws and wind up in jail. But as episodes build on one another, Ricky, Julian, Bubbles,
and the rest of the park residents become more charismatic, redeemable, and root-worthy.
Jimmy Buffett has Margaritaville, Mark Wahlberg has Wahlburgers, and Bubbles had
Bubbles Mansion. Unfortunately, they had to close their doors in 2010. According to CBC,
manager Brad Hartlin said the Halifax bar could no longer compete because students
stopped coming once legislation forced minimum drink prices up from $1 to $2.50.
Although eight Liquor Control Act violations had also hit their other bar, The Toothy Moose,
Hartlin claimed the closing of Bubbles Mansion wasn't related
to these legal troubles. No matter the reasoning, Trailer Park Boys was — and
still is — famous enough for their characters to open a bar in their name.
The characters Jim and Barbara Lahey had a daughter named Treena. Though she didn't
make many appearances throughout the series, they might recognize her now famous actor: Elliot Page.
While Page has gone on to star in major Hollywood projects like Juno, Inception, and The Umbrella
Academy, he walked onto the Trailer Park Boys set as an unknown and left as a beloved character.
"Would you be upset if your mom and Sam broke up?"
"Would Randy be upset if you gave him a double cheeseburger?"
Treena would visit Mr. Lahey in the summers and befriended Ricky despite
her father telling her to stay away from him and Julian. While Page only appeared in a few
episodes in Season 2, Treena is mentioned affectionately throughout the series.
John Dunsworth — who played the fan-favorite character Jim Lahey — passed away from an
unexpected illness at 71 years old in 2017. His daughter, Sarah Dunsworth-Nickerson – who
also plays the character of Sarah on the show – announced the sad news of
her father's passing via Twitter on October 16, 2017. The tweet read,
"With heavy and broken hearts the family of John F. Dunsworth would like to let
people know that our amazing husband, father and John Dunsworth has passed
away. John left this world peacefully after a short and unexpected illness."
After Dunsworth's death, the Season 12 finale concluded with a heartfelt
tribute to Dunsworth as well as some eerie words from Mr. Lahey,
"When you're dead, you're dead. But you're not quite so dead if you contribute something."
In the first episode of Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series,
Mr. Lahey is carried off by a hawk, which is probably the perfect ending
to a character who's always been dropping isms related to hawks.
Donny, the neighbor who's always screaming off-camera at the boys, might sound familiar.
That's because the character is the voice of Mike Smith. While Donny might appear
to unleash a whole lot of unnecessary rip-roaring monologues, he sometimes does it for good reason.
"Donny, watch your language! There are children in this park."
Instead of being a wordless bystander, Donny takes direct action by yelling uncontrollably
at loud noises — such as crashing cars and gunshots. We've all got a breaking point,
and sometimes a person just wants peace and quiet.
While Donny is finally seen on-camera in Season 12 his face is blurred out. His voice,
which could use a bar of soap or two, is still performed by Smith.
While Julian always wears the same outfit of a black shirt and blue jeans — usually while
holding a rum and coke — Ricky wearing the same exact shirt throughout each season is
to a different effect, even ending up ripped or duct-taped in some seasons.
While Ricky does change his clothes the running joke is that he has an extremely limited number
of shirts. Usually using one shirt per season keeps this joke rolling, and the
wear and tear give his wardrobe that authentic, Ricky-really-only-does-have-a-few-shirts feel..
It may be hard today to believe Trailer Park Boys originally ended after seven
seasons. When Netflix took over in 2014, they added five more seasons — as well
as specials, an animated series, and multiple feature-length films.
The Netflix deal came on the heels of Wells, Tremblay,
and Smith acquiring the rights to the show from original producers Mike Clattenburg,
Barrie Dunn, and Mike Volpe. In a statement, Clattenburg claimed,
"While the three of us have moved on to different TV and film projects, the Boys are the only ones
with the intimate knowledge and love of the show to keep Trailer Park Boys alive and well."
Not only has Netflix helped bring new life to TPB,
but they have brought the show to a vastly wider audience.
SwearNet — created by Wells, Tremblay, and Smith — features the entire world of Trailer Park Boys,
and has become a true business empire, creating its own beer, whiskey, and much more.
"He said he was really impressed with the customer
service, and the beer's going great, man. People are f—ing loving it!"
"Yeah!"
"And he wants more."
The website features clips of the Trailer Park Boys family doing what they do best,
as well as clips capturing Wells, Tremblay, and Smith out of character. Plus,
it even has its own movie — titled Swearnet: The Movie — which holds
the current Guinness World Record for the most uses of the F-word in movie history.
Creating an animated spinoff of a pre-existing, live-action television series is nothing new.
