What “Trailer Park Boys” Gets Right About Addiction
The long-running Canadian comedy sometimes hits surprisingly close to home.
Trailer Park Boys is a long-running Canadian mockumentary series about two recently released ex-cons adapting to life in their trailer park. No matter how great their intentions are at the beginning of each season, they always find a way to screw things up and land themselves right back where they started.
The show is filled with stoner humor, and it gets more over-the-top and detached from reality with each season. It’s also been a favorite of mine, both before and after I got sober.
Trailer Park Boys has two characters with serious alcohol problems: Julian — one of the ex-cons — and Jim Lahey— the trailer park supervisor. Although the characters are incredibly exaggerated, they are both surprisingly relatable. The show ends up portraying very real aspects of alcoholism that I’ve rarely seen on television.
Julian’s Awkwardness While Sober
One of the ongoing gags in the show is that Julian always has a drink in his hand. It doesn’t matter whether he’s driving, working, or in the middle of a gun battle — he won’t put it down.
