Wholesome Trashy Comedy

Trailer Park Boys is a Canadian television show that follows the misadventures of Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles in a Nova Scotia trailer park. Netflix took over Trailer Park Boys for season 8 and on. Netflix gave the The show focuses on how the trio will make money. The trio has tried anything from growing dope to selling clean urine. This is the basis of the show, and it goes off on many tangents. Nearly every season begins with the gang getting out of jail, and the seasons typically end with them going back. This is a show that will have you constantly laughing. Trailer Park Boys is a nonstop gut busting series that holds a special place in my heart.

The show has many great aspects that I love to share with people, but I’m going to narrow it down to a couple. The first aspect that really sticks out to me from the show, is the style it is shot in. Trailer Park Boys is shot in a mockumentary camera style and adds to the originality of the show. I could say that I have a slight bias, because this is my favorite style of camera angle. For example, Paranormal Activity really grabbed by attention because of the camera style. This camera style, allows the show to capture the hijinks in an unique way that sets it apart from others.

The comedy in this show is slapstick crazy. This is a show that I have been physically sore from laughing. The ridiculousness that happens, leaves my jaw open. The get rich quick scams never get old, and they never stop amazing me. The best part of the comedy to me, is from actor Rob Wells. Rob plays the character Ricky in the show, and is depicted as being very dumb. The fans of the show have labeled Ricky’s misplaced words “Rickyisms.” For example, Ricky has said “Brain Phones” when meaning smart phones. The comedy is constant throughout each episode, making it hard to stop watching.

The last aspect of the show that really keeps me going back, is the character attachment and development. The majority of the characters have been on the show since it’s start, which causes a great attachment to the characters you like. For instance, one of the main characters of the show recently passed away in real life. In the upcoming season, they are finding a way to write his character out due to his irreplaceability. Fans are so connected to the current actor, that changing actors and keeping the same character, would cause a huge uproar. This causes a much stronger fanbase, than a show without character development.

Trailer Park Boys is a show that I will always go back to watch. I have a strong connection with nearly all of the characters. This is a show that I can watch any time of the day, or even while i’m doing homework. I would recommend Trailer Park Boys to nearly anyone that enjoys a ridiculous comedy show.

Trailer Park Boys Out of the Park: Europe

Even as someone who has watched the series beforehand and loved it, I was unaware of this little "spin-off" of the show until I saw it on the Netflix Originals page on Wikipedia. Now, I have to admit again, Trailer Park Boys technically isn't a Netflix Original either (it was first premiered on Canadian TV channel Showcase), but the show, like Arrested Development, got a lot more popular globally once it aired on Netflix (although unlike Arrested Development, TBP was popular while it was still running (though mainly in Canada,), even getting its own movie in 2006), thus making Netflix commission not only a few extra seasons, but also 2 more movies and apparently a spin-off miniseries, which we will talk about now.

For those out of the know, Trailer Park Boys is (also like The Office) a mockumentary about a group of people living in a Canadian trailer park (some ex-convicts). And this miniseries in particular centers around the 3 main protagonists of the show, Ricky (a fun-loving, dim-witted lowlife) Julian (who is probably the most selfless and honorable out of all of them, though he commits the same amount of crimes with Ricky), and Bubbles (who I honestly can't even describe because he's just so weird), as they were supposedly getting a paid vacation to Europe. Or so they thought, as Julian failed to realize that they were to perform a series of tasks for money, due to him failing to read a contract all the way through. So, the first episode, being set in London, has the trio doing numerous ridiculous tasks, including imitating the famous Beatles walks on the Abbey Road crosswalk, attempting to get an autograph from famous British comedian Noel Fielding (whose performance in this I dare not spoil), and even stealing Queen Elizabeth's underwear.

The show's style is, as established, largely a mockumentary, with cameramen being acknowledged and even excess cameras (hidden cameras, security cameras, etc.) being used. The humor is equally as raw. To put it lightly, the show is vulgar as fuck. The main trio used the F word like it was the word "the," along with other swear words. But the humor is very much like that in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, where the characters act hilarious stupid/oblivious or do something horrible that's bound to give them their comeuppance. So the humor usually relies on vulgar humor, black humor, or just general stupidity. However, whereas Always Sunny's main protagonists are outright horrible people with almost no redeeming qualities whatsoever, TBP's protagonists are generally more sympathetic and human.

Overall, TBP OotP: Europe (as well as the general show to a lesser extent) is possibly one of the best modern comedies running today, combining the worlds of other comedies like The Office and Arrested Development with Always Sunny. And the best part is, it did this LONG before any of these shows (it premiered in 2001, with the movie it spawned from in 1999), so it may have very well been the inspiration of these comedies. It's a show that I very much enjoy and my brothers very much enjoy. And hopefully, if you like the sound of a vulgar/black comedy mockumentary, you'll enjoy it very much.