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fandomhigh_ooc2008-12-07 01:15 pm
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Spotlight on Fandoms: Corner Gas
Happy Sunday, Fandom! On this "the RNG loves me, apparently" edition of Spotlight on Fandoms we'll be taking a trip to Dog River, Saskatchewan -- yes, that's in Canada -- "forty kilometres from nowhere and way beyond normal." Please watch the traffic on our one four-way stop (we don't truck with that street light nonsense here) and if you see an old man in a green baseball cap behind the wheel, get out of the way as fast as you can. Anyone here from the neighboring town of Wullerton? If you are, best not to mention it. Best not to mention Wullerton at all, actually; everyone here spits at the name. It's reflex.
Since we are out in the middle of the prairies (wow, it sure is flat), you've probably noticed that old wooden grain elevator on the edge of town, right by the two-lane highway. Tallest building in Dog River. And if you've noticed the grain elevator, you've probably noticed that gas station sign next to it too -- the yellow and green one with the red letters. That's our destination. I'm Shanie, and i'll be your tour guide today as we head into the world of Corner Gas.
You Think There's Not A Lot Going On? Look Closer, Baby, You're So Wrong.
Corner Gas is a Canadian sitcom on the CTV network, now in its sixth and final (*sniffle*) season. It's a show I got into because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bridge_carson kept quoting it at me and pimping it to me and I finally had to see what it was all about. And then I just fell in love with it. I've also managed to show it to a few other FHers who have since gotten pretty hooked on it themselves. ;)
Created by Brent Butt, who grew up in the tiny prairie town of Tisdale, Saskatchewan, it's a loving and quirky tribute to modern life in rural midwestern Canada that has earned numerous Canadian television awards and over 70 nominations, has never gone below the million-viewers mark in its home country, and is the most-watched sitcom in Canadian TV history. The appeal of Corner Gas is that for all its Canadian prairies humor (I feel like I should spell that "humour"), Dog River could be anywhere, and these characters could be anyone you know. Speaking of these characters, let's meet them, shall we?
The Characters
Brent Leroy (Brent Butt) - The proprietor of Dog River's titular fuel station/convenience store, the only gas station for 60 kilometres, Brent's a middle-aged sarcastic geek who loves comic books, rests secure in his habits, and is, at heart, a lovable wuss who'll happily consume his own weight in coffee and chili cheese dogs on a daily basis. He's somehow managed to go his whole life without seeing a horror movie, has terrible eyesight without his glasses (but the idea of touching his eyes to put in contacts scares him, but not as much as the thought of laser eye surgery), and for all this is Dog River's most eligible bachelor if you ask most of the town.
Lacey Burrows (Gabrielle Miller) - When her Aunt Ruby died, Lacey moved to Dog River in the show's pilot to take over the diner. But rural Saskatchewan is a big change from her native Toronto, and Lacey's city-slicker ways and high-flying ideas don't go over so well in a small town wary of city folk and resistant (to understate massively) to change. Forever trying to fit in and make herself useful to the town, Lacey ends up on the outs with people more often than not . . . but not for long, because no matter how often she manages to inadvertently offend people, Dog River needs decent coffee. People actually kind of like her anyway, but shh. Don't let her know.
Hank Yarbo (Fred Ewanuick) - Every small town needs its village idiot, and Hank is Dog River's. (Except for when it's Oscar Leroy, but more on that later.) That guy who can never hold down a steady job and does a little bit of everything from changing your oil to hauling your trash, Hank's been Brent's best friend since childhood, even though Brent's not exempt from Hank's ability to drive the whole town crazy. Maybe it has something to do with Hank never having money and always borrowing it from Brent. He'll talk to anyone about anything, but mostly people wish he would just shut up, and sometimes comes up with great ideas purely by accident . . . most of the time his ideas are a trainwreck, though. Never seen without his trusty and disgusting baseball cap on his head, owing to perpetual bad hair, Hank is not the guy you look to as a role model of personal hygiene -- or to count on to pay his diner tab. When he's going fishing though, that's a different story entirely . . .
