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Trailer Park Boys

Trailer Park Boys celebrate their 20th anniversary

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From a media release:

It’s hard to believe that the iconic Canadian mockumentary television series, Trailer Park Boys is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. The show that follows the misadventures of Ricky, Julian and Bubbles in Sunnyvale Trailer Park premiered on Showcase on April 22, 2001.

The show has seen 13 seasons, 3 feature films, 2 animated series, 2 Out of the Park series, 6 specials and live concert tours throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America. It seems there is no stopping the comedy trio who continue to be loved by fans around the world.

Trailer Park Boys Jail, the 13th season of the show, can be seen on their very own streaming service app, Trailer Park Boys/Swearnet. Appearances by David Lawrence (Terry from Fubar), Alex Lifeson (Rush) and directed by Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall fame, the show feels like a Canadian comedy, group hug.

How do the Boys plan on celebrating this milestone? “I am going to smoke 20 joints today” – Ricky. “I am out of the vodka hustling game and into crypto currency and NFT’s, it’s the future” – Julian. “I am just thankful that we are all still together and love each other, plus the 20 years of free cat food has been deecent.” – Bubbles.

The TPB brand will be celebrating the 20th Anniversary throughout the year with a roster of tier-one licensing partnerships from publishing to apparel and beyond. New product releases will kick-off in July. A major 20th Anniversary event is slated for October 2021 which will include retail partnerships and a major contest giveaway.

Also, stay tuned for some NFT’s of your favourite Trailer Park Boys characters. Even Ricky, Julian and Bubbles know about the trendy technology and are creating some digital art for their fans. Sunnyvale has just levelled up.

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Degrassi, Featured, Trailer Park Boys

Television Shows That Impacted Canadian Culture

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Canadian television is an interesting blend of homegrown material and foreign shows. Like anywhere else, some of these shows have managed to have a profound effect on pop culture here, and have proven to stand the test of time. These are some shows and series that have had a lasting effect in Canada.

Degrassi: The Next Generation
The Degrassi series was a smash hit in Canada and was picked up by Teen Nick in the states. Even after 20 years, the legacy and impact of Degrassi is still felt. Degrassi Junior High was one of the first drama series in Canada that was directed with the teenage market in mind, and Degrassi: The Next Generation expanded on the concept in the early 2000s. This was the groundwork for many different shows that came later, and it is credited with launching the careers of many actors and performers, notably the incredibly successful musician Drake.

Degrassi didn’t shy away from controversial topics, and in fact it was one of the first televised series to shine a light on these issues that would later become widely discussed. It has a way of teaching empathy, and helping people understand different walks of life. In another light, this series has also become a blueprint for other drama series as it illustrates how to grow and build characters, and keep a series going through cast changes over years while fighting to stay relevant. Degrassi has proven to be an impactful and important series in Canada that is likely to live on for generations.

Ed, Edd n Eddy
Ed, Edd n Eddy is the brainchild of Canadian cartoonist Danny Antonucci who is responsible for numerous animated series. The show was a massive success in Canada and globally, and became one of Cartoon Network’s most successful properties. Over a 10-year span, it had 70 episodes and won several awards like a Reuben Award, Leo Awards and a SOCAN Award.

If you ask people who grew up during the early 2000s, many remember this show fondly. It had a certain charm and an endearing structure that revolved around the main character’s whacky schemes to fund their love of Jawbreaker candies. There is something about this show that resonates deeply in Canada and if it were not for the success of Ed, Edd n Eddy, many later Canadian cartoons like Total Drama Island would never have had their chance to shine.

World Poker Tour
While it may not be specifically Canadian, the live World Poker Tour series certainly was a massive inspiration for people across the country. Canada is known globally as a massive hotbed for poker talent, and the boom can be traced back to this live series that brought the game into the households of millions of Canadians.

The World Poker Tour was very enthralling and found a way to keep the audience engaged, even during the tedious segments. One of the big reasons for this has been contributed to the entertaining chemistry between co-hosts Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten who kept things lively throughout the program. This series really managed to capture the intensity and suspense of high-stakes poker games and the long term effects of the WPT cannot be ignored.

