Corner Gas is a Canadian television sitcom series created by Brent Butt. Re-runs still air on CTV and The Comedy Network in Canada, WGN America in the United States, and SBS in Australia.
Deriving its name from the roadside gas station in the fictional town of Dog River, Saskatchewan, Corner Gas is the only gas station for 60 kilometres (37 miles) in any direction. Brent Leroy (Brent Butt) is the proprietor of the station and Wanda Dollard (Nancy Robertson) works at the station’s convenience store as a retail assistant. An adjoining coffee shop, The Ruby, is owned by Lacey Burrows (Gabrielle Miller) who inherited it from her Aunt Ruby.
The series completed its run following broadcast of its sixth season on April 13, 2009, with a total of 107 episodes.
The show became an instant hit, averaging a million viewers per episode. Corner Gas has been the recipient of six Gemini Awards, and has been nominated almost 70 times for various awards.
On April 6, 2009, Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall signed a proclamation that declared April 13, 2009 (and the same day every year after), "Corner Gas Day" in Saskatchewan.
Production
Concept
The series was created by Canadian comedian Brent Butt, who came up with the idea for the series after wondering what his life would be like if he had not pursued stand-up comedy (he would still be in a small town in Saskatchewan pumping gas). With the exception of the first season finale and second season premiere episodes, which are linked, most other Corner Gas episodes are stand-alone storylines that can be viewed in virtually any order, though occasional incidental references to previous episodes can be found.
Brent Butt originally developed the story line for CTV and The Comedy Network (TCN). The show brings together broad, coffee shop humour within a community. The characters are archetypal. They have the personality of friends and family to which international viewers can relate. The show focuses on the lifestyle of small town folk. Though set in a small town in Saskatchewan, it is not about Saskatchewan or Canada, but rather the day to day interactions of the residents of Dog River.
Executive producers, directors, and co-producers
Corner Gas is produced by CTV and Prairie Pants Production. Prairie Pants Production is a company assembled by Brent Butt, Virginia Thompson and 335 Productions. 335 Productions is a partnership between Brent Butt and David Storey. (The name of the production company is derived from the fact that Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Butt's home town, lies at the junction of Saskatchewan Highways 3 and 35.) At The Comedy Network, Michelle Daly is Director of Content and Ed Robinson is the President and General Manager. At CTV Inc., Susanne Boyce is President, Creative, Content and Channels and again Ed Robinson is Executive Vice-President, Programming. Brent Butt has been a driving force as creator, writer, showrunner executive producer, actor and occasionally director of the show. Brent Butt created the series Corner Gas . Paul Mather, Mark Farrell, Brent Butt, Andrew Carr, Kevin White, Robert Sheridan, Norm Hiscock, Dylan Wertz (or "Worts") and Gary Pearson all contributed to the writing of the series. David Storey, Mark Farrell, Robert de Lint, Jeff Beesley and Brent Butt provided direction in the program.
Corner Gas is promoted by CTV as the network’s “first original narrative comedy series." While it is not, in fact, the first Canadian-produced sitcom ever aired on CTV, having been preceded by The Trouble with Tracy , Snow Job , Excuse My French and Check It Out! , it is the first CTV sitcom in which the network itself has held a primary production role, rather than acting solely as a holder of broadcast rights, and the first to postdate the network's late-1990s corporate restructuring from a cooperative of its affiliated stations into a conventional corporation. Corner Gas can also be verifiably called the most successful of these shows.
Filming locations
Corner Gas is filmed entirely on location in Saskatchewan. The inside scenes (Ruby Cafe interior, Police Department, Oscar and Emma's house, etc.) are filmed at Canada/Saskatchewan Production Studios in Regina. All of the outdoor scenes and all scenes that take place in the gas station are filmed in Rouleau, Saskatchewan. Rouleau is a small town on Highway 39 between Moose Jaw and Weyburn. The grain elevator has been repainted to read “Dog River” instead of “Rouleau", however the water tower still reads "Rouleau" - with post production effects used to repaint it to read "Dog River" in the first season episode "Grad 68". Also Regina, Saskatchewan, is known as the 'city' in Corner Gas .