Sgt. Davis Quinton (Lorne Cardinal) - The Dog River Municipal Police is a two-man force, and Davis is the senior half. Easygoing, sensitive, and very, very gullible, he still has strict ideas about upholding the law and doing his duty -- even when he's trying to work tax loopholes to his advantage (with help, of course) or attempting to scalp Grey Cup tickets . . . off of a prostitute in Regina. He's as much of a (self-described) metrosexual as you'll find in a small prairie town, and a complete kid at heart at the same time: among his choice of reading materials are Cosmopolitan and the Hardy Boys books. Davis is quick to jump on the bandwagon of anything that strikes his fancy with a big smile and an "All right!" and has geek tendencies of his own; one of the pet theories he likes to expound to people in town is that the original Battlestar Galactica might really have happened.
Constable Karen Pelly (Tara Spencer-Nairn) - The rookie half of the DRPD, complete with uniform shirt that's way too big for her, and the youngest character of the show's regulars. She's cheerful and a little neurotic, prone to facepalming over Davis's gaffes or being scandalized by how often he cheerfully bends the law. She's also very earnest, and tries her best to be a good cop although she chafes under forever being the rookie.
Wanda Dollard (Nancy Robertson) - Brent's assistant at Corner Gas (and IRL, Nancy is Brent Butt's wife), and the town connoisseur of schadenfreude. Wanda holds the dubious distinction of being one of Dog River's few college graduates (majoring in linguistics with a minor in comparative religion). In her constant need to demonstrate how she's smarter than everyone she tries to do everything and almost always ends up at least a little bit over her head. She has a son named Tanner, never seen onscreen but a notorious town terror. Wanda's a snarky, sarcastic, and very short spaz who'll spout unending streams of trivia at anyone unfortunate enough to stand still long enough after they've given her an opening. Also, watching her run after people is always funny.
Emma Leroy (Janet Wright) - Brent's mother, caustic and seemingly bitter (you would be too if you were the brains andmuscle of the Leroy family), addicted to knitting and a stubborn believer in the quality of her own cooking. She can be very nice, until you get on her bad side. Then you'd better fear. She does have a hell of an arm on her, after all, and has been known to throw a cinder block at a skunk from across the yard. Emma's a bit of an intimidating presence, particularly to her son Brent and . . .
Oscar Leroy (Eric Peterson) - He doesn't ever actually yell "Get off my lawn," but he lives the sentiment. If Dog River is a town set in its ways, Oscar is the living, breathing, yelling embodiment of that tendency. He calls everyone a jackass, and is the kind of guy who will call the cops to complain about everything and demand that they do something about it because his taxes pay their salary. He's still perfectly capable of coming up with insane harebrained schemes, and when he gets Hank to team up with him on them, look out.
So What's It About?
What isn't it about? Corner Gas takes all the things that happen in a small town and turns them into crack. From the rumors that spread when Lacey's ex comes from Toronto to visit, to the wackiness that ensues when Hank helps Oscar come up with a plan to avoid a tax audit*, to Brent and Davis having a reverse size competition over who has the tiniest cell phone, Corner Gas throws its characters into the mix with snappy dialogue, snark, and tons of pop culture references.
* - In "The Taxman," Marvin Drey the taxman is played by Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall. But he's not the taxman, just a taxman. He's very sensistive about it.)
There's cameos galore: hockey players, Canadian political figures, actors, even the head of the CTV network.
Corner Gas breaks the fourth wall with gleeful, whimsical regularity: the fantasy sequences, the flash-cuts to the wildly inaccurate headlines of the Dog River Howler (CATTLE KILLED BY WEREWOLFS!), Wanda pushing a boom mic away from her head while talking to Brent about shows with crappy production values. Every episode has two or three plotlines, all of which end up tying into each other by the end; Dog River's a small town, after all.
I'll say honestly that I don't think season one is the best, but the show really hits its stride in season two and doesn't let up from there. The cast has wonderful chemistry, and the characters are vivid and unique. There isn't a whole lot of episodic continuity, so you could really watch the episodes in any order without getting lost. Even the backdrop -- the buildings of Rouleau, Saskatchewan, where the show's exteriors are shot -- has character; the only structure built for the show was the Corner Gas/The Ruby lot.
Meta Fun!
