As revealed last night during TSN and CTV’s broadcast of SUPER BOWL LVIII, Crave’s new original comedy series, THE TRADES, debuts Friday, March 22. From Trailer Park Boys Inc. and Kontent House Productions Inc., the eight-part comedy series is a love letter to skilled-trade workers, written with grit, humour, and heart.
Set in a blue-collar community where the high stress of working in a refinery is balanced by the comedic high-wire antics of its plant workers, THE TRADES centres around Todd (Robb Wells), a pipefitter, and his sister and roommate, Audrey (Anastasia Phillips, MOONSHINE), who follows in her big brother’s footsteps pursuing a career in the trades as a carpenter, just like their father Rod (Patrick McKenna, THE RED GREEN SHOW). The first two episodes of THE TRADES drop on Friday, March 22, followed by two new episodes on subsequent Fridays for the duration of the run.
While Todd loves his life, he dreams of climbing the corporate ladder and becoming site manager at Conch Industries, which isn’t too far-fetched, given the current manager Bennett’s (Tom Green, THE TOM GREEN SHOW) chaotic lifestyle. But Todd’s future, and that of the plant and the entire town, is thrown into question when Chelsea (Jennifer Spence, YOU ME HER), an ambitious young executive from head office announces she’s the new site manager, and vows to make some changes.
In the season premiere, Todd works overtime to get a new robotic welding arm up and running, to improve the refinery’s productivity. Audrey debates joining the “family business” and an incident at work opens a job in management, reigniting Todd’s leadership aspirations.
In the second episode, Todd’s crew gives him a makeover to help him dress for the job he wants. His odds at a promotion look promising, until head office sends hot-shot executive Chelsea, to the refinery. Meanwhile, Audrey potentially blows her chances at joining the trades when she tries to save her big bro from humiliation.
The full rag-tag crew at the refinery are:
TODD STOOL (Robb Wells)
Todd, the series’ main protagonist and self-proclaimed “Goldenarm,” is a pipefitter who is proud of his working-class background, his small industry town, and his ponytail.
AUDREY STOOL (Anastasia Phillips)
Todd’s sister Audrey has tried to avoid joining the trades her whole life. But at what cost?
CHELSEA NAKAMURA (Jennifer Spence)
Corporate powerhouse, Chelsea, has a long track record of successful refinery management, especially when they’re in crisis.
MEDHI CHEDDIE (Raoul Bhaneja)
The refinery’s chief engineer Medhi, an expat from India, is responsible for designing half the refinery.
BACKWOODS (Daniel/Dan Petronijevic)
If it comes in camo, Backwoods owns it. Backwoods is a dual ticketed tradesman with an obsession for hunting.
ERIC AKA “HOMER” (Jesse Camacho)
Homer is a tightly wound, conspiracy theorist. A pipefitter by trade, who loves his energy drinks (the job site’s little helper).
NATHANIAL AKA “TASER” (Brandon Oakes)
Taser, another pipefitter on Todd’s crew, is a big, burly stoic man. He’s smart and funny, but he’s concerned about how some changes at the refinery might negatively impact his pay cheque.
DALE AKA “DEWEY” (Jason Daley)
Dewey is a somewhat effective but always enthusiastic pipefitter and the last person you want to be stuck with in a work vehicle.
STEPH (Susan Kent)
Steph is one of Imperial Valley’s safety officers, or as the Conch guys have nicknamed her: the safety chick. The first one men fall for, Steph’s quick-witted, untouchable, and passionate about keeping the crew out of the emergency room.
JIMI (Enrico Colantoni)
Jimi is a grumpy old school guy that’s been working as a labourer since his teens and worked with Todd and Audrey’s father, Rod.
RANDY BENNETT (Tom Green)
Known primarily for deceit, high stress, and laziness, Bennett has been Site Manager of the refinery for three long years.
ROD STOOL (Patrick McKenna)
Rod is Todd and Audrey’s father – a retired carpenter with a passion for unions.
THE TRADES is a Trailer Park Boys Inc. and Kontent House Productions Inc. co-production, in association with Bell Media’s Crave. The series is distributed by Rollercoaster Entertainment with Blink49 representing U.S. licensing. Ryan J. Lindsay is creator, writer/executive producer; Shelley Eriksen is writer/executive producer; Warren Sonoda is director; Gary Howsam is executive producer; and Jonathan A. Walker and Robb Wells are producers. John Morayniss and Virginia Rankin are executive producers for Blink49 Studios. Co-executive producers are Andrew McMichael, Angelo Paletta, Ross Mrazek, and Benjamin Rappaport. Series casting is by Marjorie Lecker; cinematographer is Jeff Wheaton; production designer is Michael Pierson; costume designer is Sarah Dunsworth-Nickerson; composer is Jonathan Goldsmith; editors are Sarah Byrne and Jeremy Harty.