Trailer Park Boys Xmas Special

It's Christmas time in the park, so you can pretty much expect some criminal activity when people should be giving. The twist that makes this special much better than an hour-long Trailer Park Boys episode is the fact it all takes place in 1997, before J-Roc discovered hip-hop, when Randy was a male prostitute and Ricky's car still had all its door. The plot is relatively similar to most episodes, as Julian and Bubbles bail Ricky out of prison, much to his disappointment, as jail is a total party during Christmas time. Julian plans to break into cars and steal presents, while a drunken Jim Lahey tries to gather evidence to convict his enemies and his love for Randy enters its initial stage. The writing in this special is quite good, with a ton of great moments, such as Lahey's backwards crash into his fridge while wearing a Santa beard made of a No Name shopping bag, as well as Tyrone's first glimpse into hip-hop production when a power outage manipulates the sound of a turntable. There are also nice little touches, such as the episode being filmed in wide screen and the use of more cinematic dolly shots to give the otherwise low-budget look of the show an added sprinkle of glitz. The extras contain a pretty good documentary on the making of the show that focuses more on the crew than the cast, but for good reason, as these people completely pull together as friends to make this show possible. As corny as it sounds, everyone pitches in on Trailer Park Boys and it's this sense of a family bond that transfers onto the screen so convincingly. There are the usual deleted and extended scenes but nothing overly important, though Tyrone's response to Trevor's sleepover proposal in the blooper reel is subtly great. And the best added feature? A Conky finger puppet. Plus: commentary track. (Alliance Atlantis)