Tag Archives: Trailer Park Boys

Crawford

Links: Crawford, Season 1

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Crawford’s Alice Moran on CBC’s “Joyful and Kind” new comedy series
“Wendy has the most normal problems of anyone in the family, but she is the least chill in dealing with them. Her parents are being blackmailed, her brother thinks he can talk to raccoons and in Wendy’s brain the biggest problem is that her boyfriend isn’t committed. It’s a real treat to play a character who thinks like that.” Continue reading.

From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

Link: Jill Hennessy plays matriarch of weirdly dysfunctional family in Crawford
“When I got the script I had to read the first three episodes first a couple of times to get a through line; I couldn’t figure out what was happening. But that’s what I loved. I had no clue where this is going. All I knew was that in the first episode my character walks in with a police officer and they say, ‘Mama, we’re not sure what happened, but somebody peed in the sink.’ That got me. They had me at someone peed in the sink.” Continue reading.

From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

Link: CBC’s Crawford is weird, in a beguiling and hopelessly sweet way
The 10-part series is indeed weird, but in the most beguiling, hopelessly sweet way. It has a fine cast and a style and tone that is bonkers but seductive. As with all of Clattenburg’s work, it’s really about getting along, being decent to other people no matter how strange they are and being kind to animals. Continue reading.

From Norm Wilner of Now Toronto:

Link: TV review: new CBC comedy Crawford isn’t remotely funny
Crawford, the new ensemble comedy from Mike Clattenburg and his frequent collaborator Mike O’Neill, is similar to Clattenburg’s cult smash Trailer Park Boys in that it’s also a show about eccentric characters played by unquestionably committed comic performers.

I suppose it is also similar in that I did not find it funny – like, at all. Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Crawford’s Kyle Mac on CBC’s eccentric new family comedy
“Even after reading the scripts, performing them on the day and seeing the show I didn’t really know what to expect. I was super stoked to get this part, but I thought the script was super weird. I dig weird things, but I also know Mike Clattenburg is a brilliant man so I was optimistic.” Continue reading.

From Bill Brioux of the Canadian Press:

Link: CBC launches new comedy ‘Crawford’ digitally first, TV later
Whether it’s the father “Dre” on “Black-ish,” “Appa” on “Kim’s Convenience,” or especially Homer Simpson on “The Simpsons,” when sitcom dads talk, nobody seems to listen.

Here then is a novel TV twist: a dad who cannot talk but won’t be ignored.

That’s the deal on “Crawford,” a new CBC comedy that begins streaming this Friday. All 12 episodes can be binged before the show is broadcast this summer on the main network, making this CBC’s first major series to launch first digitally. Continue reading.

From Alexandra Pope of Canadian Geographic:

Link: Q&A: Director Mike Clattenburg on “Crawford,” a comedic tribute to raccoons
There’s one scene where he rescues a raccoon out of a tree. It was pretty incredible; the raccoon felt safe enough to climb down the tree and jump into his basket. We didn’t expect it to go that far, but Kyle continued to act the scene with the raccoon trying to climb out of the box to sniff him. He really engaged the animal and it really had a relationship with him personally, moreso than anyone on set. Continue reading.

From Ron Johnson of Post City:

Link: Actor Jill Hennessy talks Toronto hangout spots, raccoon invasions and new TV show Crawford
“The raccoons invading the home in the first episode throws everyone into chaos in a necessary way. It was necessary to upset the balance of this family to reinvigorate relationships. The raccoons are the instigators of a lot of really good positive stuff and a lot of comedy. It’s really emotional and it’s hilarious.” Continue reading. 

From Sean McIntosh of the Red Deer Advocate:

Link: Former Red Deer Advocate papergirl starring in CBC show
Alice Moran went from delivering the Red Deer Advocate to delivering lines on television.

Moran, 29, stars in CBC’s Crawford, which debuted Friday. Before she made it on the screen, Moran lived in Red Deer for a few years when she was growing up, attending Holy Family School. Continue reading.

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Trailer Park Boys

Link: ‘Trailer Park Boys’ actor John Dunsworth has died at the age of 71

From Alexander Quon of Global News:

Link: ‘Trailer Park Boys’ actor John Dunsworth has died at the age of 71
Actor John F. Dunsworth, best known for his portrayal of Jim Lahey in the comedy series Trailer Park Boys, has died at the age of 71.

The news was confirmed by Dunsworth’s daughter Sarah in an email. Continue reading.

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Trailer Park Boys

Bubbles is a Rock Star: Mike Smith’s Life in Music

If you are a fan of Trailer Park Boys, you have to admit that Bubbles is one of the greatest characters in TV history. He is Sunnyvale’s most awkward and peculiar resident, but also perhaps the most heartwarming. You cannot help but get the feels for this shed dwelling, feline fanatic, mumble-mouth in thick Coke bottle glasses. Bubbles is also the perfect foil to Ricky and Julian’s endless parade of dumb schemes and shenanigans.

