49 Fun Facts About Corner Gas

Brent Leroy, played by series creator Brent Butt, spends his shifts at Corner Gas reading what?

Comic books. The habit is the creator's own: at 19 he and a friend set up a publishing company and produced a comic, Existing Earth, that earned an Eagle Award nomination.

On Corner Gas, the Dog River liquor store is also the place where locals buy what?

Insurance. Wes Humboldt sells both over one counter, so when a furious Oscar storms out vowing never to come back, Wes reminds him he may need a policy one day.

Why did Corner Gas end in 2009?

Its creator chose to stop. The network made clear it wanted more seasons, but he said he wanted 'to exit gracefully, on top of our game', while the show was at its prime.

In a first-season Corner Gas episode, Dog River builds what giant roadside attraction to rival Wullerton's big magpie?

A hoe. The town picks it to honour its farming roots, squirms at the double meaning, then finds another town already has a bigger one, leaving Dog River with the world's second biggest hoe.

On Corner Gas, what is the name of the coffee shop attached to Brent's station?

The Ruby. Lacey inherits the coffee shop from her Aunt Ruby and renames it in her honour; the regulars are soon complaining that a cup now costs an outrageous buck-fifty.

Which Canadian city did Lacey Burrows move from to take over the diner?

Toronto. As the big-city newcomer she gives the show its outsider's view of Dog River, and her attempts to fit into small-town life usually backfire.

Who plays Lacey Burrows on Corner Gas?

Gabrielle Miller. Because both shows made short seasons, she could play Lacey while also starring as newlywed Bobbi Briggs in the Vancouver drama Robson Arms.

On Corner Gas, what is the name of Brent's perpetually unemployed best friend?

Hank Yarbo. Brent's best bud since grade school, he once torched the first structure ever built in Dog River so that the town would match his Lego model of it, for which he had run out of bricks.

On Corner Gas, who plays Brent's unemployed best friend?

Fred Ewanuick. He made his television debut as 'a spinning gnome' in The New Addams Family, and after Corner Gas he ran for office as the lead of the sitcom Dan for Mayor.

On Corner Gas, the caustic cashier Wanda Dollard is played by which actress?

Nancy Robertson. In 2005 she married the show's creator and star, and she later took the lead in his next sitcom, a part he says he had not written with her in mind.

On Corner Gas, how does cashier Wanda Dollard describe herself?

The smartest person in town. Wanda enjoys lording her knowledge over the locals, and the official character guide backs her only so far, calling her 'smarter than you think she is'.

Which Canadian rock band appears on Corner Gas as 'local kids' rehearsing in Brent's garage?

The Tragically Hip. Brent kicks the 'kids' out so that his own old band can rehearse, Wanda orders them to leave their amps behind, and Gord Downie protests that they are working out the lyrics.

Who plays Brent's grouchy father, Oscar Leroy, on Corner Gas?

Eric Peterson. Long before Oscar, he co-created and starred in the stage hit Billy Bishop Goes to War, which took him to Broadway and London's West End.

On Corner Gas, what is Oscar Leroy's all-purpose insult?

Jackass. It is the last word spoken in the series finale, and when Brent tries to make Oscar give it up, the old man uses it more than in any other episode.

Who played Emma Leroy, Brent's mother, in the original Corner Gas?

Janet Wright. Three decades before playing a Saskatchewan matriarch, she co-founded Saskatoon's Persephone Theatre with her sister Susan.

Which improv comedian cameos on Corner Gas as a joke about how he turns up on every Canadian TV show?

Colin Mochrie. Brent mocks the cameo habit as the Whose Line Is It Anyway? star strolls through the café, then calls him 'Dave'; Mochrie returns at the end to urge viewers to read.

What rank does Davis Quinton hold in the Dog River police?

Sergeant. As the senior of the town's two officers he answers to nobody, so he naps in his cruiser, misspends the budget and makes up laws, never having read the police manual.

Who plays Davis Quinton on Corner Gas?

Lorne Cardinal. He played club rugby in Alberta, and his character shares the passion: Davis is a fan of the Saskatchewan Prairie Fire and turns up in the team's gear.

On Corner Gas, which actress plays the ambitious junior officer Karen Pelly?

Tara Spencer-Nairn. Her breakthrough was also about small-town life: in New Waterford Girl she played a Bronx teenager who turns a Nova Scotia town on its ear.

On Corner Gas, the main characters' surnames are all taken from what?

Saskatchewan towns. The show's creator lifted Leroy, Dollard, Pelly, Quinton and Burrows straight off the provincial map, sparing only the mayor, Fitzy Fitzgerald.

Which real town stood in for Dog River in the outdoor scenes of Corner Gas?

Rouleau. The crew built a mock gas station and coffee shop on boggy ground at the edge of town; they became a tourist attraction, slowly sank, and were demolished in 2016.

In which city were the show's interior scenes filmed?

Regina is simply called 'the city' on the show.

Which landmark in the Corner Gas filming town was repainted to read 'Dog River'?

The grain elevator. The lettering was left in place when filming ended, and the town's post office took to cancelling fans' postcards with a 'Dog River' stamp.

What happened in November 2021 to the Corner Gas filming town's repainted landmark?

It burned down. Fire crews arrived to find it fully engulfed and could only contain the blaze; the town's mayor called it 'kind of a sad thing to see it burn'.

Which Saskatchewan town is the creator of Corner Gas really from?

Tisdale. The Doghide River runs through it, which is where Dog River got its name, and his production company, 335, is named for the two highways that cross there.

