New TV comedy series features well-known Maritime talent

The new comedy series “The Trades” features some of the Maritimes' most recognizable stars.

Actor Robb Wells who plays Todd in the series, is best known for his role as Ricky in the “Trailer Park Boys.” He said it was fun to play a character who is different from Ricky.

“I like playing Ricky, but it’s fun to play somebody different too.”

“The Trades” follows employees at a small town oil refinery.

“All the craziness that goes along with those trades, all the pranks that they play on each other,” said Wells.

Wells said he received welding lessons to help with the role.

“I wouldn't say that I’m a great welder, but I do know how to weld a little bit now. So we’re going to make it look as real as possible,” he said.

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The cast also includes Jennifer Spence and Anastasia Phillips.

“Chelsea is a very ambitious executive from head office who's come in to try to turn the place around,” said Spence.

“She's resisted it her whole life thinking that her destiny is elsewhere, and she finally decides that she's going to give the trades a go,” said Phillips, who plays as Todd’s sister Audrey.

The show was created by writer and creator Ryan Lindsay, who has spent his entire life around trades workers.

“My brother's a pipe fitter, my other brother is a carpenter. My father was a process operator,” said Lindsay.

Authenticity was extremely important to Lindsay when creating the show.

“I interviewed over 180 trades people in the last four years. So, I feel like a documentarian at this point. A lot of the rumors, pranks, humor, the dialogue, the way they speak to each other.”

Most of “The Trades” was filmed at the Nova Scotia Community College Akerley campus in Dartmouth, N.S.

“The great thing about this location is that there's testing and training scenarios and pipe infrastructure, but there's no actual product in the pipe and product running through. So it's completely safe,” said Lindsay.

“I think anybody in the trades will definitely be able to relate to it because it is so authentic to the actual trades. I think people will relate to the humor, the characters,” said Wells.

The first two episodes of “The Trades” are available now on Crave, with two more episodes releasing each Friday.