Topic: Jonathan Torrens Is Apparently Out

[mzupeman]

He's apparently done with TPB.  The timing of this is pretty terrible, considering the whole Lucy thing, but he's leaving on a more diplomatic note so... who knows what the reason is.  Maybe he doesn't see eye to eye on the alleged abuse thing, maybe he feels the quality of the show isn't what it was, or hell, maybe he just has a better longer term job offer that's hard for him to pass up.  Either way, on Twitter (copied and pasted, so read from bottom, up):



4/4 Finally, at its core & at its best TPB was always about friendship and love. I wish the very best of those to each of you. Peace.

3/4 My utmost respect and affection to the #nsfilmjobs crew that works so hard and sacrifices so much to create TPB's look, sound & feel.

2/4 TPB travelled further & lasted longer than any Mafk could ever imagine. BRRRAPS to all y'all for riding dirty with the Rocpile. HAAAAHN?

1/4 Playing J-Roc has truly been one of the greatest pleasures & privileges of my life. But it's time to hang up the ol' do-rag. Nomesayin?



Regardless of his reason, though, this is the first major sign that signifies the beginning of the end for me.  You can lose Lucy... there's been times where she hasn't been all that instrumental in the plot at all, and it's fine.  "Oh, she's off bangin' George Green again."  Easy write out... but J-Roc is a major character. 

Ah well, we'll see.

[moncton velvet smooth]

Ouch. Jonathan Torrens can't really be replaced. Who will T's new sidekick be?
Maybe it's the reasons already listed. Maybe he's not into playing that character in his 40s, starting to acquire more of a Randy shape and struggling to be a dad. It's a far cry from where the character started out.
Starting to look like the beginning of the end, sad to say...
Hope I'm wrong...
And how he gonna drop that on 420??? 

[Officer Dick Lock]

This is terrible news. Season 11 will absolutely have to be the final season. If it goes beyond that, they're just milking it.

You can survive without Lucy, you can survive without Ray, Trevor and Cyrus (still can't believe they got rid of Bernie), but J-Roc is the first major character they've lost.

The boys sent out some tweets that implied JT has other opportunities coming up.

I respect his decision either way, but I sure hope it's not because of Mr. D. That show can't hold TPB's jockstrap. Jono plays a trailer park gangster way better than a lame ass teacher. The guy he plays on Mr. D reminds me of J-Roc in the Sunday school shirt after DVS disses him.

This really fucking sucks!!!!!!!

[Raveen420]

So I wonder if that's the end of the line for the character of MC Fleury too?

Frankly at this point, if season 11 hasn't been confirmed then just end it now. With everyone leaving, it doesn't need to be dragged on and on. They should just end it now while the show still has its dignity and not after say... 16 seasons when it's become a shell of its former self.
 

[mzupeman]

The official TPB Twitter account has aready confirmed they're going to move ahead with production on season 11 as intended. They sort of have to after dropping that bomb in the final episode, don't you think?  It really should be just a 'one and done' situation, though. This show has pretty much hit its limit. It was nice to see it come back but it's beginning to suffer, and not JUST because people have left.

[t_lahey]

I think it's fucked up. I don't care. I would love to see the show get dragged on for a few more seasons. It'll be sad for jroc to be gone, but they could just say he went back to Mexico or something and T could raise MC Flurry. You can tell T really likes him, y'know? I really hope this isn't because of the whole Smith Fiasco. Also, somebody said Cyrus quit the show? I don't remember hearing about that shizz?

[Raveen420]

Also, somebody said Cyrus quit the show? I don't remember hearing about that shizz?

Me neither.

Anyone care to elaborate more on that??

[shake]

Torrens talks about why he is leaving in his Taggert n Torrens podcast here

http://taggartandtorrens.podbean.com/

episode 68.

No big mystery he has always been very busy doing other things, such as this podcast, which is great by the way.  Over the years he has done such show as his TV With TV's Jonathan Torrens, Wipeout Canada, Call Me Fitz and Mr. D.  I am was always surprised he managed to find time to do TPB all these years.

For those who don't know Jeremy Taggert was the drummer for Our Lady Peace a group that befriended the TPB early on.

It is sad though J-ROC was my favorite character.

