Corner Gas is a Canadian sitcom which airs on CTV and The Comedy Network. Deriving its name from the roadside gas station located in the fictional town of Dog River, the series revolves around life in small-town Saskatchewan. It has been compared to Seinfeld for its dry sense of humour and its plots that are "about nothing."

Corner Gas is the only gas station for miles. Brent LeRoy is the proprietor of the station and Wanda works at the station's convenience store as a retail assistant. A nearby coffee shop is owned by Lacey Burrows. Dog River also has a newspaper, The Howler.

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 hadn't pursued stand-up comedy. (He would still be in a small town in Saskatchewan pumping gas.)

The first episode of Corner Gas aired on January 22, 2004 and attracted 1.2 million viewers. It became an instant hit and has never gone below the million-viewer mark since. 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. The first season was released on DVD in Canada on October 19, 2004. In keeping with the spirit of the series, each DVD set included a coupon good for a free coffee at Petro-Canada service stations.

The series is filmed at Canada/Saskatchewan Production Studios in Regina, Saskatchewan and on location in Regina, Saskatchewan and Rouleau, Saskatchewan. It is produced by Prairie Pants Productions in association with CTV.

In late September 2004, to promote the start of the second season, the cast members of Corner Gas travelled to cities across Canada where they pumped gas at local service stations for the day (the fuel being provided to motorists free of charge). By the halfway point of the promotion more than 40,000 litres of free gasoline had been pumped.

Characters

• Brent LeRoy is the proprietor of Corner Gas. Played by Brent Butt.
• Lacey Burrows is originally from Toronto, Ontario. She owns The Ruby coffee shop in Dog River. Played by Gabrielle Miller.
• Hank Yarbo is Brent's best friend and most-likely candidate for village idiot. Played by Fred Ewanuick.
• Wanda Dollard is a retail assistant at Corner Gas. Played by Nancy Robertson.
• Oscar LeRoy is Brent's sarcastic father and former owner of Corner Gas. Played by Eric Peterson.
• Emma LeRoy is Brent's mother, and the brains/muscle of the family. Played by Janet Wright .
• Davis Quinton is the sr. police officer in Dog River. Played by Lorne Cardinal.
• Karen Pelly is the jr. police officer in Dog River. Played by Tara Spencer-Nairn.

The surnames of all Dog River residents are names of small towns in Saskatchewan.

Notable guest stars

• Kevin McDonald played Marvin Drey, a Canada Customs and Revenue Agency agent, in "The Taxman".
• Dan Matheson , a well-known Canadian news anchor for CTV, appeared as himself in "The Taxman".
• Colin Mochrie made a cameo appearance in "Comedy Night".
• Lloyd Robertson played himself in "Poor Brent".
• Darryl Sittler played himself in "Wedding Card".
• Julie Stewart played a paint store clerk (and parodied her role in Cold Squad) in "Grad '68".
• Pamela Wallin (a native of Wadena , Saskatchewan) played herself in "Hook, Line & Sinker".
• Mark McKinney, played Bill, an American who came to Dog River by accident, in "An American in Dog River".
• Saskatchewan born musician Colin James and the rock group The Tragically Hip appear as themselves in "Rock On!"

Dog River

Dog River has a population of 450. The exact location of the town in Saskatchewan has yet to be established, however, per the Corner Gas tagline, it is at least 40 kilometres from the nearest town, but still within a relatively short drive to Regina. Series creator Brent Butt has said the town lies somewhere between Regina and Saskatoon.

The town has its own newspaper, the Howler, and only one gas station, Corner Gas. The Ruby cafe is the only real restaurant in the town, though residents also enjoy going to the pub in the local hotel. The town also has its own miniature golf course, and is one of the relative few towns in Saskatchewan to still have a grain elevator, although plans (later abandoned) were made to demolish it during the first season.

A police force consisting of two officers keeps the peace in Dog River, though most of the time their duties consist of chasing vermin away from farms and using their radar guns to clock the flying speed of sparrows (which can appearently do 60 km/h).

The residents of Dog River have a pathological dislike of the residents of Wullerton, a neighboring town, to the point where they have been conditioned to spit whenever the rival town is mentioned (they are so used to it they sometimes don't realize it when they spit), the reason for which has yet to be explained.

The town's name is an homage to series creator Brent Butt's hometown of Tisdale, Saskatchewan through which the Doghide River flows. However, in the show itself, the second season episode "Rock On!" revealed that the town was named after a great uncle of Lacey's who drowned a bunch of dogs. She discovered this trivia while researching information for a history plaque. In order to play down this unsavory branch of her family tree, Lacey instead used a story that Officer Karen made up -- that pioneers somehow got ahold of a hot air balloon, got an aerial view of the townsite, and noticed that the creek formed a shape similar to that of a dog.

Episode guide

Season 1 (2004)

Season 2 (2004-2005)

NB: The second season episode "Hero Sandwich" establishes that the events of the first season and the first half of the second season take place over the course of 10 months. Midway through the second season, CTV moved the series from Tuesday to Monday to compete with Rick Mercer's Monday Report, on CBC.

External links

• Corner Gas official website
• JAM! Showbiz: Corner Gas
• Corner Gas, Pitstop (fan site)
• Corner Gas Fan Forum
• CGFan Forums