Trailer Park Boys: Live in F**kin' Dublin

Let me first preface this review by stating that I am a big fan of the Trailer Park Boys TV show. I have all the seasons on DVD, as well as the blu-rays of their feature movies, as well as their direct-to-video movie. And as a fan, I must warn every and all TPD fans to avoid this "special" at all costs. Unless, of course, you'd like to have your memories of the classic show tainted by this garbage.

The special starts off well enough, with a montage filmed in the Sunnyvale trailer park, which sets up the overall premise behind the show - Bubbles has won an all-expenses paid trip to Dublin, Ireland, to see Rush live in concert. Somehow thinking that a private plane means the passengers are exempt from customs inspections, Ricky quickly gets arrested for trafficking narcotics into Ireland, and the rest of the boys (and Randy) get hauled off to court.

The judge happens to be a fan of the show, and agrees to drop the charges if the boys will do a live show in Dublin, explaining the dangers and risks of alcohol and narcotics. All this is just a framing device for the live show, which follows immediately after this setup.

I honestly don't know how much those Irish fans paid to attend the show, but they must be incredibly upset. The boys do the show in character, meaning that there are no carefully-rehearsed skits and lots of lots of them trying to ad-lib stuff in character, but it all falls incredibly flat. It's like a poorly thought out high school play, with actors who have barely had time to read their lines once. While drunk.

There are times where one or another character is on stage, just looking around, yelling backstage for the others to come out and help entertain. These moments actually feel genuine, as you can kind of feel that the boys realize the mistake behind a live show almost immediately after it begins. They look uncomfortable and at a loss as to what to do, and the crowd rarely, if ever laughs.

Honestly, I couldn't even get through this travesty in one sitting. I'd be constantly wincing and invariably switch to a different movie or show just to cleanse my palate. In total, it took me 6 sessions to get through this 90-minute torture session, and I really had to force myself to power through. I dare any TPB fan to make it up to Ricky's hypnotist act in one sitting...

If you're a TPB fan and you intend to watch this show despite all the warnings against it, all I can recommend is to watch the filmed framing devices shown before and after the live show and fast forward through the rest. Those parts are the only redeeming element of the show, and why I decided to give the special a 2 instead of a 1.

Ricky, Julian, Bubbles...you guys are geniuses when it comes to scripted comedy, but stand-up comedians you definitely are not. Stick to the small screen.

I really enjoyed the show, made me laugh out loud. So much fun!

Have been a long time TPB fan and this movie is not worth watching. The opening and closing scenes are good, the rest is a live stage show with the actors only partially in TPB character. They stand on stage, play drinking games with audience members and sing Rush songs. It is not funny nor fun to watch. It is a sad waste of time and an obvious attempt for the team to make a quick buck. TPB: Please stick to making episodic television, which is where Bubbles and Ricky excel.

And perhaps Conky needs to return to every episode, movie and stage set?

I highly recommend the series, especially the first four seasons. Season 7 is laborious to watch as they try to introduce a bunch of new clichéd characters. Most of the humor has been reduced to jokes about bodily functions.

Yes, it did get very awkward at times during the live show. Like the other reviewer said, the scripted bits at the beginning and end were very funny, classic TBP. Had I been there at the show, like many hardcore fans that were in the audience I would have been on cloud nine just being able to see them live in character! I laughed when they show the close up of audience members who were in their 50's and 60's totally not amused, not laughing at all. "Oh look honey this might be fun to see," probably not even having seen a single episode or what the characters comedy is all about. Hell, there were even close ups of people in there 20's who looked like they weren't digging it all, though perhaps it was just do to the fact of poor editing and the use of those close ups were not accurate to the jokes portrayed at that moment (usually the case). Otherwise, why show the shots of the audience at all at that point. It's way too cliché.

In all, I liked the live show bit, they were going for the awkwardness obviously, cause the characters weren't prepared to do a live show, so be open to that. The crowd was being fun and receptive laugh wise, and it wasn't canned. I know there were many people in that audience who are in love with the show and had a great time. I'm not sure (obviously) but I am guessing this is the kind of live show they will be doing at the Pemberton music festival July 18 - 20th, along with many other shows at various festivals and other concerts in Canada this summer. I know with that kind of venue, they are going to kill it and make a lot of people very, very excited. Watching this still made me happy. Get drunk, smoke lots of dope, shut the f@&# up and enjoy it. That's what the boys would want you do. I love you guys, and please, please come to Lake Tahoe sometime!

This had all the feel of a bunch of actors trying to squeeze a bit more money out of their fame. If they were attempting improv - it failed colossally. The Trailer Park movies are hilarious because these guys rehearse and follow a script.

This was nothing of the kind.

They may have tried to be funny but ended up just being stupid. ... and even their stupidity was mediocre!

If I had been in the live audience (and paid for a ticket) I would have been majorly upset! I doubt I'll ever waste time on a Trailer Park Boys show again.