Corner Gas being a Canadian show, it's probably no surprise that a lot of the actors on it have appeared in fandoms that are or have been represented at FH . . . or if they aren't, should be! A brief listing:
Brent Butt
Gabrielle Miller
Fred Ewanuick
Tara Spencer-Nairn
Nancy Robertson
Janet Wright
Eric Peterson
I really can't let this section go without noting that one of the aforementioned cameos was by Colin Mochrie (he randomly shows up in the shot as Brent's talking about that guy who always has to show up in everything). It's an inconsequential cameo in and of itself, but later on Colin guests as an Anglican archdeacon on CBC's Little Mosque on the Prairie, a sitcom also set in a small Saskatchewan town, and refers to leaving his last post in a town where there wasn't a lot going on. LMotP is also a fantastic show, by the way. Just throwing that out there.
Highlights!
A big part of what makes Corner Gas so much fun is the dialogue. Courtesy of YouTube, here's a few samples.
Either Lacey's a terrible Scrabble coach or Hank's an inept player. Or both. - From season 2's "Smell of Freedom."
Hot and Cold - From season 4's "Two Degrees of Separation," what happens when Oscar and Emma get a digital thermostat installed.
What if Dog River tried to build the world's biggest hoe? - From season 1's "World's Biggest Thing. Fair warning, after the scene in the diner, this clip cuts to the very end of the episode, so if you don't want to be spoiled for it, you may want to stop there.
Wanda, Hank, and an incident with a bird bath. - This is one of the fun ways the show uses the flash-cut sequences, from season 3's "Telescope Trouble."
Emma thinks Lacey's just had her stupidest idea yet. Lacey disagrees. - Another fun use of flash-cuts, from season 4's "Happy Campers."
Hank has a good hair day! - Also from "Happy Campers."
And then the good hair day ends. - Yep, same ep.
Oscar is a menace to the Internet and must be stopped. - From season 3's "Mail Fraud."
Hank kinda fails at "That's What She Said." - I can't remember which ep this is from at the moment but I'm pretty sure it's from season 5.
Where Can I Find It?
The DVDs are available on Amazon, of course. Season 6 is currently airing on CTV and The Comedy Channel in Canada, and in the US, WGN Superstation (the cable affiliate) runs the episodes . . . at 1:30 AM on weeknights, unfortunately. It used to be 10 PM.
Since we are out in the middle of the prairies (wow, it sure is flat), you've probably noticed that old wooden grain elevator on the edge of town, right by the two-lane highway. Tallest building in Dog River. And if you've noticed the grain elevator, you've probably noticed that gas station sign next to it too -- the yellow and green one with the red letters. That's our destination. I'm Shanie, and i'll be your tour guide today as we head into the world of Corner Gas.
You Think There's Not A Lot Going On? Look Closer, Baby, You're So Wrong.
Corner Gas is a Canadian sitcom on the CTV network, now in its sixth and final (*sniffle*) season. It's a show I got into because
bridge_carson kept quoting it at me and pimping it to me and I finally had to see what it was all about. And then I just fell in love with it. I've also managed to show it to a few other FHers who have since gotten pretty hooked on it themselves. ;)Created by Brent Butt, who grew up in the tiny prairie town of Tisdale, Saskatchewan, it's a loving and quirky tribute to modern life in rural midwestern Canada that has earned numerous Canadian television awards and over 70 nominations, has never gone below the million-viewers mark in its home country, and is the most-watched sitcom in Canadian TV history. The appeal of Corner Gas is that for all its Canadian prairies humor (I feel like I should spell that "humour"), Dog River could be anywhere, and these characters could be anyone you know. Speaking of these characters, let's meet them, shall we?
The Characters
Brent Leroy (Brent Butt) - The proprietor of Dog River's titular fuel station/convenience store, the only gas station for 60 kilometres, Brent's a middle-aged sarcastic geek who loves comic books, rests secure in his habits, and is, at heart, a lovable wuss who'll happily consume his own weight in coffee and chili cheese dogs on a daily basis. He's somehow managed to go his whole life without seeing a horror movie, has terrible eyesight without his glasses (but the idea of touching his eyes to put in contacts scares him, but not as much as the thought of laser eye surgery), and for all this is Dog River's most eligible bachelor if you ask most of the town.
