Vince Russo's The Brand

Hello everyone, thank you again for joining me this Tuesday for my weekly column. Today’s edition will be a quick intro to the television series Trailer Park Boys. It’s a mockumentary series as cameras follow the characters around and document their lives in the Sunnyvale Trailer Park.

The show was officially released in 2001. It’s main story is about a trio of of ex-cons who live in a trailer park and their ultimate goal is to make enough money quickly so that they can retire and never have to work again, usually through illegal means. They have to contend with the trailer park supervisor and his assistant who are always trying to get the boys busted and sent back to jail to restore peace and tranquility to the trailer park.

So far the show is in it’s tenth season currently with the eleventh season currently being worked on. It’s brilliantly written with a colorful cast of characters and plenty of comedy that will have you in stitches constantly and I’ll go ahead and give a brief introduction to the characters now.

Julian-Played by John Paul Tremblay: Julian is the de facto leader of the boys, being the main brains behind their operations and plans as well as being one of the few people who can keep Ricky under control. He’s always wearing a tight black shirt to show off his muscles while very rarely ever being seen without holding his trademark glass of rum and Coke on the rocks. While he can appear physically intimidating, he’s got a big heart and most of his actions are usually for the benefit and well being of his friends, family, and the trailer park residents. Later on in the series, he starts to become more desperate to make sure his plans come to fruition and his character takes a darker turn as he becomes manipulative and even keeps his closest friends in the dark as to what he’s got planned. During the majority of the series, he lives in a trailer that’s very dear to him as it was left to him by his grandmother when she had passed away. He is the only one of the boys throughout most of the series to actually live in a real trailer.

Ricky-Played by Robb Wells: Ricky can be considered the wild card character of the group. Even though he’s a loving, caring father and friend, he’s quick to anger and usually goes off the deep end very easily, not taking long to resorting to throwing things around or destroying property in a fit of rage. His favorite past times are getting drunk and stoned and spending time with his friends and family. One of his most notable traits is his severe lack of intelligence as he barely managed to pass grade 10 in one of the early seasons, but was able to pass grade 11 later on. Another thing about Ricky, which is tied to his lack of intelligence, is his inability to pronounce or use some words or phrases correctly which has since been dubbed “Rickyisms” such as “Catch 23” “Denial and error” “Get two birds stoned at once” and “Gorilla see, gorilla do.” For most of the series Ricky lives in a beat up old New Yorker that degrades and gets worse each season which has been officially called the “Sh*tmobile.” However, despite his shortcomings, he more than makes up for this in his street smarts and knowledge of how to grow weed. He’s able to get the boys out of tough spots when the cops do happen to show up as he can easily talk his way out of almost any situation just using simple conversation to throw them off and forget why they were even there.

Bubbles-Played by Mike Smith: Bubbles is the series’ breakout character and the one that’s received the most development. Originally a supporting character, his popularity would eventually push him into being one of the three main protagonists alongside Ricky and Julian. Abandoned by his parents at a young age, he was taken in by Julian’s grandmother and ended up living in a shed outside of her trailer where he found comfort in the stray cats of the park, deciding to make himself their keeper as the ‘kitties” quickly became his new family. He has a very unique appearance trait as he wears glasses that magnify his eyes, making them look huge as well as speaking in a Maritimer English accent. He serves as the voice of reason for the boys when things start to get out of hand or if Ricky and Julian end up fighting each other, he’s the one that calms everyone down and smooths things over. When he’s not helping Ricky and Julian out or taking care of his kitties, he’s working on his main source of income which is salvaging old shopping carts, repairing them, and then selling them back to the store, sometimes being the one damaging them or throwing them into a ravine, only to come collect them later. Bubbles prides himself on being able to get by on his own financially but that doesn’t stop him from helping his friends out when they need him. His main means of transportation is a go-kart that Ricky bought for him.

Jim Lahey-Played by John Dunsworth: Jim Lahey is the alcoholic trailer park supervisor and main antagonist of the series. He used to be a police officer until one Halloween night, as the result of a prank by the boys, he ended up getting liquor on himself and his car crashed into a trailer and his partner wasted no time in arresting him which led to his dismissal from the force. Ever since then he had made it his mission to make the boys’ lives miserable and make sure they go back to jail in order to keep the trailer park safe and free from what he perceives to be their negative influence. One of Jim Lahey’s main traits is his “Sh*t metaphors” such as “The sh*t apple doesn’t fall far from the sh*t tree” “Sh*tageddon” Sh*t blizzard* and “The winds of sh*t.” He lives with his assistant and lover Randy in the supervisor’s trailer where they come up with their various plans to bust the boys and have them sent back to jail. Jim Lahey got the job of trailer park supervisor from his ex-wife Barbara who owns the park and through her the two of them have a daughter named Trina who only appears in season 2. As far as his individual relationships with the boys go, he can tolerate Bubbles, dislikes Julian even though he is physically attracted to him, and absolutely detests Ricky and the main reason for his extreme hatred toward him is revealed in the finale of Season 10 which is the biggest plot twist of the series thus far.

Randy-Played by Pat Roach: Randy is Jim Lahey’s assistant trailer park supervisor and lover. Two of his defining traits is his refusal to wear a shirt and his addiction to cheeseburgers. He was brought in one night to the Lahey home by Barbara after she saw him on the street prostituting himself out for cheeseburgers under the name “Smokey” which is when him and Jim’s relationship blossomed into what it is currently. He serves Mr. Lahey with extreme dedication and devotion, doing whatever is asked of him with little to no complaint although there are times when he tries to talk Mr. Lahey down when his plans get too wild and dangerous. He was once a friend of the boys when they were younger but they grew apart and Randy quickly became a target for their ridicule, especially because of his large gut that sticks out grotesquely thanks to him not wearing a shirt ever. Whenever he’s challenged to a fight or challenges someone else, the first thing he does is remove his pants as they restrict his movement, much to the disgust of his adversary and any witnesses around.

And those are just the five main characters of the series as there are plenty more, all with their own unique traits and characteristics. I highly recommend this show to anyone who enjoys a good comedy. Thanks for reading and sound off below.