Pete Reviews
Reviewer Of ALL!
Corner Gas is, by far, one of if not THE absolute BEST Canadian sitcoms of all time. It’s too bad they ended the show and there will never be any more made. There are so many hidden jokes in every episode, and you miss them if you don’t watch the show over and over again.
The show ran for 6 seasons through the years 2004 – 2009. It stars: Brent Butt (as Brent Leroy), Gabrielle Miller (as Lacey Burrows), Fred Ewanuick (as Hank Yarbo), Eric Peterson (as Oscar Leroy), Janet Wright (as Emma Leroy), Lorne Cardinal (as Davis Quinton), Tara Spencer-Nairn (as Karen Pelly), and Nancy Robertson (as Wanda Dollard). The show is set in a small town in rural Saskatchewan, named Dog River. Dog River of course is a made up town, but the show is filmed in a REAL town called Rouleau, Saskatchewan.
(Characters are listed in order of the opening credits.)
Put simply, the characters are as follows:
Brent Leroy – owns a gas station under the name of Corner Gas, which is attached to a café called The Ruby. Corner Gas was started by Oscar Leroy over 30 years prior. He is a very laid back individual.
Lacy Burrows – is a Toronto native who owns the café called The Ruby, which she inherited from her Aunt Ruby who passed away.
Hank Yarbo – is an unemployed, lazy, not so smart guy who is good friends with Brent. You will find Hank mostly hanging around Corner Gas with Brent and Wanda, and even sometimes at The Ruby with Lacey.
Oscar Leroy – Brent’s father, married to Emma. Oscar is a cranky old coot who isn’t too bright and seems to always be up to something.
Emma Leroy – Brent’s mother, married to Oscar. Emma likes to knit and is involved in the community. She is driven crazy by Oscar, but loves him just the same, and can’t live without him.
Davis Quinton – is a very simple-minded cop who’s been on the force for years. He is one of only 2 cops in the whole town. He mostly sleeps during any given shift, and rarely does any actual police work. You find him hanging around either at The Ruby or Corner Gas or even at the Police Station most times when he is not sleeping.
Karen Pelly – is a blonde “rookie” cop who works alongside Davis. She is fairly new to policing, and is a lot smarter than her partner Davis. She is the second of only 2 police officers in Dog River.
Wanda – is the single mother of a “devil child”. She works for Brent at Corner Gas, usually just in the store portion, but sometimes you’ll find her pumping gas. She is a very mouthy, short sassy lady who likes to show her intelligence (know-it-all-ness) all the time, which drives the townfolk crazy.
Some of my favorite episodes are from season 5, which include (but are not limited to) Contagious Fortune (otherwise referred to as Pink Eye), Knit Wit of the Month, and Whiner Takes All. I love every episode, but I’m drawn back to watching mostly those ones.
There are the hidden jokes, that are so quick that you just can’t catch them on first watch, such as “That Carol seems awful quick to judge, I noticed that about her right away” from Karen the cop said about the new firefighter which is just like her, in season 3 episode 5 The Littlest Yarbo (a take on The Littlest Hobo – some old Canadian drama which I only caught on TV once and thought was just terrible). If you still don’t get the joke, Karen was very quick to judge Carol by saying that Carol was quick to judge and that she noticed that immediately. Ha ha ha! All the episodes are jam-packed with this type of humor. Also, the humor is very clean and very Canadian, so all Canadians can clearly appreciate it for what it is.
You may not catch much of the standard humor in the show right off either, but it’s there, and the more you watch, the more you appreciate the show and its characters. But if you only watch the very first episode, you may not want to give it a chance, since this episode sets everything else up, so it is kinda strange, in its own way, but good just the same. Once everyone and everything is established, it really gets its feet off the ground.
One thing that I think I like the most about the show is, NO ONE is depicted as a smoker. Not one of the characters on the show smokes. This sends a wonderful message to the young and impressionable who watch the show. Another thing I love about the show is that it has NO laugh track. I hate it when I’m told what I should be laughing at. I’ll make that decision for myself, thank you very much.
It’s crass, it’s simple, it’s absolutely off the wall, and it’s wonderful and worth the watch if you want an everyday, down to earth show that’s not based on big city living and superficiality. There are no standards to be followed in this town. It IS what simple country living is all about.
Is this show Preferred by Pete? YES, this show is highly recommended (especially if you’re Canadian).
