Trailer Park Boys: The Truth About Sunnyvale's Most Colorful Residents
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.
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00:00How did three petty criminals launch a business empire, land a Guinness World Record, and
00:06become hallucinations of themselves?
00:08It all started in a little place called Sunnyvale.
00:11While it may appear that the show's central trailer park has always looked the same, the
00:15first four seasons of Trailer Park Boys were filmed at different locations across Nova
00:20Scotia, Canada.
00:21Due to complaints by the residents, the boys were supposedly forced out of these parks,
00:25and eventually opted to purchase and build their own set, in Dartmouth.
00:29This is the park which fans started seeing from season five onwards.
00:33It's a terrible situation.
00:35Of course, the spinoff series Out of the Park sees the characters Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles
00:40going on adventures, making stops in Europe and the United States.
00:44But while the trio have gone international, the true home of the boys is their eponymous
00:48trailer park.
00:50There's been plenty of speculation surrounding the departure of Jonathan Torrance's J-Rock
00:55from the show.
00:56Torrance announced his departure via Twitter on April 20, 2016, and later said in his podcast,
01:02Taggart & Torrance,
01:03"...I ultimately felt that I had achieved all that I could with J-Rock, but he's been
01:06in my head and part of my existence for so long.
01:09It's weird."
01:10Although fans would love to see their favorite rapper drop more bars at park concerts, Torrance
01:15insists he gave the role everything he had.
01:19The show's theme song is tranquil, and gives fans a peaceful view of the park, before the
01:23F-bombs and complete comedic chaos takes over.
01:27It was directly influenced by singer Tony Bennett's signature song, I Left My Heart
01:31in San Francisco, which peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 when originally released
01:36in 1962.
01:38And in 2001, the tune peaked at No. 1 in the hearts of Trailer Park Boys fans when I Left
01:43My Heart in San Francisco was adapted by Blaine Morris into the theme song, Breeze.
01:48Although fans probably prefer calling it simply the Trailer Park Boys theme song, from Bennett
01:53to Morris, the song has, and will always be, a classic.
01:58While it can be more rewarding to watch a continuous, overarching story from start to
02:02finish, since audiences get to see character development, minor story arcs, and the plot
02:07payoff, Trailer Park Boys is meant to be episodic.
02:11People should be able to watch any episode, and still understand what's happening.
02:14"...If you come back short, you're gonna be responsible.
02:17Do you understand me?"
02:18"...I'm not stupid, Julian."
02:19"...Yes you are stupid, that's why I have to tell you this."
02:21These are the running jokes that any diehard fan will appreciate, such as Randy's shirt
02:26allergy, but a first-time viewer should be able to watch any episode and understand the
02:30plot.
02:31But, episodic or not, watching the show in chronological order allows viewers to better
02:36understand the characters.
02:38On the surface, the boys are just criminals who routinely come up with small-minded plans,
02:42break laws, and wind up in jail.
02:44But as episodes build on one another, Ricky, Julian, Bubbles, and the rest of the park
02:49residents become more charismatic, redeemable, and root-worthy.
02:54Jimmy Buffett has Margaritaville, Mark Wahlberg has Wahlburgers, and Bubbles had Bubbles Mansion.
03:00Unfortunately, they had to close their doors in 2010.
03:03According to CBC, manager Brad Hartland said the Halifax bar could no longer compete because
03:08students stopped coming once legislation forced minimum drink prices up from $1 to $2.50,
03:15Although eight Liquor Control Act violations had also hit their other bar, the Toothy Moose,
03:20Hartland claimed the closing of Bubbles Mansion wasn't related to these legal troubles.
03:24No matter the reasoning, Trailer Park Boys was, and still is, famous enough for their
03:28characters to open a bar in their name.
03:32The characters Jim and Barbara Leahy had a daughter named Trina.
03:36Though she didn't make many appearances throughout the series, they might recognize her as the
03:40now-famous actor, Elliot Page.
03:42While Page has gone on to star in major Hollywood projects like Juno, Inception, and The Umbrella
03:47Academy, he walked onto the Trailer Park Boys set as an unknown, and left as a beloved character.
03:53Would you be upset if your mom and Sam broke up?
03:56Would Randy be upset if you gave him a double cheeseburger?
03:59Trina would visit Mr. Leahy in the summers, and befriended Ricky, despite her father telling
04:03her to stay away from him and Julian.
04:05While Page only appeared in a few episodes in season two, Trina is mentioned affectionately
04:10throughout the series.
