Despite the title, this is not a complete series. Read on for details.
Trailer Park Boys is for everyone who:
1. Is not easily offended.
2. Loves loosely scripted and highly improvised dialogue.
3. Love Rush and/or Helix.
4. Loves the east coast and Canada.
Ricky and Julian are two criminals from Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Nova Scotia. They can't seem to figure life out, so they keep doing what they do best: Coming up with often rediculous and always illegal ways to get rich quick. Sometimes it works, sometimes they get caught, but one factor always remains: They never get to keep the cash. Something always happens.
Bubbles is their innocent best friend, yet also their sometimes unwilling partner in crime. Bubbles is arguably the most funny and most popular character on the show.
Mr. Lahey and Randy run Sunnyvale -- or try to, while Ricky, Julian and Bubbles drive them to drink and drugs. Lahey may be an ex-cop, but that doesn't mean he follows the letter of the law.
Other supporting characters include J-Roc and T, Sunnyvale's own rap artists who try to make the big time, and make "greasy" adult films. Lucy and Sarah are sometimes allies, but more often antogonists to Ricky and Julian. They usually mean well, but often cause problems for the boys. Barb Lahey owns Sunnyvale, and is Jim Lahey's ex-wife. Her allegiance shifts from season to season and she cannot be trusted. Lastly, Trinity is Ricky and Lucy's daughter. Trinity gets into trouble sometimes, but Bubbles and the boys will always be there to protect her. And let's not forget Conky....
The writing on this show is, quite frankly, deceptively brilliant. Ricky's dialogue in particular is quite well written and delivered. Take this line for example: "Providences like Texas and Calgary have all the oil." There's three jokes right there in one line, if you care to take a look. For fans of Canadiana, this is a must. Any show that has Helix, April Wine, and Rita McNeil references is OK by me. (Look for cameos by Canadians such as Rita, Brian Vollmer from Helix, Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, and Alex Lifeson of Rush.)
Bonus features abound, including alternate takes (some funnier than the takes they used), behind the scenes features, deleted scenes, and...yes!...the Tragically Hip video for "The Darkest One". Not only is it a great song (one of my Hip favourites) but the video takes place in Sunnyvale. In addition to the Hip, the video stars Ricky, Julian, Bubbles, a whole bunch of kitties, and Don freakin' Cherry. A masterpiece music video.
While attractively packaged in a cooler bag, I cannot give this set 5 stars. The reason being is that for a set called "Complete" it is missing some essentials.
1. The Christmas episode.
2. The final episode "Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys".
3. A couple documentaries that aired on TV.
There's also the original pilot which has never been released on DVD, and a short called Cart Boy (but I have been told it's on the first season as an Easter egg).
Still, if you have no Trailer Park Boys yet, this is an obvious no-brainer. Even Ricky could figure out that this is the way to go.
Four stars -- five for the show, minus one for not including the above episodes.