[moncton velvet smooth]

This may be too radical an idea but what if the show killed J-Roc off? It would make for a very emotional send-off and MC Fleury could be raised by T without him getting abandoned by both parents. (Even if all parties seemed to think it was okay for J-Roc to move to Mexico leaving behind his son, that seems  really shitty to me. Besides J-Roc's wife left him for that unfunny guest star, remember?) Or maybe Fleury's mom could move into the park, her bid for stardom failed.
   But here's the main gist of my J-Roc dies idea: in death he becomes a legend. Like some Nova Scotian version of Biggie or Tupac with a big glorious/awesomely cheesy spraypainted mural in Sunnyvale. And the tale of how he met his demise is super gangsta shit that makes him sound hard as fuck. Of course we know J-Roc is hilarious but isn't really shit in the rap game -  a "43 year old wanksta" in the words of Jono himself. And so it gets revealed that the lore behind his death is all bs, and he actually met his end is some sad, comic ungangsta way. But the Boys take it upon themselves to keep the truth hidden and to perpetuate the J-Roc legend. Cause people need it. The noble lie, as Plato called it. And we see little bottle kid b-boys emulate him.
Just spitballin here. Let me know what y'all think.

[riverman]

The show needs to have a change of direction. The old plots are used up.
 Mike doesn't come across as someone who is easy to work for.
Good luck boys.

[mzupeman]

There isn’t a ton to say about Cyrus no longer being on the show, except a bunch of vague tweets that basically confirm, straight from the actor, that he probably won’t be on there anymore.  There was this exchange:
 
‘Any Cyrus appearance in season 10 of TPB?’
 
‘No’
 
‘Well that sucks’
 
‘Yeah long story which I will reveal at some point but was written out because of it’
 
At another point someone had asked:
 
‘are you in season 11 of TPB? L’
 
‘no idea what their plans are but doubtful’
 
And at yet another point:
 
‘Just gutted @bernierobichaud wasn’t in it at all!’
 
‘I don’t think their plan is to bring him back.’
 
So that’s all that can really be said.  We can’t make any assumptions.  We just don’t have any details other than the Cyrus character, for whatever reason, is apparently done.  Which kinda makes me sad, too.  The boys have turned Sam into this stupid, goofy cartoon character in season 9, and then all of a sudden in season 10, he’s “Got my life back on track Sam”… which is both great because it harkens back to the old days, but also kind of lame because the constant flip-flopping is just poor character development and lazy writing.  So, as far as recognizable villains go… that’s who’s left, outside of Lahey, of course.  And I’m sorry, even though they reigned him in to be not so over the top this year, ‘Private Dancer’ isn’t a great addition to the show.
 
So, yeah… Lucy, Cyrus, and now J-Roc are gone.  There’s obviously been cast changes before, but this time just feels really, really, really different.  I know a lot of people have said negative things about Lucy being gone, and I know it’s probably easy to write her off the show from a writer’s perspective, but Ricky lives for her.  And they were trying to have a baby.  She’s been an integral part of the show.  She just has.  Cyrus to a lesser extent, but he’s still a villain we love to hate, and hate to love.  J-Roc… man.  I get what Torrens was saying in that podcast, but just a ‘spice’ of the show or not, I don’t think anybody can really imagine a season of this show without J to the R-O-C.
 
Another thing that’s troubling with all these changes is that, according to Torrens, filming may actually begin in late May for season 11.  I’m assuming with Lucy and now J-Roc out of the picture, they’ve probably had to rework a loooot of scripts, if not the whole season.  Not a whole lot of time to turn everything around and get your shooting schedule prepared.  The boys can pull it off, I know, but it’s yet another thing to worry about.
 
The show obviously can last a long time… A lot of people will watch it as long as the stupid jokes keep rolling in, and so will I… but if they really want this show to keep going for a long, long time without feeling that long in the tooth, they need to reign this show back in to the ‘fake documentary’ days and stop going so over the top.

[riverman]

Maybe they will make a year of them being in prison with an all new cast.

[shake]

This may be too radical an idea but what if the show killed J-Roc off? It would make for a very emotional send-off and MC Fleury could be raised by T without him getting abandoned by both parents.

I hope they don't kill him off, I would like there to be the option of him popping in time to time if he feels like it, or there is some special event or new movie.  I'd prefer he leaves for whatever reason and the kid goes with him, or back to the mother.

It could be interesting to see him return as Jamie   Grown out of his J-ROCedness but people still expect him to act like J-ROC.  Perhaps he could show flashes of the old character from time to time but be fighting it.