04:12John Dunsworth, who played the fan-favorite character Jim Leahy, passed away from an unexpected
04:17illness at 71 years old in 2017.
04:21His daughter, Sarah Dunsworth-Nicholson, who also plays the character of Sarah on the show,
04:25announced the sad news of her father's passing via Twitter on October 16th, 2017.
04:31The tweet read,
04:32With heavy and broken hearts, the family of John F. Dunsworth would like to let people
04:36know that our amazing husband, father, and grandfather, John Dunsworth, has passed away.
04:41John left this world peacefully after a short and unexpected illness.
04:45After Dunsworth's death, the season 12 finale concluded with a heartfelt tribute to Dunsworth,
04:50as well as some eerie words from Mr. Leahy.
04:53When you're dead, you're dead, but you're not quite so dead if you contribute something.
05:00In the first episode of Trailer Park Boys, the animated series, Mr. Leahy is carried
05:05off by a hawk, which is probably the perfect ending to a character who's always been dropping
05:09isms related to hawks.
05:12Donnie, the neighbor who's always screaming off-camera at the boys, might sound familiar.
05:17That's because the character is the voice of Mike Smith.
05:20While Donnie might appear to unleash a whole lot of unnecessary rip-roaring monologues,
05:24he sometimes does it for good reason.
05:26Donnie, watch your language!
05:29There are children in this park!
05:31Instead of being a wordless bystander, Donnie takes direct action by yelling uncontrollably
05:35at loud noises, such as crashing cars and gunshots.
05:39We've all got a breaking point, and sometimes a person just wants peace and quiet.
05:43While Donnie is finally seen on camera in season 12, his face is blurred out.
05:48His voice, which could use a bar of soap or two, is still performed by Smith.
05:54While Julian always wears the same outfit of a black shirt and blue jeans, usually while
05:58holding a rum and coke, Ricky wearing the same exact shirt throughout each season is
06:03to a different effect, even ending up ripped or duct-taped in some seasons.
06:07While Ricky does change his clothes, the running joke is that he has an extremely limited number
06:12of shirts.
06:13Usually using one shirt per season keeps this joke rolling, and the wear and tear give his
06:17wardrobe that authentic, Ricky-really-only-does-have-a-few-shirts feel.
06:22It may be hard today to believe Trailer Park Boys originally ended after seven seasons.
06:27When Netflix took over in 2014, they added five more seasons, as well as specials, an
06:32animated series, and multiple feature-length films.
06:35The Netflix deal came on the heels of Wells, Tremblay, and Smith acquiring the rights to
06:40the show from original producers Mike Klattenberg, Barry Dunn, and Mike Volpe.
06:45In a statement, Klattenberg claimed,
06:47"...while the three of us have moved on to different TV and film projects, the boys are
06:51the only ones with the intimate knowledge and love of the show to keep Trailer Park
06:54Boys alive and well."
06:56Not only has Netflix helped bring new life to TPB, but they have brought the show to
07:01a vastly wider audience.
07:03SwearNet, created by Wells, Tremblay, and Smith, features the entire world of Trailer
07:08Park Boys and has become a true business empire, creating its own beer, whiskey, and much more.
07:14"...he said he was really impressed with the customer service, beer's going great, man,
07:18people are f-----loving it, yeah, and he wants more."
07:23The website features clips of the Trailer Park Boys family doing what they do best,
07:27as well as clips capturing Wells, Tremblay, and Smith out of character.
07:30Plus, it even has its own movie, titled SwearNet The Movie, which holds the current Guinness
07:35World Record for the most uses of the F-word in movie history.
07:40Creating an animated spinoff of a pre-existing live-action television series is nothing new.
07:46Star Trek and the Canadian comedy Corner Gas turned to cartoons to tell stories that would
07:51have been difficult with their flesh-and-blood actors.
07:53To this end, in 2019, Trailer Park Boys, the animated series, debuted on Netflix as a direct
07:59follow-up to the original series, which had just completed its twelfth season.
08:03According to The Court, the franchise going animated was an in-universe plot development
08:07choice.
08:08At the end of season 12, a gaggle of characters were arrested for participating in a drug-smuggling
08:13operation right after they collectively consumed pounds of magic mushrooms.
08:18As the hallucinogenic effects of those mushrooms kick in, the characters start to see themselves,
08:22and their world, as a giant cartoon.
08:25Additionally, transitioning to an animated format allowed the production to address the
08:29death of John Dunsworth.