What is the title of the Corner Gas opening theme song?

It was co-written by Craig Northey of Odds and Jesse Valenzuela of the Gin Blossoms.

Which band performed 'My Happy Place', the closing theme of Corner Gas?

Odds. The Vancouver band released the song as a single in 2008 and appeared in the final season, playing a sock hop in a dream where the regulars have all become Archie characters.

What is the name of Dog River's sensationalist newspaper?

The Howler. When the mayor asks for a gentle reminder about a new crosswalk, the paper runs 'Crosswalk HELL—Mayor Insane'; it once reported that coyotes eating cats were 'werewolfs'.

What do Dog River residents do whenever the rival town of Wullerton is mentioned?

Spit on the ground. The series never says why, and when the movie finally visits Wullerton it turns out to be a spotless town full of unnervingly nice people.

On Corner Gas, what is the name of the band Brent and Wanda formed with a friend in the 1980s?

Thunderface. They have had one gig since 1986, booked because they are so bad, and the locals keep getting the name wrong: 'Thunderbread', 'Thunderchunks', even 'Rumblepuss'.

Which Corner Gas character joins Brent's old band on drums and proves its most competent musician?

Karen. The founders reckon two things held the band back at high school: it had no drummer, and its flash pot blew the principal's eyebrows off; she fills the gap and outplays them all.

On the original Corner Gas, which sitting prime minister has his address to the nation interrupted by Brent?

Paul Martin. Brent complains that he is hogging the show's only half hour on the air; his successor Stephen Harper later made a cameo too, wading into a local row over gopher statues.

Which Kids in the Hall member played tax agent Marvin Drey in the Corner Gas episode 'Tax Man'?

Kevin McDonald. His auditor bristles when Brent calls him 'the tax man' and insists on 'a tax man', saying the other is a little dehumanizing.

On Corner Gas, which crooner phones Davis's jazz radio show, only to be told he 'isn't jazz'?

Michael Bublé. He requests one of his own songs, and when Davis refuses to play it the camera finds the real singer sulking that he is 'a gifted vocalist who defies genres'.

Which home-renovation TV star fixes Oscar's bathroom in the Corner Gas episode 'Jail House'?

Mike Holmes. Wanda boasts that she once dated him, botches the Leroys' new toilet herself, then calls him in; he repairs everything and begs her for a date, and she turns him down.

Which 24 star makes a cameo in the Corner Gas episode 'Final Countdown'?

Kiefer Sutherland. Davis dials a wrong number and reaches him at his mother's house, teases him for living with his mum and hangs up; the mother heard off screen is voiced by his real one.

What did Saskatchewan's premier proclaim April 13, 2009 to be?

Corner Gas Day. Premier Brad Wall signed the proclamation at the Legislature a week early, with the show's creator beside him, to mark the night the series finale aired.

In the Corner Gas finale, what is Brent secretly doing?

Performing stand-up comedy. His friends tail him to a club called the Chuckle Barn, and when a national tour is offered he turns it down: stand-up was just one item on a list of things to try.

Which US cable channel began airing Corner Gas in September 2007?

WGN America, then still branded Superstation WGN. To plug the launch, the show's star threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game that same week.

First-season Corner Gas DVD sets included a coupon for free coffee at which gas station chain?

Petro-Canada. The coupon was good at its JavaStop counters, a nod to the show's gas-and-coffee setting; every one of that first season's 13 episodes had drawn more than a million viewers.

Which company, run by the show's creator with Virginia Thompson and David Storey, produced Corner Gas?

Prairie Pants. Its promotions went well beyond T-shirts: a contest on the show's website gave away land in Saskatchewan, and the winning fans from Quebec moved there to retire.

What do Brent and Lacey reveal in Corner Gas: The Movie?

They're dating, and have been for some time: when Oscar urges Brent to ask Lacey out, the pair own up, then dash Emma's hopes by adding that they do not plan to have children.

How was Corner Gas: The Movie partly financed in 2014?

A Kickstarter campaign. 2,526 fans pledged $285,840, though that was a sliver of the $8.5 million budget: about three-quarters came from government funds and tax credits.

In Corner Gas: The Movie, Dog River enters a contest to be named Canada's what?

Quaintest town. The contest's cash prize is the last hope for a place whose mismanagement has left it flat broke, with residents packing up to leave.

Which former Governor General takes a sledgehammer to an old barn in a Corner Gas cameo?

Adrienne Clarkson. Brent claims any true Canadian would love to knock down a barn; a stranger puts the idea to Clarkson, who agrees, and she is later seen swinging the hammer herself.

In Corner Gas: The Movie, what has changed for Officer Karen Pelly?

She is pregnant. The series finale's flash-forward had promised that she would marry, and the film, set five years later, finds her married and expecting a baby while still on police duty.

Corner Gas Animated premiered in 2018 on which channel?

The Comedy Network. Its first episode was the channel's most-watched premiere to that date, and unlike most cartoons the cast recorded each episode together, linked live between studios in two cities.

Which Canadian astronaut voiced himself in the second season of Corner Gas Animated?

Chris Hadfield. That season's guest list ran from comedian Russell Peters to the sitting prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who recorded his lines in his own office.

After Corner Gas, its creator made which sitcom starring Wanda's actress as a children's author?

Hiccups. The title is her character's word for her explosive tantrums, which send the author of the 'Grumpaloos' books to a hopelessly underqualified life coach, played by the creator himself.