by Pa Rock
TV Freak
Several months ago I began streaming a Canadian sitcom that purported to be the most popular show in the history of Canadian television, and while that boast may or may not be correct, "Corner Gas" was definitely a very funny program. The show ran from 2004 through 2009 and had 107 half-hour episodes. It had an ensemble cast of eight characters, each of whom appeared in every show.
The show took place primarily in a gas station/convenience store that was attached to a restaurant. The gas station was "Corner Gas" and the restaurant was "The Ruby." The businesses were located in the fictional town of "Dog River," Saskatchewan - at a prairie highway crossroads "forty miles from nowhere." (The filming location was the small town of Rouleau, Saskatchewan.)
The show's chief writer and main character was Canadian comic Brent Butt who played Brent Leroy, the owner of Corner Gas. Brent had grown up in Dog River and, as a young adult, purchased the gas station from his parents, Oscar and Emma, who still lived in town and were always interfering in their bachelor son's life - or having him over to share the evening meal - every evening.
Brent's dad, Oscar Leroy (Eric Peterson), was a snappy old curmudgeon who was quick with a scheme to complicate any situation - and whose favorite word was "jackass!" His wife, Emma, functioned to put the brakes on Oscar's wild ideas and practice the motherly arts of cooking, sewing, gardening, and pining for grand babies. Emma also had a darker side and could create a fair amount of havoc on her own.
Lacey Burrows (Gabrielle Miller) moved to Dog River from Toronto when her Aunt Ruby died. She took over the aunt's restaurant and named it "The Ruby" in her honor. Lacey wanted acceptance by the local community, something which usually seemed to be just beyond her grasp.
Hank Yarbo (Fred Ewanuick) was Brent's lifelong best friend. Hank seemingly never held a real paying job, and spent most of his time hanging around "Corner Gas" creating complications for those working or shopping there. The other regular at the station was Wanda Dollard (Nancy Robertson) who "worked" there but seemed to spend most of her time sitting at the counter and reading the magazines. Wanda always had a quick excuse for not actually doing any work.
The final two regular cast members were the cops. Police Chief Davis Quinton (Lorne Cardinal) and his Deputy Karen Pelly (Tara Spencer-Nairn) had no real crime to fight other than rare traffic violations by passing tourists. They spent their days helping with the misadventures of the town's other citizens - and napping in their patrol car.
There were a few other townspeople who roamed in an out of the episodes, but basically those eight carried the show and were involved in every episode - sort of like a "Gilligan's Island" but where the inhabitants were marooned on the Canadian prairie instead of an island. Each of their lives complemented and complicated the lives of the other seven - on a weekly basis.
Canadian politicians, sports figures, and entertainers put in occasional cameo appearances on the show, along with some who were very familiar to audiences in the States - such as singer Michael Buble and actor Kieffer Sutherland.
The same crew came back together in 2014 to make an update to life in Dog River in "Corner Gas: The Movie." In the movie the mayor had lost most of the town's money by investing it in property in Detroit - because he reasoned that property values could not go any lower, but they did - and then he tried to recover those losses by playing the lottery. The people of Dog River were faced with the challenge of either working together to possibly survive, or everyone pulling up stakes and leaving. The movie had the same sparkling and witty dialogue as the television series and managed to tie up some of the loose ends left by the series - such as why Brent never left home and went to college, or what if there had been a romantic relationship between Brent and Lacey, or what the real story behind the people of Dog River always spitting when someone says the name of the next closest town - Wullerton (spit!).
Since the movie was completed one of the regular cast members has died, Janet Wright who played Emma Leroy, the building in Rouleau, Saskatchewan, which housed Corner Gas and the Ruby has been bulldozed - and the "Foo Mart" grocery burned to the ground, so it would appear that the lights have gone out in Dog River permanently.
That's a shame.
Of course, I also think it's sad that the people on Gilligan's Island were rescued!
(Note: "Corner Gas" streams on Amazon Prime, and "Corner Gas: The Movie" is currently playing on the IMDB Channel which is available through Amazon Prime.)