Trailer Park Boys
Whether you love it or hate it, you cannot deny that TPB has had a lasting effect in Canadian culture. The long-running series has become a phenomenon at home and abroad, and there are legions of fans around the world supporting the many reboots, specials and spinoffs the comedy trio have produced. Somehow, even amongst claims of being stale and past its prime, TPB lives on.

Trailer Park Boys certainly does not represent all of the country, but it does have a specific Canadian charm that comes across in many of the jokes and dialogue that the series has become known for. Pop culture is rife with running jokes and references to characters that have appeared on the show and many millennials of today can say they grew up watching the TPB hijinks. The chemistry between the main trio of Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles and the oftentimes improvised script that plays out between the characters can only have proven to be a formula for comedy excellence that has managed to preserve over 20 years.

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Crawford

Links: Crawford, Season 1

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Crawford’s Alice Moran on CBC’s “Joyful and Kind” new comedy series
“Wendy has the most normal problems of anyone in the family, but she is the least chill in dealing with them. Her parents are being blackmailed, her brother thinks he can talk to raccoons and in Wendy’s brain the biggest problem is that her boyfriend isn’t committed. It’s a real treat to play a character who thinks like that.” Continue reading.

From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

Link: Jill Hennessy plays matriarch of weirdly dysfunctional family in Crawford
“When I got the script I had to read the first three episodes first a couple of times to get a through line; I couldn’t figure out what was happening. But that’s what I loved. I had no clue where this is going. All I knew was that in the first episode my character walks in with a police officer and they say, ‘Mama, we’re not sure what happened, but somebody peed in the sink.’ That got me. They had me at someone peed in the sink.” Continue reading.

From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

Link: CBC’s Crawford is weird, in a beguiling and hopelessly sweet way
The 10-part series is indeed weird, but in the most beguiling, hopelessly sweet way. It has a fine cast and a style and tone that is bonkers but seductive. As with all of Clattenburg’s work, it’s really about getting along, being decent to other people no matter how strange they are and being kind to animals. Continue reading.

From Norm Wilner of Now Toronto:

Link: TV review: new CBC comedy Crawford isn’t remotely funny
Crawford, the new ensemble comedy from Mike Clattenburg and his frequent collaborator Mike O’Neill, is similar to Clattenburg’s cult smash Trailer Park Boys in that it’s also a show about eccentric characters played by unquestionably committed comic performers.

I suppose it is also similar in that I did not find it funny – like, at all. Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Crawford’s Kyle Mac on CBC’s eccentric new family comedy
“Even after reading the scripts, performing them on the day and seeing the show I didn’t really know what to expect. I was super stoked to get this part, but I thought the script was super weird. I dig weird things, but I also know Mike Clattenburg is a brilliant man so I was optimistic.” Continue reading.

From Bill Brioux of the Canadian Press:

Link: CBC launches new comedy ‘Crawford’ digitally first, TV later
Whether it’s the father “Dre” on “Black-ish,” “Appa” on “Kim’s Convenience,” or especially Homer Simpson on “The Simpsons,” when sitcom dads talk, nobody seems to listen.

Here then is a novel TV twist: a dad who cannot talk but won’t be ignored.

That’s the deal on “Crawford,” a new CBC comedy that begins streaming this Friday. All 12 episodes can be binged before the show is broadcast this summer on the main network, making this CBC’s first major series to launch first digitally. Continue reading.

From Alexandra Pope of Canadian Geographic:

Link: Q&A: Director Mike Clattenburg on “Crawford,” a comedic tribute to raccoons
There’s one scene where he rescues a raccoon out of a tree. It was pretty incredible; the raccoon felt safe enough to climb down the tree and jump into his basket. We didn’t expect it to go that far, but Kyle continued to act the scene with the raccoon trying to climb out of the box to sniff him. He really engaged the animal and it really had a relationship with him personally, moreso than anyone on set. Continue reading.

From Ron Johnson of Post City:

Link: Actor Jill Hennessy talks Toronto hangout spots, raccoon invasions and new TV show Crawford
“The raccoons invading the home in the first episode throws everyone into chaos in a necessary way. It was necessary to upset the balance of this family to reinvigorate relationships. The raccoons are the instigators of a lot of really good positive stuff and a lot of comedy. It’s really emotional and it’s hilarious.” Continue reading. 