Episode format
Each episode of Corner Gas is written following a specific formula: Two or three (almost always three) storylines are presented in each show. The main storyline usually opens and closes the episode and is most of the time driven by a single character. The secondary plots are sometimes slightly intertwined with the other stories.
Opening sequence
The Corner Gas opening sequence follows a cold open. The theme music, "Not a Lot Goin’ On", was written by Craig Northey, formerly of the rock band Odds, and Jesse Valenzuela formerly of the rock band Gin Blossoms.
Overview
Main article: List of Corner Gas episodesCorner Gas is the only gas station for 60 kilometres (37 mi) in any direction (according to season one, episode one “Ruby Reborn” and season one, episode two "Tax Man"). Brent Leroy (Brent Butt) is the proprietor of the station and Wanda Dollard (Nancy Robertson) works at the station’s convenience store as a retail assistant. An adjoining coffee shop (The Ruby) is owned by Lacey Burrows (Gabrielle Miller), who inherited it from her Aunt Ruby and moved to Dog River from Toronto. Brent's parents, Oscar Leroy (Eric Peterson) and Emma Leroy (Janet Wright), are lifetime residents of Dog River. Oscar is always up to something, much to the dismay and embarrassment of his wife Emma. Dog River's police force, consisting of veteran Davis Quinton (Lorne Cardinal) and rookie Karen Pelly (Tara Spencer-Nairn), keep the peace in the small town, which proves a very simple task, and the officers have an overabundance of free time. Finally, Brent's best friend Hank Yarbo (Fred Ewanuick), who is constantly unemployed, spends his time 'hanging out' with Dog River's residents and drinking coffee at the Ruby (which he never pays for).
The first episode of Corner Gas aired on January 22, 2004, and attracted 1.5 million viewers. It became an instant hit. The first season consisted of 13 episodes. Less than two months after the first episode aired, CTV renewed it for a second season of 18 episodes.
Brent’s main co-writers are This Hour has 22 Minutes writers Mark Farrell, Paul Mather, Kevin White, and Andrew Carr.
As broadcast of the fourth season finale approached, there was a flurry of news reports suggesting that the series was coming to an unexpected end, based upon televised promotions for the episode, leaked plot details, and wording of a CTV press release issued on March 6, 2007 that implied that the series finale would air on March 12, 2007. Two segments of production footage with timecode circulated on YouTube also seemed to indicate a series finale as imminent despite the show’s continued success in Canada and recent U.S. sale. On March 7, 2007, CTV clarified its press release, stating it was a season finale, and on March 13, 2007, CTV confirmed an order for a 19-episode fifth season, that premiered on September 24, 2007.
On April 10, 2008, as production of the sixth season began, Brent Butt announced via a press release that he and his production company, Prairie Pants, have decided to conclude production of the series after the sixth season, with the final episodes airing in the spring of 2009. Butt said the decision to end the series while still a popular offering on CTV was "a very difficult decision ... and one I felt I had to make. (CTV) made it clear that they were keen to do more seasons ... I wanted to exit gracefully, on top of our game."
The show's final episode aired on April 13, 2009, airing in simulcast on CTV, The Comedy Network and A. The episode attracted 2,914,000 viewers on terrestrial television and an additional 235,000 on The Comedy Network, for a total viewership of 3,114,000.
Characters
The surnames of all Dog River residents (with the exception of Fitzy Fitzgerald) are names of small towns in Saskatchewan.
Main cast
- Brent Herbert Leroy (Brent Butt) is the comic book-reading, sarcastic proprietor of Corner Gas. He is almost always good-natured, but has a tendency to fixate on minor details. He is a fan of adventure fiction such as The Saint in New York and The Executioner . His favourite food is chili cheese dogs, to the point where he can identify the individual ingredients by taste. Brent is 'adept' at many sports, such as curling, hockey and softball. He and Hank have been best friends since childhood, and Brent can name multiple instances of Hank's stupidity. As of the Season 5 finale, Brent is 40 years old, and was born on November 11 (thus, his date of birth can be assumed to be November 11, 1967, since Brent graduated high school in 1986). Brent is said to be the hottest guy in Dog River, although other characters on the show ac
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