08:31The producers opted to initially keep Mr. Leahy alive in the animated series, constructing
08:35his dialogue from old voice lines recorded for episodes of the live-action series.
08:41Trailer Park Boys was one of those early series which helped pioneer the mockumentary format
08:46in comedic television.
08:48Well before The Office, Modern Family, or Abbott Elementary, the Canadian series aimed
08:52to produce a seemingly realistic look at the life of petty criminals in a trailer park
08:56community.
08:57The characters were acutely aware of the cameras in their faces, and would comment on how they
09:01were being filmed for a documentary.
09:03According to The Globe and Mail, to keep this idea going, the three main stars of the show
09:08rarely appear in public, or give interviews out of character, or out of costume.
09:12I'm Bobbles.
09:13I'm Julian.
09:14I'm Ricky, but my passport says Randy Leahy, so I'm not really sure who I am.
09:19Smith, Wells, and Tremblay have received awards, appeared on talk shows, and performed live
09:24as their Trailer Park Boys personas.
09:26They refused to break character in behind-the-scenes footage, available as DVD extras.
09:31And in 2019, the trio set sail on a Trailer Park Boys-themed cruise, playing their roles
09:36for five straight days while mingling with fans.
09:40The titular Trailer Park trio might be petty ne'er-do-wells, but offscreen, the franchise's
09:45actors and creative forces have used their popularity and influence to push for social
09:50and legislative change.
09:52In May 2021, Wells, Smith, and Tremblay starred in a 50-second public service announcement
09:57for Nova Scotia's Department of Health, titled Part of Our Way Forward, where they advocate
10:01for getting the COVID-19 vaccination.
10:04In March 2022, the boys produced and posted to Twitter a video to bring awareness to the
10:09issue of poor-quality drinking water in Indigenous Canadian communities.
10:13Government, just fix the Indigenous water problem, which it's not that hard!
10:18Fix it, please!
10:20According to HuffPost, back in 2016, the Nova Scotia government did away with a tax credit
10:25that encouraged films and TV shows to shoot in the province.
10:29Since the TPB production was a beneficiary of that program, the boys waged the hashtag
10:33Save Sunnyvale campaign on social media in protest.
10:37Smith made a video, as Bubbles, warning audiences that their show could possibly end without
10:42these financial advantages, and days later, a $10 million production fund was established.
10:47Reportedly, $810,000 of this fund went to fund season 10 of Trailer Park Boys.
10:54The show's Canadian pride is often reflected in the music used throughout the franchise.
10:59A lot of the needle drops go to some of Canada's most successful acts, such as Rush, The Tragically
11:04Hip, and April Wine.
11:06Some Canadian music legends have even physically appeared on Trailer Park Boys' projects.
11:10Randy cheated and he stole his answer.
11:13That's right, Alex, I'm a way bigger fan than him, you're the best guitar player that ever
11:17lived.
11:18Per the CBC, in 2003, the primary trio served as an opening act on a package tour with Canadian
11:23bands Finger Eleven and Our Lady Peace, and in 2017, Quebec-based EDM artist Marc Mysteria
11:30remixed Bubbles' signature folk tune.
11:32Mike Smith has also popped up as Bubbles in videos by rap reggae artist Snow and rock
11:37band The Tragically Hip.
11:39According to Sleaze Rocks, in 2019, the boys staged a full-length concert at the Hair in
11:44the Fair festival in Welland, Ontario, assisted by Canadian hair metal figure Sebastian Bach
11:49of Skid Row.
11:50This wasn't too surprising, as Bach has appeared as himself on multiple Trailer Park Boys projects.
11:57Trailer Park Boys isn't just a single show, evolving through several formats with new
12:01methods.
12:02After seven seasons on Canada's Showcase Network, the feature films Countdown to Liquor Day
12:07and Don't Legalize It were produced, and then released in Canadian movie theaters in 2009
12:12and 2014 respectively, bridging the original show with the Netflix series Revival in 2014.
12:18After 50 more episodes on the streaming service, Trailer Park Boys evolved into two seasons'
12:23worth of the animated series, and then returned to live action with Trailer Park Boys Jail.
12:28Distributed by SwearNet, the 2021 series of ten episodes finds the criminally mischievous
12:34Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles in a familiar place, prison.
12:38But this time, it's a semi-permanent situation.
12:40While the trio usually don't leave the Sunnyvale Trailer Park, they're prohibited from leaving
12:45the Sunnyvale Correctional Facility, where it's considerably harder for them to get up
12:48to their usual shenanigans.