Trailer Park Boys
The one thing I really wasn't expecting from this Canadian show was a decided lack of Zany, probably because I'd just got done watching the Kids in the Hall season 3 disks. I also had no idea it was done as a quasi-documentary not unlike the style of The Office. There's something about this style that precludes zany, somehow, so that even when they're filming one of the ridiculous gunfights in the series it still manages to maintain a straight face.
What I knew was the premise: Two losers (above, flanking) get out of jail, go back to the trailer park where they live, get into various forms of trouble, and end each season back in jail. The one thing the series really is not (same goes for The Office) is "riotously funny." (Screw reviewers, blurbers, and other fellaters of Peter Travers' cock.) It is, however, charming and strangely addictive. The "losers" aren't really sit-com losers, and the cast of characters are likewise more 3-dimentional than you'd expect. It's actually a good Guy show, as there's a lot of male friendship, of guys doing what's right, and banding together in the face of assholes and idiots. It's also a window into Canadian trailer park life, in which:
1) Canadians actually do say "eh" and words ending in "oot" a lot. I was beginning to think this was merely a stale American stereotype, but not according to Canadian white trash.
2) Canadians are extremely loose in their use of firearms. Fully 75% of the characters are armed, and there are around 5 non-fatal shootings in the first two seasons, along with around 400 expended rounds of ammunition. In your face, Michael Moore! Who knows where you were filming, but these people are bloodthirsty... if not very good shots. Our borders, in light of this information, are probably still safe.
3) Canadians like to drink alcohol and smoke pot. A lot. (Oddly, very little stoned humor, though.)
The best running gag is the glass of (I assume) rum and Coke the guy in the pic is holding. Again, not something that's really pointed out with a big stubby Canadian finger, but he always has that glass in varying stages of fullness in his hand. He even gets out of a crashed, overturned car with that glass (ice still clinking around) in his hand.
These shows live or die based on the quality of characters and acting involved, and this one definitely lives. Onward to seasons 3 and 4.
posted by Greg at 1:10 PM
4 Comments:
i like the rum and coke bit. It seems familiar to me though - like I have seen it before somewhere- I just can't remember where. If any one will actually remember it will be missreal - any comments?
"Middle-brow humor" was the phrase I was looking for in describing this show.
Yeah, there are definitely similar gags niggling at my brain without any actually coming to mind. The getting out of the overturned car with the glass still in his hand, and 2/3 full, was one of the few times I actually really laughed at this show, but this happens at the end of the 2nd season (ep. 12--short seasons) and is just something there in the scene. The camera doesn't take particular notice of it, which is why the gag works so well for me. A refreshing change from the American sit-com habit of the jokes mugging it up for the camera, frequently pausing for an [insert laughs here] moment.
Basically, to boil it down, this is the Canadian version of The Office, only with more likable characters.
It seems like Raindog is developing an affinity for Trailer Trash - I think he has lived in the boondocks too long!
The guys in that picture DO look a bit like some of his neighbors.
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