[moncton velvet smooth]

This may be too radical an idea but what if the show killed J-Roc off? It would make for a very emotional send-off and MC Fleury could be raised by T without him getting abandoned by both parents.

I hope they don't kill him off, I would like there to be the option of him popping in time to time if he feels like it, or there is some special event or new movie.  I'd prefer he leaves for whatever reason and the kid goes with him, or back to the mother.

It could be interesting to see him return as Jamie   Grown out of his J-ROCedness but people still expect him to act like J-ROC.  Perhaps he could show flashes of the old character from time to time but be fighting it.

  I feel like if they don't kill him off we're just gonna nag him and others involved with the show endlessly for him to come back, the way people constantly pester Cory Bowles about Jackson. If J-Roc is dead they're free of that. I did figure on some pushback for that idea though. Lucy seems harder to write off. It seems like Ricky would follow her to the ends of the earth to get her back. Maybe she ran away with Cyrus!
   I don't know why Bernard is in such a state. Cyrus has always been a recurring character, but he's never been in every season. So for them to not use him one year, well, he should be used to it.

[jtotheROCfan]

Despite Jonathan Torren's insistence that he was only a "garnish" and not the main dish, losing JRoc will be a hard one for the show to absorb. He brought a huge amount to the table.

Added to the loss of Trevor and Ray the show has a now gaping hole to fill. I'm confident they will do it, but id like to see them put a little more into it than Candy and Private fucking Dancer. (I mean seriously, who thought of those two??)

First and foremost though, id like them to get the show back on track and stop with this "sit-com" BS. Get a decent director in. Clattenburg or perhaps someone who can emulate his style. After that the rest will take care of itself.

Oh yeah, Lucy? No. Its a little bit of a fuckup, nothing to worry about, just write a new storyline where she runs off with George fucking Green Bumble Cock, no big deal! Mike Smith, two smokes, lets go.

[fletcherrhoden]

I have it on fairly good authority, which I cannot reveal, that we may have seen the last of Capt. Cavesam too.  I think the show will endure no problem without Sam or Cyrus or even Lucy (honestly, her shrill shtick of ever-threatening to leave Ricky has run its course).  J-Roc's loss is a bigger blow, I think -- he's hilarious, a consistent laugh-getter.  Lucy and the others, not so much.  While a lot of people seem discontented with the last few seasons, I thought they were great. One complaint for me is that the new characters don't hold up to the old -- MC Flurry, Candy, Don/Donna, Leslie Dancer -- none of them really rise to the level of the other characters, and the fact that they disappear quickly is proof, I think.  The boys do better when they're developing the characters they already have -- Randy has gone from toady to full-fledged villain and back again and remains a fan-favorite.  Barb Lahey went full villain and has seemed to come back.  I suppose Sarah will get more screen time now, probably paired with T (when are those two gonna hook up?).  But the show needs a strong villain, and Jim Lahey doesn't seem up to the task.  With the other villains (among others) departed, they'll have to dig deep or reach far to come up with a character as strong as Jim Lahey or Bubbles or any of the original cast on either side of the criminal line.  I wish them well and can't wait to see it though.

[iamwhatiseem]

  No matter how much you want TPB to go on forever, it can only lose so many characters and remain TPB.
  The first major loss in Season 7, Cory and Trevor, was fairly easily replaced by several new quality characters...and the show didn't miss a beat.
 The new seasons lost Ray...which was, IMO, a larger loss than Cory and Trevor.
But it lost much more. It lost Lahey and Randy. Especially Lahey, the new seasons have changed him into some bumbling moronic drunk that he never was.
 The new characters do not...at all...have the quality and comedy of new characters introduced in the original series. Period.
  The new seasons are too clownish and slapstick for me. And Barbara as a militant lesbian?? That sucked. Bad.
 And what they have done to Sam's character?? I cannot imagine he would want to continue.

 

[moncton velvet smooth]

  No matter how much you want TPB to go on forever, it can only lose so many characters and remain TPB.
  The first major loss in Season 7, Cory and Trevor, was fairly easily replaced by several new quality characters...and the show didn't miss a beat.
 The new seasons lost Ray...which was, IMO, a larger loss than Cory and Trevor.
But it lost much more. It lost Lahey and Randy. Especially Lahey, the new seasons have changed him into some bumbling moronic drunk that he never was.
 The new characters do not...at all...have the quality and comedy of new characters introduced in the original series. Period.
  The new seasons are too clownish and slapstick for me. And Barbara as a militant lesbian?? That sucked. Bad.
 And what they have done to Sam's character?? I cannot imagine he would want to continue.