TV Freak
Several months ago I began streaming a Canadian sitcom that purported to be the most popular show in the history of Canadian television, and while that boast may or may not be correct, "Corner Gas" was definitely a very funny program. The show ran from 2004 through 2009 and had 107 half-hour episodes. It had an ensemble cast of eight characters, each of whom appeared in every show.
The show took place primarily in a gas station/convenience store that was attached to a restaurant. The gas station was "Corner Gas" and the restaurant was "The Ruby." The businesses were located in the fictional town of "Dog River," Saskatchewan - at a prairie highway crossroads "forty miles from nowhere." (The filming location was the small town of Rouleau, Saskatchewan.)
The show's chief writer and main character was Canadian comic Brent Butt who played Brent Leroy, the owner of Corner Gas. Brent had grown up in Dog River and, as a young adult, purchased the gas station from his parents, Oscar and Emma, who still lived in town and were always interfering in their bachelor son's life - or having him over to share the evening meal - every evening.
Brent's dad, Oscar Leroy (Eric Peterson), was a snappy old curmudgeon who was quick with a scheme to complicate any situation - and whose favorite word was "jackass!" His wife, Emma, functioned to put the brakes on Oscar's wild ideas and practice the motherly arts of cooking, sewing, gardening, and pining for grand babies. Emma also had a darker side and could create a fair amount of havoc on her own.
Lacey Burrows (Gabrielle Miller) moved to Dog River from Toronto when her Aunt Ruby died. She took over the aunt's restaurant and named it "The Ruby" in her honor. Lacey wanted acceptance by the local community, something which usually seemed to be just beyond her grasp.
Hank Yarbo (Fred Ewanuick) was Brent's lifelong best friend. Hank seemingly never held a real paying job, and spent most of his time hanging around "Corner Gas" creating complications for those working or shopping there. The other regular at the station was Wanda Dollard (Nancy Robertson) who "worked" there but seemed to spend most of her time sitting at the counter and reading the magazines. Wanda always had a quick excuse for not actually doing any work.
The final two regular cast members were the cops. Police Chief Davis Quinton (Lorne Cardinal) and his Deputy Karen Pelly (Tara Spencer-Nairn) had no real crime to fight other than rare traffic violations by passing tourists. They spent their days helping with the misadventures of the town's other citizens - and napping in their patrol car.
There were a few other townspeople who roamed in an out of the episodes, but basically those eight carried the show and were involved in every episode - sort of like a "Gilligan's Island" but where the inhabitants were marooned on the Canadian prairie instead of an island. Each of their lives complemented and complicated the lives of the other seven - on a weekly basis.
Canadian politicians, sports figures, and entertainers put in occasional cameo appearances on the show, along with some who were very familiar to audiences in the States - such as singer Michael Buble and actor Kieffer Sutherland.
The same crew came back together in 2014 to make an update to life in Dog River in "Corner Gas: The Movie." In the movie the mayor had lost most of the town's money by investing it in property in Detroit - because he reasoned that property values could not go any lower, but they did - and then he tried to recover those losses by playing the lottery. The people of Dog River were faced with the challenge of either working together to possibly survive, or everyone pulling up stakes and leaving. The movie had the same sparkling and witty dialogue as the television series and managed to tie up some of the loose ends left by the series - such as why Brent never left home and went to college, or what if there had been a romantic relationship between Brent and Lacey, or what the real story behind the people of Dog River always spitting when someone says the name of the next closest town - Wullerton (spit!).
Since the movie was completed one of the regular cast members has died, Janet Wright who played Emma Leroy, the building in Rouleau, Saskatchewan, which housed Corner Gas and the Ruby has been bulldozed - and the "Foo Mart" grocery burned to the ground, so it would appear that the lights have gone out in Dog River permanently.
That's a shame.
Of course, I also think it's sad that the people on Gilligan's Island were rescued!
(Note: "Corner Gas" streams on Amazon Prime, and "Corner Gas: The Movie" is currently playing on the IMDB Channel which is available through Amazon Prime.)
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