Watch for more in-depth reviews on individual Corner Gas episodes!
(Please note, more detail may be added to this review at any time in the future; this is general review of the series.)
The show ran for 6 seasons through the years 2004 – 2009. It stars: Brent Butt (as Brent Leroy), Gabrielle Miller (as Lacey Burrows), Fred Ewanuick (as Hank Yarbo), Eric Peterson (as Oscar Leroy), Janet Wright (as Emma Leroy), Lorne Cardinal (as Davis Quinton), Tara Spencer-Nairn (as Karen Pelly), and Nancy Robertson (as Wanda Dollard). The show is set in a small town in rural Saskatchewan, named Dog River. Dog River of course is a made up town, but the show is filmed in a REAL town called Rouleau, Saskatchewan.
(Characters are listed in order of the opening credits.)
Put simply, the characters are as follows:
Brent Leroy – owns a gas station under the name of Corner Gas, which is attached to a café called The Ruby. Corner Gas was started by Oscar Leroy over 30 years prior. He is a very laid back individual.
Lacy Burrows – is a Toronto native who owns the café called The Ruby, which she inherited from her Aunt Ruby who passed away.
Hank Yarbo – is an unemployed, lazy, not so smart guy who is good friends with Brent. You will find Hank mostly hanging around Corner Gas with Brent and Wanda, and even sometimes at The Ruby with Lacey.
Oscar Leroy – Brent’s father, married to Emma. Oscar is a cranky old coot who isn’t too bright and seems to always be up to something.
Emma Leroy – Brent’s mother, married to Oscar. Emma likes to knit and is involved in the community. She is driven crazy by Oscar, but loves him just the same, and can’t live without him.
Davis Quinton – is a very simple-minded cop who’s been on the force for years. He is one of only 2 cops in the whole town. He mostly sleeps during any given shift, and rarely does any actual police work. You find him hanging around either at The Ruby or Corner Gas or even at the Police Station most times when he is not sleeping.
Karen Pelly – is a blonde “rookie” cop who works alongside Davis. She is fairly new to policing, and is a lot smarter than her partner Davis. She is the second of only 2 police officers in Dog River.
Wanda – is the single mother of a “devil child”. She works for Brent at Corner Gas, usually just in the store portion, but sometimes you’ll find her pumping gas. She is a very mouthy, short sassy lady who likes to show her intelligence (know-it-all-ness) all the time, which drives the townfolk crazy.
Some of my favorite episodes are from season 5, which include (but are not limited to) Contagious Fortune (otherwise referred to as Pink Eye), Knit Wit of the Month, and Whiner Takes All. I love every episode, but I’m drawn back to watching mostly those ones.
There are the hidden jokes, that are so quick that you just can’t catch them on first watch, such as “That Carol seems awful quick to judge, I noticed that about her right away” from Karen the cop said about the new firefighter which is just like her, in season 3 episode 5 The Littlest Yarbo (a take on The Littlest Hobo – some old Canadian drama which I only caught on TV once and thought was just terrible). If you still don’t get the joke, Karen was very quick to judge Carol by saying that Carol was quick to judge and that she noticed that immediately. Ha ha ha! All the episodes are jam-packed with this type of humor. Also, the humor is very clean and very Canadian, so all Canadians can clearly appreciate it for what it is.
You may not catch much of the standard humor in the show right off either, but it’s there, and the more you watch, the more you appreciate the show and its characters. But if you only watch the very first episode, you may not want to give it a chance, since this episode sets everything else up, so it is kinda strange, in its own way, but good just the same. Once everyone and everything is established, it really gets its feet off the ground.
One thing that I think I like the most about the show is, NO ONE is depicted as a smoker. Not one of the characters on the show smokes. This sends a wonderful message to the young and impressionable who watch the show. Another thing I love about the show is that it has NO laugh track. I hate it when I’m told what I should be laughing at. I’ll make that decision for myself, thank you very much.
It’s crass, it’s simple, it’s absolutely off the wall, and it’s wonderful and worth the watch if you want an everyday, down to earth show that’s not based on big city living and superficiality. There are no standards to be followed in this town. It IS what simple country living is all about.
Is this show Preferred by Pete? YES, this show is highly recommended (especially if you’re Canadian).
Watch for more in-depth reviews on individual Corner Gas episodes!
(Please note, more detail may be added to this review at any time in the future; this is general review of the series.)