Livin' the Canadian dream

A mockumentary defined by Dictionary.com as "A film or television program that is shot like a documentary but is fictitious and usually satirical."

There is no need to bust out the "Canadian tux" for this television series. The popular series entitled, 'Trailer Park Boys' premiered on Canada's Showcase television network in 2001. This show is a mockumentary created by Mike Clattenburg which follows the fictional happenings of Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Nova Scotia. The series follows the characters around in a consistently shot mockumentary style with long takes that produce the style that all of the occurring events are real.

Occasionally, the characters will engross the cameramen in the plot by speaking directly to them or by the crew becoming directly involved in the action. The characters have made countless appearances and never break character.

The show has produced many unconventional yet loveable characters. The three main characters are Ricky, Julian and Bubbles who are ex-cons and are also trying to find ways to stay out of jail and "get rich quick." Each character has signature traits such as Julian, the man with a plan who is never seen without a coke and rum in hand, or Bubbles, who has a tremendous love for felines, lives in a shed and is never seen without his thick, coke-bottle glasses. Ricky is the character who isn't considered too intelligent as he has yet to receive his "grade ten" and looks down on Julian's "book learning." There are many other memorable characters in the show such as Lucy who is the mother of Ricky's child and dresses in stereotypical trailer park style. Jim Lahey is an ex-police officer who was fired from the force and is now the trailer park supervisor. Along with Randy, Lahey's shirtless, cheeseburger loving partner, Lahey is always trying to get Ricky and Julian back in jail and foil all of the boys' schemes to get rich.

All of the seven seasons have the same general premise. Many of the seasons begin with the boys getting out of jail (after being sent in at the end of the previous season) and vowing never to go back. The boys come up with a number of schemes such as growing and selling mass quantities of marijuana, as well as hash, in various ways. The boys will do anything from smuggle dope to sell into Snoop Dogg concerts to stealing a large amount of hash and hiding it out in the open. Ricky, Julian and Bubbles lay out all of their hash in front of Julian's trailer to make a hash driveway. Throughout all of the shenanigans the boys and the residents of Sunnyvale always remain united and close knit. More often than not the schemes to make money go awry, but the plans the boys have, how they go wrong, and the memorable characters are what have given "Trailer Park Boys" a strong following.

The series last episode aired in December of 2008. The show plays on reruns now and has produced two movies, "Trailer Park Boys: The Movie" and "Countdown to Liquor Day." The more recent movie was released in Canada in September of 2009. If this show is of interest, other similar shows are "Weeds," "The Office" or "Summer Heights High."