MovieChat Forums > Trailer Park Boys (2004) Discussion > They seem clueless

They seem clueless

posted 9 years ago by Ramboman24
13 replies | jump to latest

I honestly think they need to rewatch the first 5 seasons to see how bad they've lost their touch. After season 6 the show became noticeably more cartoony and it never recovered.

But rather than attempting to return to the style of show that people fell in love with, they've continued to beat us over the head with the newer cartoony style of TPB show where all the jokes just get taken too far, and every character feels a lot stupider than they used to.

They used to maintain a good balance of stupidity and what felt like realisim. As the seasons progressed they gradually became less realistic but Season 7 is where they took it too far and they haven't been able to take a step back since.

Season 7
Countdown to Liquor Day
Don't Legalize It
Season 8
Season 9 and now
Season 10

How much longer are they going to give us this half assed TPB material? Why can't they see that all of the characters have become unlikable and boring.

Ricky just says the dumbest things now. He used to be the king of telling people off and being a dick, and then he just started calling people ridiculous names that make him sound like a 2 year old.

Bubbles became really whiny.

Julian never really changed but they used to attempt to make him funny by having him read books and stuff.

Lahey is just over the top and stupid in every season now doesn't even feel like a real character.

Randy is still kind of funny but also got too cartoony and stopped feeling like a "real" person.

I don't know, I liked when the show used to be more subtle. It just seems like they think that if they just over act in every scene and act as dumb as possible they can get a pass.

It just seems half assed. Just cause it's trailer park boys doesn't mean anything goes.

Make up your OWN mind. Don't be a follower.
I didn't quite nail it - Christian Bale

[–] Ramboman24 9 years ago

Remember in Season 5 when it actually felt like a big deal that Lucy was going to go shoot a porno and you kind of felt bad for Ricky?

It's because the characters still had a level of subtlety and realism to them. In Lucy's case, she was a bit sleazy but she wasn't the complete "slut" that she's turned into in later seasons.

It was better when they used to make a big deal out of Lucy being slutty and it seemed like she was somewhat embarrassed of it. Then it just became like, oh Lucy banged this guy, and that guy, and that guy, and it doesn't seem like a big deal to anyone.

Each character just became a more extreme version of their prior self until none of the characters felt realistic anymore but rather one dimensional.

Lucy - bigger slut
Sarah - bigger b-tch
Barb - got dumber and more "Trailerish"
Ricky - got dumber
Bubbles - got more whiney, "cute", and annoying
Julien - more of psychopath business man
Lahey - became an even crazier drunk. It felt like a big deal the time that he went over the deep end and strapped dynamite to himself, then they just started making him that drunk every season and it got old quick.

Randy - more cartoony but probably the character that has remained the most consistent. He overacts a little too often now but aisde from that he's not too bad.

Make up your OWN mind. Don't be a follower.
I didn't quite nail it - Christian Bale

[–] Philip_90 9 years ago

Great points overall. I'm a huge Trailer Park Boys fan but I honestly can't stand Seasons 8-10 and even though Season 7 definitely showed its limitations it had its funny moments for sure. Plus, I've too seen the Films + TV-Special but it wasn't very good either albeit it explained like what happened to Ray and such.

Earlier this year I bought the boxset that features Seasons 1-6 and later purchased Season 7 separately (it's better than Netflix and especially if you don't have internet around) and well, that's it. I'm not buying any other physical seasons of TPB because that's what I loved about the show and without the great Mike Clattenburg it went to the pits.

I'd still like to have my DVD Box + S7 signed by John Paul Tremblay, Robb Wells, Mike Smith, John Dunsworth and Jonathan Torrens but I doubt it'll ever happen.

[–] Ramboman24 9 years ago

Just curious, do you like Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys? That was the last thing they did that I remember being impressed with.

Also, did you like Countdown to Liquor Day and Don't Legalize It cause those are both Clattenburg too. Wasn't really a fan of those movies personally.

Make up your OWN mind. Don't be a follower.
I didn't quite nail it - Christian Bale

[–] Philip_90 9 years ago

Hm, no can't say I liked it. It was OK, though.

[–] PrimeMinisterOfTheSinister 9 years ago

Season 6? It became more cartoony in Season 4. The boys beat the crap out of each other because they thought Julian was a samsquantch. Trevor got molested by a mountain lion. Conky. Mother *beep* Conky. Season 5 had the hash driveway and Lahey went from being a realistic drunk to an over-the-top liquor fiend. 4-6 aren't bad seasons and they have some funny stuff but they aren't nearly as good as the first three.

[–] Ramboman24 9 years ago

Season 4 did have cartoony elements in it but it was still funny and had moments of what made the earlier seasons great. There was more realistic stuff mixed with cartoony stuff. Season 5 was less cartoony than season 4. Season 6 really wasn't too bad either even though it was short.

