I’ve decided Sunday is a day of rest. Not that I didn’t normally spend Sundays doing absolutely nothing, but now I’ve stopped feeling guilty about it. I’ve even stopped doing exercise, save taking Porter out for a stroll. I have to say it’s a great mental cleanser.
And when my mind is free of concern, I have discovered there is nothing better with which to fill it than Trailer Park Boys, the brilliantly braindead mockumentary from the cold northern reaches of Canada. Set in a Nova Scotian trailer park, the series follows the everyday misadventures of Julian, Ricky, and (my favorite) Bubbles, a seemingly retarded charmer who lives in a shed, but is actually the sharpest tool in there. Think Reno 911, but with an even keener eye for misanthropy.
It’s a slow burner, for sure—it took a couple of episodes before it finally clicked for me—but now that I’m hooked I’ve been enjoying the increasingly ludicrous self-defeating scenarios that Julian and Ricky concoct before they find their way into another prison stint to bookend each season. No description really does it justice. Like Napoleon Dynamite, Trailer Park Boys has that strange quality that makes it best in recollection. It’s funny when you’re watching it, but downright hilarious when repeating lines back to fellow fans. To wit: “Oh my fuck, boys! What if it’s a samsquanch?”
Trailer Park Boys DVDs [Amazon]
Mutual friends of ours recently turned me onto this show, Joel, and you nailed it when you called it a “slow burner”; I thought it was kind of lame for the first episode or two. And then it, too, clicked. It’s pure stupid genius, with some of the best swearing and ridiculous situation comedy I’ve seen in years. The characters kind of remind me of the old Red Green show, only everyone’s drunk (on “swish!”) and totally useless.
I’ve been watching this for a couple years now - I bought the dvd set to catch up last year. Just genius all the way around.