But life does not imitate art in, well, real life for Mike Smith, the actor who has portrayed Bubbles since the debut of Trailer Park Boys in 2001. Between his role on the show and his true persona, Smith is a bit of an expert at living a double life, seamlessly shifting between total nerd and cool guy.

Cool guy as in rock star cool.

Smith’s adventures in rock n’ roll predate Bubbles, Jim Lahey, and the rest of the gang at Sunnyvale Trailer Park. Hailing from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Smith began playing pretty early on. Around age 20, he formed a cover band called Sandbox Legacy in 1992. The band soon morphed into an alternative rock unit, writing and performing original songs.

In short order, the band dropped “legacy” from the title and became Sandbox, releasing the independent EP Maskman in 1993. It was a brilliant capture of the 90s rock sound, balancing ethereal acoustic numbers with crunchy, aggressive guitar driven songs.

With a lineup of Smith and Jason Archibald on guitars, Scott MacFarlane on bass, drummer Troy Shanks, and lead vocalist Paul Murray — a relative of iconic singer Anne Murray — Sandbox attracted major label attention early on. The band eventually signed with EMI in Canada and Nettwerk in the USA and dropped Bionic, their first full-length album in 1995.

The riff heavy, shimmery single “Curious” achieved regular airplay on a number of outlets including MuchMusic, propelling the song to #8 on the Canada Alternative chart. The album subsequently yielded the singles “Collide” and “Here and There” to positive critical and audience receptions, netting the band a nomination for Best New Group at the 1996 Juno Awards.

Sandbox followed up the success with the release of A Murder at the Glee Club in 1997, an ambitious concept album about a killer grappling with his actions. The band members decided to part ways in the years after A Murder at the Glee Club to pursue divergent interests, clearing the way for Smith to focus on his acting and join the Trailer Park Boys cast. The rest, as they say, is history.

But Smith has continued to keep one foot in music during his decade-and-a-half as Bubbles, often appearing as the beloved character. Case in point is the comedy rock group Bubbles & the Sh*t Rockers, which features Smith and none other than all-time guitar hero Alex Lifeson of Rush. Their music can be heard in the film Trailer Park Boys: The Movie.

Smith, once again as Bubbles, even shared the stage with Guns N’ Roses at tour stops in 2010 and 2011. It seems the proprietor of The Kittyland Love Center has a way of rubbing shoulders with rock royalty. The moral of the story, as demonstrated by Smith’s multiple talents, is to never pigeonhole the strange, cat-obsessed guy in the trailer park. Despite his nerdy appearance, he just might be a musical genius.

Main image: Wikimedia.

 

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Crawford, Industry News

CBC and Comedy Central greenlight new series from Mike Clattenburg

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From a media release:

CBC in Canada and Comedy Central in the U.S. today announced that they have commissioned new comedy series CRAWFORD from Rabbit Square Productions, created by Mike Clattenburg (Trailer Park Boys, Black Jesus), executive produced by Laura Michalchyshyn (Trailer Park Boys, Chicagoland, The American West) and co-created by recording artist Mike O’Neill (Moving Day, Trailer Park Boys – Don’t Legalize It). The 13×30 series centers around a young man who, after a run of bad luck, moves back in with his parents and turns his natural ability to relate to raccoons into a successful business, all while navigating life with his eccentric family. Production will begin in Toronto in 2017. Content Media will handle international distribution for the series.

What happens when you fail your Bachelor of Arts and your record label drops your Metal band on the same day? For 28-year-old Don, it means moving back home with your polyamorous parents and finding a job that comes easily. Don has always thought differently – ‘thinking sideways’, as his Mom puts it. Following intuition rather than logic is the unique approach that turns Don’s compassion for and affinity for raccoons into a booming business – just as the town’s raccoon population explodes.

Commissioned by CBC in Canada and Comedy Central in the U.S., CRAWFORD is produced by Rabbit Square Productions, Laura Michalchyshyn and Mike Clattenburg’s company. Janice Dawe and Kathy Avrich-Johnson will also produce for Bizable Media. The series deal was negotiated by Maggie Pisacane of Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein and Selz and Bizable Media. Mike Clattenburg is represented by The Gersh Agency and managed by Echo Lake Entertainment.

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Trailer Park Boys

Link: Judge dismisses battery charge against ‘Trailer Park Boys’ star Michael Smith

From Kate Morawetz of ET Canada:

Judge dismisses battery charge against ‘Trailer Park Boys’ star Michael Smith
A judge has rejected the domestic battery case against “Trailer Park Boys” star Michael Smith.

Known as the loveable, but dim-witted Bubbles on the long running comedy, Smith’s dismissal is a result of insufficient evidence, TMZ reports. Continue reading.

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