But Season 7 is where imo they lost all of the funny "realism" and the whole thing just seemed unbelievable. It had a couple funny moments but it was pretty stupid. There's less interviews, and it seemed like more of a typical tv show than a mockumentary.

It's also the first season where they started travelling outside of the park and trying to do too much rather than keeping things simple and focused.

Make up your OWN mind. Don't be a follower.
I didn't quite nail it - Christian Bale

[–] PrimeMinisterOfTheSinister 9 years ago

Yeah, I don't like Season 7 and I think it's the first 'bad' one, though I don't think it's really bad, just not very good. I don't think these new seasons are really bad, either, just not very good. I still maintain that it's Season 4 where the show started to go down, though. People on the forum here seem to be forgetting that and deifying Mike Clattenberg making it seem like that the show went to *beep* because he left but it started going bad well before that happened. He was there for Season 7. He was there for Conky. He was there for Sebastian Bach. He was there for Rush, which was in Season 3, actually. I like Season 3, but that episode was pretty crappy.

[–] Ramboman24 9 years ago

Yes season 3 is actually where I think the show started to go downhill. Season 2 is my favorite and the peak of it's greatness (lol didn't last long).

But Season 7 is the point where the show started didn't do much of anything for me. Season 4,5,6 & the X-mas special were still good enough to be an enjoyable experience. It still felt fresh enough and that there were interesting enough places to see the characters go at that point.

Season 7 is where it started feeling stale, and like they were running out of ideas, and where things just started getting too stupid for me. There were moments where I laughed in Season 7 but they were sprinkled so loosely in between a bunch of sh-t that made me shake my head from boredom that it was hard to enjoy the episodes overall.

It was also the Season where characters started feeling "off". Especially Ricky.

Make up your OWN mind. Don't be a follower.
I didn't quite nail it - Christian Bale

[–] Philip_90 9 years ago

I don't understand how this and Black Jesus derailed from its original vision because they went from spectacular comedic series to, em.. mediocre.

[–] Ramboman24 9 years ago

I don't think these new seasons are really bad, either, just not very good

I agree.

I still enjoy watching the new Seasons but they just don't make me smile from ear to ear like they used to back in it's "original" days.

I'm just starting to get tired of watching the "not good" TPB material I wish they would go back to the old style of the show when they didn't have as much production money.

Every season seems like they're just too focused on spending money on expensive Hollywood hot shots & set design. I almost feel as if they show becoming more successful financially is what has ruined the heart of it.

I want it to go back to the simpler "low-budget" feeling of the earlier Seasons but I know they'll never do that now even though it works better for TPB.

Doesn't make sense to me why they wouldn't want the show to be better instead of just showing off but whatever. I guess it's become a thing of status for the boys now.

Rather than coming up with original "trailer park" plots we get the same thing every season. Julien, Bubbles & Ricky have some new corny business set up within the park that allows the set designers to go nuts but it's never funny.

Oh wow Bubbles has the shed & Breakfast, Ricky has a new weed store how original. It's not realistic and I think that's whats preventing me from enjoying the show as much as I could. It used to be a show about 3 guys doing shady business that 3 guys from a Trailer park might actually do.

Someone opening a weed store in a trailer park with "5 hour de-energies" is kinda unbelievable. I guess it's sort of funny, but it prevents me from getting into the plotline because it just seems so silly.

Another reason why I think the show will forever feel like it's lost its touch is because they've simply run out of places to take these characters in a comedy type show. You can only enjoy a show about narrow minded criminals for so long before their antics start to feel predictable and old.

If they hadn't run out of places to take them yet, I think the show would still feel interesting but since were at the point where they can really only repeat similar ideas to things done in the past all we have is the jokes.

In Season 4,5 I was still able to get invested in the character because I felt like there was places the director hadn't taken them yet, and even though it was a comedy I still cared to see what would happen to them.

Now it's all repetitive.

Make up your OWN mind. Don't be a follower.
I didn't quite nail it - Christian Bale

[–] PrimeMinisterOfTheSinister 9 years ago

I think almost all shows should end after three seasons and no shows should go past five, especially comedies. They just run out of good ideas and start going through the motions. The characters always become cartoonish archetypes. The dumb characters get dumber every year and such. It becomes more about making money than making a good show. As long as they're making money, they'll keep cranking them out. That's why American shows do 24 episodes a season for 10-15 seasons and only two or three seasons are good. They make money off the reruns and the more episodes they have, the more money they make. I respect the Brits for usually knowing when to pull the plug. They don't always, but, usually. They do one to three seasons and that's it.

[–] Philip_90 9 years ago

That still cracks me up so much how they think Julian's a samquanch and then all three end up injured. 

[–] sort_of_ninja 9 years ago

My thoughts exactly. The overuse of curse words and the same old scenarios is something I don't understand. There's literally zero character development and they are just focusing on the parts that made the show good and emphasizing them a bit too much. The show has really lost it's touch of realism and creativeness.