From Sean McIntosh of the Red Deer Advocate:

Link: Former Red Deer Advocate papergirl starring in CBC show
Alice Moran went from delivering the Red Deer Advocate to delivering lines on television.

Moran, 29, stars in CBC’s Crawford, which debuted Friday. Before she made it on the screen, Moran lived in Red Deer for a few years when she was growing up, attending Holy Family School. Continue reading.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Trailer Park Boys

Link: ‘Trailer Park Boys’ actor John Dunsworth has died at the age of 71

From Alexander Quon of Global News:

Link: ‘Trailer Park Boys’ actor John Dunsworth has died at the age of 71
Actor John F. Dunsworth, best known for his portrayal of Jim Lahey in the comedy series Trailer Park Boys, has died at the age of 71.

The news was confirmed by Dunsworth’s daughter Sarah in an email. Continue reading.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Trailer Park Boys

Bubbles is a Rock Star: Mike Smith’s Life in Music

If you are a fan of Trailer Park Boys, you have to admit that Bubbles is one of the greatest characters in TV history. He is Sunnyvale’s most awkward and peculiar resident, but also perhaps the most heartwarming. You cannot help but get the feels for this shed dwelling, feline fanatic, mumble-mouth in thick Coke bottle glasses. Bubbles is also the perfect foil to Ricky and Julian’s endless parade of dumb schemes and shenanigans.

But life does not imitate art in, well, real life for Mike Smith, the actor who has portrayed Bubbles since the debut of Trailer Park Boys in 2001. Between his role on the show and his true persona, Smith is a bit of an expert at living a double life, seamlessly shifting between total nerd and cool guy.

Cool guy as in rock star cool.

Smith’s adventures in rock n’ roll predate Bubbles, Jim Lahey, and the rest of the gang at Sunnyvale Trailer Park. Hailing from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Smith began playing pretty early on. Around age 20, he formed a cover band called Sandbox Legacy in 1992. The band soon morphed into an alternative rock unit, writing and performing original songs.

In short order, the band dropped “legacy” from the title and became Sandbox, releasing the independent EP Maskman in 1993. It was a brilliant capture of the 90s rock sound, balancing ethereal acoustic numbers with crunchy, aggressive guitar driven songs.

With a lineup of Smith and Jason Archibald on guitars, Scott MacFarlane on bass, drummer Troy Shanks, and lead vocalist Paul Murray — a relative of iconic singer Anne Murray — Sandbox attracted major label attention early on. The band eventually signed with EMI in Canada and Nettwerk in the USA and dropped Bionic, their first full-length album in 1995.

The riff heavy, shimmery single “Curious” achieved regular airplay on a number of outlets including MuchMusic, propelling the song to #8 on the Canada Alternative chart. The album subsequently yielded the singles “Collide” and “Here and There” to positive critical and audience receptions, netting the band a nomination for Best New Group at the 1996 Juno Awards.

Sandbox followed up the success with the release of A Murder at the Glee Club in 1997, an ambitious concept album about a killer grappling with his actions. The band members decided to part ways in the years after A Murder at the Glee Club to pursue divergent interests, clearing the way for Smith to focus on his acting and join the Trailer Park Boys cast. The rest, as they say, is history.

But Smith has continued to keep one foot in music during his decade-and-a-half as Bubbles, often appearing as the beloved character. Case in point is the comedy rock group Bubbles & the Sh*t Rockers, which features Smith and none other than all-time guitar hero Alex Lifeson of Rush. Their music can be heard in the film Trailer Park Boys: The Movie.

Smith, once again as Bubbles, even shared the stage with Guns N’ Roses at tour stops in 2010 and 2011. It seems the proprietor of The Kittyland Love Center has a way of rubbing shoulders with rock royalty. The moral of the story, as demonstrated by Smith’s multiple talents, is to never pigeonhole the strange, cat-obsessed guy in the trailer park. Despite his nerdy appearance, he just might be a musical genius.

Main image: Wikimedia.

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