Image courtesy of Netflix/Entertainment One
From 2001 to 2008, Canadian television viewers had the distinct pleasure of spending their time with the "Trailer Park Boys," three Nova Scotian degenerates drawn to absurd trouble like moths to a flame. With a mockumentary film crew following their every move, the guys repeatedly get caught up in increasingly dubious get-rich-quick schemes and low-level criminal activity. The show gathered a large cult following in Canada, resulting in a seven season run on Showcase and a couple of feature films.
However, the show has never been broadcast on American television, yet somehow it has developed legions of fans in the lower 48. It could have never happened without Netflix, the streaming media giant who took Canada's dirty little secret (dirty being the keyword) and turned it into a worldwide hit in the years after the show came to an unwanted end.
Netflix does not reveal usage data, but one can read the tea leaves and see that "Trailer Park Boys" has proven to do exceptionally well for the service. How is that obvious? In partnership with the show's stars Robb Wells, Mike Smith and John Paul Tremblay, who acquired the rights to the series from the original producers and financed the production themselves, Netflix is releasing the newest season of "Trailer Park Boys" years after its initial run.
This is not the first time Netflix has brought back a beloved series long after the cameras stopped rolling. In 2013, Netflix released a fourth season of "Arrested Development," years after the show languished on Fox for three years. The reception to the show's fourth season was divisive. Many applauded the show for taking bold creative risks that played with the largely untapped potential of crafting a show specifically for binge-viewing. On the other hand, many were peeved that the show they loved seemed to have become something else entirely as the years went on. As they say, you can never go home again.
Fans of "Trailer Park Boys" need not worry that their show will succumb to the same fate. While everyone looks a little fatter and a lot older, very little has changed about the show's distinct charm. Sure, it is in widescreen HD now; the aesthetic differences between its distinctively lo-fi former self and now are clear. This considered, it never once feels in the season's 10 episodes that the show went away and came back, nor does it feel like they're picking up where they left off. It is almost as if "Trailer Park Boys" has kept going on this whole time.
The reason why is actually quite simple. "Trailer Park Boys" never really did go away, as it evolved into a traveling live show. As a result, it's abundantly clear that Mike Smith did not have to get used to Bubbles' iconic bottle glasses all over again. Nobody had to go back to the drawing board to give Ricky more creative uses for hash. Crazy things always continued to happen at the trailer park.
It is important to note that the revival of "Trailer Park Boys" does not serve as a particularly welcoming introduction to new viewers. It is rewarding to those who already have a firm understanding of who the characters are and what drives them to do what they do. This show has never really been for everyone, and its appeal definitely has not broadened during its absence.
Luckily, every prior season as well as the films are also available via Netflix stream. For those who share its unique sensibilities, it is worth the effort.
Reach the reporter at zheltzel@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @zachheltzel.
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