Star Trek, and the Canadian comedy Corner Gas turned to cartoons to tell stories that
would have been difficult with their flesh-and-blood actors. To this end,
in 2019, Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series debuted on Netflix as a direct
follow-up to the original series, which had just completed its 12th season.
According to The Cord, the franchise going animated was an in-universe plot development
choice. At the end of Season 12, a gaggle of characters were arrested for participating
in a drug smuggling operation, right after they collectively consumed pounds of magic
mushrooms. As the hallucinogenic effects of those mushrooms kick in,
the characters start to see themselves and their world as a giant cartoon.
Additionally, transitioning to an animated format allowed the production to address the death of
John Dunsworth. The producers opted to initially keep Mr. Lahey alive in the animated series,
constructing his dialogue from old voice lines recorded for episodes of the live-action series.
Trailer Park Boys was one of those early series which helped pioneer the mockumentary
format in comedic television. Well before The Office, Modern Family, or Abbott Elementary,
the Canadian series aimed to produce a seemingly realistic look at life of petty criminals in a
trailer park community. The characters were acutely aware of the cameras in their faces
and would comment on how they were being filmed for a documentary. According to The
Globe and Mail — to keep this idea going — the three main stars of the show rarely
appear in public or give interviews out of character or out of costume.
"I'm Bubbles."
"I'm Julian."
"Am I…? I'm Ricky, but my passport says Randy Lahey, so I'm not really sure who I am."
Smith, Wells, and Tremblay have received awards, appeared on talk shows, and performed live as
their Trailer Park Boys personas. They refuse to break character in behind-the-scenes footage
available as DVD extras, and in 2019, the trio set sail on a Trailer Park Boys-themed cruise,
playing their roles for five straight days while mingling with fans.
The titular trailer park trio might be petty ne'er-do-wells,
but offscreen, the franchise's actors and creative forces have
used their popularity and influence to push for social and legislative change.
In May 2021, Wells, Smith, and Tremblay starred in a 50-second public service announcement for
Nova Scotia's department of health, titled Part of Our Way Forward, where they advocate for getting
the COVID-19 vaccination. In March 2022, the Boys produced and posted to Twitter a video
to bring awareness to the issue of poor quality drinking water in indigenous Canadian communities,
"Government, just fix the indigenous water problem would ya? It's not that hard."
"Please."
"Fix it, please!"
According to HuffPost, back in 2016, the Nova Scotia government did away with a tax credit
that encouraged films and TV shows to shoot in the province. Since the TPB production
was a beneficiary of that program, the Boys waged the #SaveSunnyvale campaign on social
media in protest. Smith made a video, as Bubbles, warning audiences that their show could possibly
end without these financial advantages, and days later, a $10 million production fund was
established. Reportedly, $810,000 of this fund went to fund Season 10 of Trailer Park Boys.
The show's Canadian pride is often reflected in the music used throughout the franchise — a
lot of the needle drops go to some of Canada's most successful acts,
such as Rush, the Tragically Hip, and April Wine. Some Canadian music legends
have even physically appeared on Trailer Park Boys projects.
"Randy cheated and stole his answer."
"That's right, Alex. I'm a way bigger fan than him.
You're the best guitar player that ever lived."
Per the CBC, in 2003, the primary trio served as an opening act on a
package tour with Canadian bands Finger Eleven and Our Lady Peace. And in 2017,
Quebec-based EDM artist Marc Mysterio remixed Bubbles' signature folk tune. Mike Smith has
also popped up as Bubbles in videos by rap-reggae artist Snow and rock band The Tragically Hip.
According to Sleaze Roxx, in 2019, the Boys staged a full-length concert at the Hair in the Fair
Festival in Welland, Ontario, assisted by Canadian hair metal figure Sebastian Bach of Skid Row. This
wasn't too surprising as Bach has appeared as himself on multiple Trailer Park Boys projects.
Trailer Park Boys isn't just a single show, evolving through several formats with new
methods. After seven seasons on Canada's Showcase network, the feature films Countdown to Liquor Day
and Don't Legalize It were produced and then released in Canadian movie theaters in 2009
and 2014 respectively, bridging the original show with the Netflix series revival in 2014.
After 50 more episodes on the streaming service, Trailer Park Boys evolved into two
seasons' worth of the animated series, and then returned to live-action with Trailer Park Boys:
Jail. Distributed by SwearNet, the 2021 series of 10 episodes finds the criminally
mischievous Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles in a familiar place — prison. But this time,
it's a semi-permanent situation. While the trio usually don't leave the Sunnyvale Trailer Park,
they're prohibited from leaving the Sunnyvale Correctional Facility,
where it's considerably harder for them to get up to their usual shenanigans.