Canadian SJcommers, how funny is Trailer Park Boys?

I quite like Trailer Park Boys, I kind of came to the show late but I get a kick out of it.

The best Canadian comedy of recent years is definitely Corner Gas.

Also, I can't believe I am actually agreeing full heartedly with JR on this about the CBC, but 22 minutes with Mercer was terrific, as was Air Farce pre-TV days (was orginally on CBC radio) and then the first few years on TV, but got tired after about the fifth season. I don't even think I have watched Air Farce in the past 10 years.

 

Sirs, Madames,

re TPB: I met with Ray (Barrie Dunn) a couple of times. I've watched the show only, maybe, five times. I'll admit, I don't quite get it. My favorite character is J-Roc ... what do you need to know? Anyway Dunn, the brains behind everything TPB (producer, director, scene-stealer) wanted to adapt a book. Didn't really get beyond the talking stage (at least so far). But as soon as I told a couple of NHL scouts they were picking my brain. Having a beer with Ray was, to them, like bedding Madonna.

re K of K: I had the displeasure of interviewing Al Waxman years back. What a bag of wind. (Not to mention that he and his wife stiffed my then mother-in-law for a few grand in a bit of business.) Did see Mike Myers as a 10-year-old on a rerun the other day. But a truly awful show.

re The Trouble with Tracy: Easily the worst show in the history of the medium, defiantly, almost intentionally bad. Saw a story on it a while back ... the didn't even bother to "write" it but rather just used scripts, word for word, from 30s-40s vintage screwball radio plays. Paul, the hippie brother, was a sight gag. Barbara Hamilton was just dying a little every second she was on camera. Canned-con ... the worst canned laughter ever.

o-<

 

I knew Mr. Friend O' would respond to my mention of Trouble With Tracy. I haven't seen it in probably 35 years but it seemed lame - even by the shitty standards of Canuck TV back in the day - when I was eight or nine. There is a Steve Weston joke in here somewhere but maybe Mr. Friend O' can find it, I can't.

Ray is a great - if lightly-used because he's busy doing everything else - character on TPB. Mr. Friend O' is right, he steals every scene he is in, much like J-Roc does.

 

Mr Huggy,

I'm nothing if not predictable.

The actor who played J-Roc was on the second (and last, I guess) edition of Joe Shmo. The only funny thing on that attempt to recapture the glory of the original.

o-<

 

I had no idea there was a second edition of Joe Shmo.

 

TPB has to be the first Canadian show I've seen since Beachcombers.
Now Bruno Gerussi, there was an actor.

 

We've actually had a lot of good and even groundbreaking shows up here.

"Quincy, M.E.," for instance, was inspired by "Wojeck," starring John Vernon as a crusading Toronto coroner who investigated deaths as well as the issues that surrounded them.

Stalwart, often quiet and understated, Vernon's Steve Wojeck was frustrated or driven to outrage by people, officials, and institutions that failed to provide answers or acknowledge responsibility. He regularly questioned the decisions he had to make and, though he was in some senses a typical hero and paragon of virtue, he was invested with a greater vulnerability and depth, and differed from the standard television hero. Of Polish descent instead of the typical invisible Anglo-Saxon, he was also Catholic, an element of his personality that formed a part of his dilemma about abortion in a two-part episode titled The Cold Smile Of Friends.

http://www.film.queensu.ca/cbc/Woj.html

It's worth noting that John Vernon was himself a Catholic of Polish ancestry - his real surname was Agopsowicz.

Anyway, this show, of which only a few episodes were ever made, was based on the work of a real crusading coroner-turned-politician named Morton Shulman, who, from what I understand, shook the shit out of staid Toronto in the 1960s.

Speaking of Bruno Gerussi, coincidentally, here he is in the opening credits of a "Wojeck" episode from 1966.

 

WASP Toronto didn't know what to do with Morty Shulman.

He was a very successful MD who became very rich investing in the stock market, at the time considered a little unseemly for the staid medical profession.

He then wrote a huge best-seller in the 60's called "Anyone Can Make a Million"

The Ontario Conservative Party rewarded his loyalty by making him corner to the City of Toronto, a bit of patronage they would end up regretting.

Morty became a Royal Pain in the Ass to John Roberts and Bill Davis, the premiers of Ontario during his tenure as chief coroner.

He embarrassed the government on several occasions and naturally, they finally fired him.

He got his revenge by winning a seat in the Ontario Legislature with the New Democratic Party, our SOCILIST party at the time.

He was a bit of an attention whore pulling off some outrageous stunts that had everyone shaking their heads. Once, to make a point about lax security, he carried a pellet gun (dressed up to look like a submachine gun) in a bag through an Ontario nuclear plant, and then pulled it out on the floor of the Legislature. He waved it around happily while cabinet ministers sitting across from him hid under their desks.

Not surprisingly criticism of him always had an underlying hint of antisemitism, typical of Toronto at the time.

Met him a couple of times. Huge ego but charming as hell. And always seemed to be front page news.

 

Sirs, Madames,

Morton Shulman's Shulman Files was one of the highlights of City when it launched. For a coroner he was pretty impressive as an interviewer. Also inspired a great SCTV take-off (that I can't find on Youtube).

o-<

 

I greatly enjoy the looks I get from younger co-workers when I reference anyone in our office (especially the sales guys) being a regular "King of Kensington". I never watched the show but remenber the opening credits and song very well.

I met AW in an airport once and he came across as a huge douchebag.

 

"Smokes, boys. Let's go."

"I want you to do two things, Leahy. First, put some fucking pants on. Then fuck off."

 

"Thankfully, I don't need oxygen like you...stupid."