 

.  I agree there has been a drop off in quality but I would say Lahey has been a (mostly)  bumbling moronic drunk the whole time. Remember season 2 when the Boys helped Lahey get reelected trailer park supervisor?  That was because he was a bumbling moronic drunk they could stay one step ahead of.
  Personally, I'd like to see Lahey achieve long term sobriety. John Dunsworth is second to none at playing a drunk but enough is enough. At some point it's just sad. Short of killing him they've done about all they can with Lahey's alcoholism.

[iamwhatiseem]

  No matter how much you want TPB to go on forever, it can only lose so many characters and remain TPB.
  The first major loss in Season 7, Cory and Trevor, was fairly easily replaced by several new quality characters...and the show didn't miss a beat.
 The new seasons lost Ray...which was, IMO, a larger loss than Cory and Trevor.
But it lost much more. It lost Lahey and Randy. Especially Lahey, the new seasons have changed him into some bumbling moronic drunk that he never was.
 The new characters do not...at all...have the quality and comedy of new characters introduced in the original series. Period.
  The new seasons are too clownish and slapstick for me. And Barbara as a militant lesbian?? That sucked. Bad.
 And what they have done to Sam's character?? I cannot imagine he would want to continue.

 

.  I agree there has been a drop off in quality but I would say Lahey has been a (mostly)  bumbling moronic drunk the whole time. Remember season 2 when the Boys helped Lahey get reelected trailer park supervisor?  That was because he was a bumbling moronic drunk they could stay one step ahead of.
  Personally, I'd like to see Lahey achieve long term sobriety. John Dunsworth is second to none at playing a drunk but enough is enough. At some point it's just sad. Short of killing him they've done about all they can with Lahey's alcoholism.

  he was always a drunk yes, but not this weird little man that is afraid of his own shadow.
He was a drunk, but crafty...while always getting eventually beat by the boys...he at least put up a good fight.

[fletcherrhoden]

The cast change that freaks me out isn't about who's leaving, but about who's coming in -- ANDREW DICE CLAY and PAMELA ANDERSON?  Yikes!  Last season's celeb appearances worked because they played themselves (with varying degrees of success).  The show's beloved characters are played by actors who were unknown at the time. Mike Smith IS Bubbles. But a known actor playing a new character may disrupt the fictive reality -- I'm afraid it'll take the viewer out of the dream.  Also, those two new-addition actors are nicely trashy but they're crap actors -- not even sure which is worse, but I'm afraid they're gonna suck on TPB and be the death knoll of the show's revival, which I hope goes on for a long time.

[shake]

The cast change that freaks me out isn't about who's leaving, but about who's coming in -- ANDREW DICE CLAY and PAMELA ANDERSON? 

Isn't that just a silly rumor?  Is there news out there now that confirms it?

[fletcherrhoden]

Is the Andrew Dice Clay / Pamela Anderson casting just a rumor?  I'm not sure, but I read it somewhere online, so it MUST be true!  I hope it IS a rumor.  As to the idea of killing J-roc, I say there's no way they would do it and they should not do it.  TPB is the kind of show you watch over and over again, and I don't think anybody wants to think of him as a doomed figure.  My bet is that J-roc and MC Flurry achieve some kind of success as a dad/son rap duo, leaving T behind and probably bitter about it.  That's a character that's become more and more involved in the action as the series has developed.  But killing J-roc's way too rough for that beloved character.  My guess is they write in that Lucy and Cyrus got together and are living in Toronto or somewhere -- they've hooked up before and both are off the show, so that would be an easy out for both characters.  Hey, they didn't kill Des and Levi.

[shake]

Is the Andrew Dice Clay / Pamela Anderson casting just a rumor?  I'm not sure, but I read it somewhere online, so it MUST be true!  I hope it IS a rumor. 

The only mention of that rumor you can find if you google is the post here on the Org http://www.trailerparkboys.org/forums/index.php/topic,12110.0.html
Somebody heard somewhere and asked it if it was true.  If there is no link to support it then you can safely bet it is not true, especially if it is something as silly as that.

[fletcherrhoden]

Thanks for the update -- good news.

[moncton velvet smooth]

I have it on good authority that Andy Milonakis will appear in the next season as the leader of the Bottle Kids. He's gonna be like Brando in Apocalypse Now only for Bottle Kids.