Back when I was still in college, a little Canadian mockumentary comedy series about three friends in a rundown mobile home community was introduced to my group of buddies and quickly became our main source of entertainment. You couldn’t go to my house or any apartment or duplex inhabited by one of my friends and not lose hours to the misadventures of Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles on the drug-and-alcohol-fueled Trailer Park Boys.
In the decade-and-a-half since first meeting the residents of Sunnyvale Trailer Park, I have continued to go back to that oh-so-familiar place, and those crass, crude, and undeniably well-written inside jokes that still hit as hard as they did all those years ago, on occasion. Here are 10 of my favorite (and greasiest) jokes that never get old. I've also rounded up the best ever Trailer Park Boys episodes for your enjoyment.
Ricky-isms
Throughout Trailer Park Boys as well as the movies and specials that have followed over the past 20 or so years, Ricky (Robb Wells) has made some incredibly idiotic yet remarkably hilarious statements that have long been referred to as “Ricky-isms” by fans of the show. Whether he’s telling Sunnyvale Trailer Park Supervisor Jim Lahey “what comes around is all around,” or defending his recycling job by saying “One man’s garbage is another man person’s good un-garbage,” I just can’t help but laugh my ass off.
Bubbles And His Cats
One of the my favorite characters on Trailer Park Boys, and one I impersonate way more than I should, is Bubbles (Mike Smith), the lovable Sunnyvale resident in coke-bottle glasses who has an affinity for shopping carts (this was the original idea behind the series) and cats. Over the course of the series, Bubbles has raised kitties, saved kitties, built a daycare for them, and even had a bed and breakfast for them at one point. Hell, Bubbles’ love of felines even resulted in him trying to adopt a mountain lion that he named “Steve French” in the Season 4 episode, “If You Love Something, Set It Free.”
Julian Always Holding A Rum And Coke
Ricky has his drug-fueled one-liners, Bubbles has his cats, and Julian (John Paul Tremblay), well, Julian has his rum and Coke. This long-running gag, which is in full view in nearly every second of the series (even when he’s in jail each season), is outrageously funny due to its simplicity and execution. It has been addressed over the years (like when another character started to dress like Julian, drink in hand and all), and has largely become part of his wardrobe. But despite his constant drinking, Julian is never a character that comes off as drunken mess, unlike a certain trailer park supervisor.
Mr. Lahey And His Shit-isms
Perhaps the drunkest and most unhinged Sunnyvale resident in Trailer Park Boys was none other than Trailer Park Supervisor Jim Lahey (John Dunsworth), who made life a living hell for Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles over the course of the series. He was constantly trying (mostly in vain) to thwart the gang’s plans, but consistently brought the laughs with his Shit-isms. With phrases like “the shit abyss,” “the winds of shit,” and my personal favorite, “the shit blizzard,” Dunsworth just kept killing it with his delivery and commitment to the character. And even though I was saddened to hear of his October 2017 passing, the actor and his character’s obsession with throwing “shit” into any situation still brings so much joy to my life.
Patrick Swayze
No, Patrick Swayze, the star of movies like Dirty Dancing and Roadhouse, didn’t appear on Trailer Park Boys prior to his September 2009 death, but his name was used as one of the best inside jokes of the series. This goes back to the pilot, where someone calls Julian Patrick Swayze from off-screen. Context for this comment is provided years later, in Season 7, when Bubbles tells the story about Julian really being into Dirty Dancing and even being caught dressing up like Swayze. That same season also followed the gang as they stole the “Swayzie Express” model train, though it was from a different Patrick Swayzie.
‘Way Of The Road’
Ray (Barrie Dunn), Ricky’s truck-driving, alcoholic, and Calvinist father, has been at the center of some of the funniest ongoing and inside jokes on Trailer Park Boys. This includes his motto and excuse for all of his actions: “Way of the road.” It doesn’t matter if Ray is picking up “friends of the road,” throwing out his piss jugs (more on those next), or doing anything else frowned upon by society, he is going to try to use the excuse in an attempt to make things right.
Piss Jugs
I couldn’t talk about Trailer Park Boys inside jokes without spending way too much time talking about piss jugs. As mentioned above, Ray always fills up piss jugs after years on the road and litters the park with them. Throughout the course of the show, those yellow milk jugs are seen being thrown in trees, onto mobile homes, and even used as ammo from a homemade trebuchet.
Sam The Caveman
When Sam Losco (Sam Tarasco) is first introduced in Trailer Park Boys Season 2, he seems to be a normal, albeit angry, veterinarian who closes up Ricky’s gun wound. But after losing his license, Sam goes through a downward spiral that ends with him looking and acting like a Neanderthal and earning the nickname “Sam the Caveman.” Throughout the later part of the series, Sam becomes not only one of the gang’s most notable enemies but also one of their longest running jokes as he begins to look more unhinged and disheveled.
Mustard Tiger
One of the funniest characters in Trailer Park Boys Season 7 is Philadelphia Collins (Richard Collins) a.k.a. the Mustard Tiger. In one of his many interactions with the gang, Collins makes the mistake of calling Bubbles “Four Eyes,” which results in Bubbles calling him a Mustard Tiger on account of Collins wearing a shirt featuring a tiger and multiple mustard stains (he was running The Dirty Burger restaurant at the time). I still use the joke as my name on multiple message boards all these years later; I love the joke that much.
‘I Ain’t Got No Candy For You’
And then there’s there’s the classic “I ain’t got no candy for you,” line from my personal favorite Trailer Park Boys episode: “The Green Bastard.” Basically, Jim Lahey is receiving an award from International Association of Trailer Parks, Trailer Park Supervisors and Assistant Trailer Park Supervisors president Bernie Sanford (Hal Williams) when Ricky comes to make a mess of thing. Not happy with the commotion, Sanford confronts Ricky, talks about his “right hook,” and then shares the “no candy” line like an authoritative father. My own kids hear this one way too much.
These are just some of the great jokes that have made Trailer Park Boys such a hit with the original seven seasons plus the 2014 revival episodes. If you want to revisit these classic moments and others like them you can do so by watching the show with an active Netflix subscription.