Lacey Burrows (Gabrielle Miller) - When her Aunt Ruby died, Lacey moved to Dog River in the show's pilot to take over the diner. But rural Saskatchewan is a big change from her native Toronto, and Lacey's city-slicker ways and high-flying ideas don't go over so well in a small town wary of city folk and resistant (to understate massively) to change. Forever trying to fit in and make herself useful to the town, Lacey ends up on the outs with people more often than not . . . but not for long, because no matter how often she manages to inadvertently offend people, Dog River needs decent coffee. People actually kind of like her anyway, but shh. Don't let her know.
Hank Yarbo (Fred Ewanuick) - Every small town needs its village idiot, and Hank is Dog River's. (Except for when it's Oscar Leroy, but more on that later.) That guy who can never hold down a steady job and does a little bit of everything from changing your oil to hauling your trash, Hank's been Brent's best friend since childhood, even though Brent's not exempt from Hank's ability to drive the whole town crazy. Maybe it has something to do with Hank never having money and always borrowing it from Brent. He'll talk to anyone about anything, but mostly people wish he would just shut up, and sometimes comes up with great ideas purely by accident . . . most of the time his ideas are a trainwreck, though. Never seen without his trusty and disgusting baseball cap on his head, owing to perpetual bad hair, Hank is not the guy you look to as a role model of personal hygiene -- or to count on to pay his diner tab. When he's going fishing though, that's a different story entirely . . .
Sgt. Davis Quinton (Lorne Cardinal) - The Dog River Municipal Police is a two-man force, and Davis is the senior half. Easygoing, sensitive, and very, very gullible, he still has strict ideas about upholding the law and doing his duty -- even when he's trying to work tax loopholes to his advantage (with help, of course) or attempting to scalp Grey Cup tickets . . . off of a prostitute in Regina. He's as much of a (self-described) metrosexual as you'll find in a small prairie town, and a complete kid at heart at the same time: among his choice of reading materials are Cosmopolitan and the Hardy Boys books. Davis is quick to jump on the bandwagon of anything that strikes his fancy with a big smile and an "All right!" and has geek tendencies of his own; one of the pet theories he likes to expound to people in town is that the original Battlestar Galactica might really have happened.
Constable Karen Pelly (Tara Spencer-Nairn) - The rookie half of the DRPD, complete with uniform shirt that's way too big for her, and the youngest character of the show's regulars. She's cheerful and a little neurotic, prone to facepalming over Davis's gaffes or being scandalized by how often he cheerfully bends the law. She's also very earnest, and tries her best to be a good cop although she chafes under forever being the rookie.
Wanda Dollard (Nancy Robertson) - Brent's assistant at Corner Gas (and IRL, Nancy is Brent Butt's wife), and the town connoisseur of schadenfreude. Wanda holds the dubious distinction of being one of Dog River's few college graduates (majoring in linguistics with a minor in comparative religion). In her constant need to demonstrate how she's smarter than everyone she tries to do everything and almost always ends up at least a little bit over her head. She has a son named Tanner, never seen onscreen but a notorious town terror. Wanda's a snarky, sarcastic, and very short spaz who'll spout unending streams of trivia at anyone unfortunate enough to stand still long enough after they've given her an opening. Also, watching her run after people is always funny.
Emma Leroy (Janet Wright) - Brent's mother, caustic and seemingly bitter (you would be too if you were the brains andmuscle of the Leroy family), addicted to knitting and a stubborn believer in the quality of her own cooking. She can be very nice, until you get on her bad side. Then you'd better fear. She does have a hell of an arm on her, after all, and has been known to throw a cinder block at a skunk from across the yard. Emma's a bit of an intimidating presence, particularly to her son Brent and . . .
Oscar Leroy (Eric Peterson) - He doesn't ever actually yell "Get off my lawn," but he lives the sentiment. If Dog River is a town set in its ways, Oscar is the living, breathing, yelling embodiment of that tendency. He calls everyone a jackass, and is the kind of guy who will call the cops to complain about everything and demand that they do something about it because his taxes pay their salary. He's still perfectly capable of coming up with insane harebrained schemes, and when he gets Hank to team up with him on them, look out.
So What's It About?
