Trailer park owner marvels at ‘Myrtle Manor’ success

With the third season of “Trailer Park: Welcome to Myrtle Manor” in the can, Cecil Patrick said he still marvels at the show’s success.

“It’s scary,” he said. “It’s really scary how good it is. ... I think it’s gone farther than we ever thought it would.”

Filming of the third season wrapped up last week, and Patrick said it is expected to premiere in February. Patrick is a cast member and owns Patrick’s Mobile Home Park off Highway 15 in Myrtle Beach where the TLC docu-drama is based.

“We’re already hearing rumblings of a season four,” he said.

It took about three-and-a-half months after the second season’s finale for cast members to learn if the show would be renewed for a third season.

During the second season, the show averaged 1.1 million viewers, tying its average for season one, according to Nielsen, which measures the ratings of television shows. The show had its highest ratings during the third episode of the second season, garnering about 1.3 million viewers.

Patrick said he thinks this season will be even better than the second season, something he also said of the first season.

“It was really fun this time,” he said of filming. “Last year was a little bit stressful. This year was just fun. ... We filmed a lot more off location this year. But we filmed a lot here as well.”

Patrick said said he couldn’t discuss details of this season’s filming before the shows air.

Until then, Patrick said he and other cast members will continue making appearances, selling “Myrtle Manor” merchandise from their souvenir trailer at the park and working to help the local community.

About 10 cast members will go to California next weekend to take part in the Hollywood Christmas Parade, a celebrity-filled event that benefits Toys for Tots. The parade is scheduled to feature appearances from a variety of people, ranging from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Garcietti to Richie Sambora from the band Bon Jovi to the cast of “The Young and the Restless.”

“They’ll show the parade a bunch of times on the Hallmark Channel and CW,” Patrick said. “They told us that last year the parade had 25 million viewers. ... That’s great exposure for us and for Myrtle Beach.”

Find out when the parade will air on the parade’s website http://thehollywoodchristmasparade.org.

Cast member Becky Robertson, Patrick’s daughter, said those interested in donating new, unwrapped toys to Toys for Tots can drop them off at the park, located at 2000 Highway 15 in Myrtle Beach.

This story was originally published November 24, 2014 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Trailer park owner marvels at ‘Myrtle Manor’ success."