History
In 1998, director Mike Clattenburg wrote and directed One Last Shot, a short film shot in black-and-white. The film followed the exploits of two friends, Robb (Robb Wells) and Gary William or GW (John Paul Tremblay), although it is not based in the same setting as Trailer Park Boys. It was the first time Robb, John Paul and John Dunsworth worked together. In the 1999 feature film Trailer Park Boys, the character Julian states to the camera that he wanted his life to be documented after receiving a telephone psychic's prediction that he would die soon. He hoped that the film would deter others from the life of crime he had chosen.
The feature film was shown at the Atlantic Film Festival in 1999, and it caught the attention of producer Barrie Dunn, who saw the potential for a television series. Clattenburg and Dunn, along with Wells and Tremblay, worked on a proposal for a 13-episode season of the show and traveled to Toronto to pitch the show to The Comedy Network. After being turned down, they suddenly decided to pitch the show to Showcase before returning home to Nova Scotia. Tremblay recalled: "We showed Showcase the pilot and they really liked the characters and the mockumentary feel of it. It was very low budget. It was the right time, right place to pitch it." They found that the network was receptive. A former programmer at Showcase recalled: "It was original, bold, and outrageous. They were swearing, smoking and drinking. It felt new. Within a week we were talking about what a series would look like." The network sent them back with a commitment to a first season, with the provision that a second experienced producer (which ended up being Michael Volpe) be brought on board to assist the team. The first six 30-minute episodes were then written and filmed. Some modifications were made to the characters and storyline for the series, and more humor was added to the series in comparison to the film. The show debuted on Showcase on April 22, 2001, airing at 9:30pm. For season 2, the show began airing at 9:00pm.
The biggest change from film to series was the addition of Mike Smith's "Bubbles" character, who was originally developed for the earlier short film The Cart Boy, a film that Smith, Wells, Tremblay, and Clattenburg worked on together in 1995. Smith's character soon grew from a recurring character to one of the show's primary protagonists (although in the earlier film, "Bubbles" was the name of Smith's character's cat). Trailer Park Boys resided with Showcase for its first seven seasons. Beginning with the eighth season, the series was released through Netflix.
Early seasons were shot in various trailer parks in Nova Scotia, but the crew was not welcome to film again due to complaints from residents. These included Woodbine Home Park, an unnamed collection of trailers in central Dartmouth in Halifax next to the Tufts Cove Generating Station, Timberlea Mini Home Park and Greenridge Mobile Home Park. Seasons 5 to 7 were filmed at the former Cole Harbour Rehab Centre, which closed its doors in 2002, located near Bissett Lake in Cole Harbour. For this location, trailers were placed around an existing 2 floor building which also served as the set of the jail. When the series returned from hiatus beginning with Season 8, it was shot at Bible Hill Estates Trailer Park in Truro, Nova Scotia, with every subsequent episode being filmed at that location. After the 12th season, they ceased filming at the location and removed all sets and props from Bible Hill Estates, which still exists as an operating land lease community.
Ricky's car in the series, the "Shitmobile," was originally owned by Clattenburg. He donated it to the series because his wife no longer wanted to be forced to look at it sitting in the driveway.
Cory Bowles and Michael Jackson left the series because they felt they were underpaid. The show's initial run ended in 2007. Robb Wells recalled: "At a certain point it got too big. Too many people, too many crew. The shooting slowed way down. It was taking 4 days to shoot an episode versus 2.5. The old producers decided the show was basically done, and we sort of moved on. [...] Then the producers decided they wanted to do another movie. So we said, if we’re going to do a third movie, we want to do more than just that. We wanna do another season, maybe a fourth feature. Basically, we want to have the freedom to keep doing whatever we want." Wells, Smith and Tremblay would eventually purchase full rights to the series.
The series entered a production deal with Netflix in 2014. Mike Smith recalled: "Netflix was like, 'Send us the shit when you’re done,' and that’s what we did. You get a lot more done, you get it done quicker, and you get it done better because you get to have your vision true to what it was in the beginning." On September 1, 2014, Netflix announced that season 8 of Trailer Park Boys would be available on September 5. Season 9 of Trailer Park Boys was made available on March 27, 2015. On June 1, 2015, SwearNet officially announced that the production of Season 10 was underway. On March 28, 2016, Netflix released season 10 of the Trailer Park Boys. It consists of 10 episodes and includes appearances from several well-known stars such as Snoop Dogg, Jimmy Kimmel, Doug Benson and Tom Arnold. Two episodes were directed by Bobby Farrelly. On April 2, 2016, Lucy DeCoutere announced she was leaving the show. On April 20, 2016, Jonathan Torrens also announced he was leaving. On May 30, 2016, filming and production began for Season 11 of Trailer Park Boys. On July 5, 2016, filming for Season 11 was completed and editing began. On February 22, it was announced that Season 11 would air March 31, 2017. On March 31, 2017, Season 11 aired. On June 19, 2017, it was announced that filming of the twelfth season was officially underway. On October 16, 2017, John Dunsworth died at the age of 71, with Season 12 marking his final appearance on the show. Season 12, the final season produced as part of the Netflix deal was made available on March 30, 2018.
On March 31, 2019, Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series premiered on Netflix. Smith later revealed in October that filming for another season titled Trailer Park Boys: Jail had begun. A second Christmas special, featuring never-before-seen footage of John Dunsworth prior to his death, premiered on Christmas Day, 2020. On January 1, 2021, Trailer Park Boys: Jail premiered on SwearNet.
In January 2025, Smith confirmed in character during a live stream on TikTok that Season 13 is confirmed, with filming slated to begin later in the year. On August 6, 2025, it was officially confirmed that the thirteenth season has finished filming and is scheduled for a release in April 2026 on the TPB+ streaming service. This release date will also coincide with the twenty-fifth anniversary of Trailer Park Boys.
In November 2025, Smith was charged by the Halifax Regional Police with sexual assault relating to an incident that allegedly occurred in December 2017. As a result, a statement was released on the official Trailer Park Boys Facebook page confirming that Smith has "stepped away from his role at Trailer Park Boys Incorporated" as a result of the controversy.