What isn't it about? Corner Gas takes all the things that happen in a small town and turns them into crack. From the rumors that spread when Lacey's ex comes from Toronto to visit, to the wackiness that ensues when Hank helps Oscar come up with a plan to avoid a tax audit*, to Brent and Davis having a reverse size competition over who has the tiniest cell phone, Corner Gas throws its characters into the mix with snappy dialogue, snark, and tons of pop culture references.
* - In "The Taxman," Marvin Drey the taxman is played by Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall. But he's not the taxman, just a taxman. He's very sensistive about it.)
There's cameos galore: hockey players, Canadian political figures, actors, even the head of the CTV network.
Corner Gas breaks the fourth wall with gleeful, whimsical regularity: the fantasy sequences, the flash-cuts to the wildly inaccurate headlines of the Dog River Howler (CATTLE KILLED BY WEREWOLFS!), Wanda pushing a boom mic away from her head while talking to Brent about shows with crappy production values. Every episode has two or three plotlines, all of which end up tying into each other by the end; Dog River's a small town, after all.
I'll say honestly that I don't think season one is the best, but the show really hits its stride in season two and doesn't let up from there. The cast has wonderful chemistry, and the characters are vivid and unique. There isn't a whole lot of episodic continuity, so you could really watch the episodes in any order without getting lost. Even the backdrop -- the buildings of Rouleau, Saskatchewan, where the show's exteriors are shot -- has character; the only structure built for the show was the Corner Gas/The Ruby lot.
Meta Fun!
Corner Gas being a Canadian show, it's probably no surprise that a lot of the actors on it have appeared in fandoms that are or have been represented at FH . . . or if they aren't, should be! A brief listing:
Brent Butt
- The Kids in the Hall
- The X-Files
Gabrielle Miller
- The X-Files
- Stargate SG-1
- The Sentinel
- Highlander
Fred Ewanuick
- Dark Angel
- Tru Calling
- Dead Like Me
Tara Spencer-Nairn
- Nothing major Stateside, but she did do the nasty with BSG's Michael Trucco in Wishmaster 4 so it totally counts.
Nancy Robertson
- Dead Like Me
Janet Wright
- Dark Angel
- due South
Eric Peterson
- The voice of Teebo on The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour.
I really can't let this section go without noting that one of the aforementioned cameos was by Colin Mochrie (he randomly shows up in the shot as Brent's talking about that guy who always has to show up in everything). It's an inconsequential cameo in and of itself, but later on Colin guests as an Anglican archdeacon on CBC's Little Mosque on the Prairie, a sitcom also set in a small Saskatchewan town, and refers to leaving his last post in a town where there wasn't a lot going on. LMotP is also a fantastic show, by the way. Just throwing that out there.
Highlights!
A big part of what makes Corner Gas so much fun is the dialogue. Courtesy of YouTube, here's a few samples.
Either Lacey's a terrible Scrabble coach or Hank's an inept player. Or both. - From season 2's "Smell of Freedom."
Hot and Cold - From season 4's "Two Degrees of Separation," what happens when Oscar and Emma get a digital thermostat installed.
What if Dog River tried to build the world's biggest hoe? - From season 1's "World's Biggest Thing. Fair warning, after the scene in the diner, this clip cuts to the very end of the episode, so if you don't want to be spoiled for it, you may want to stop there.
Wanda, Hank, and an incident with a bird bath. - This is one of the fun ways the show uses the flash-cut sequences, from season 3's "Telescope Trouble."
Emma thinks Lacey's just had her stupidest idea yet. Lacey disagrees. - Another fun use of flash-cuts, from season 4's "Happy Campers."
Hank has a good hair day! - Also from "Happy Campers."
And then the good hair day ends. - Yep, same ep.
Oscar is a menace to the Internet and must be stopped. - From season 3's "Mail Fraud."
Hank kinda fails at "That's What She Said." - I can't remember which ep this is from at the moment but I'm pretty sure it's from season 5.
Where Can I Find It?
The DVDs are available on Amazon, of course. Season 6 is currently airing on CTV and The Comedy Channel in Canada, and in the US, WGN Superstation (the cable affiliate) runs the episodes . . . at 1:30 AM on weeknights, unfortunately. It used to be 10 PM.
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*coughs*
I did not know that Nancy & Brent were married. That explains so much!
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They got married after season 3. I did not know this either until
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I know you're jealous :D
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And wow, I didn't know Nancy and Brent were married either.
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