Corner Gas

Corner Gas is a Canadian situation comedy 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."

Dog River

Dog River has a population of 450. The exact location of the town in Saskatchewan has yet to be established, however, according to the Corner Gas tagline, it is at least 40 kilometres from the nearest town, but still within a relatively short drive to Regina. It is stated in the episode "The Taxman" that Corner Gas is the only gas station for 60 kilometres in any direction, which means either that the 40 kilometres value is inaccurate, or that the towns less that 60 kilometres from Dog River do not have gas stations. Series creator Brent Butt has said the town lies somewhere between Regina and Saskatoon; these two cities are 257 kilometres apart, so this fact does not contradict anything said on the series. In fact, the term "The City" has been used at various times in the series to refer to either Regina or Saskatoon.

Related Topics:
Tagline - Regina - Brent Butt - Saskatoon

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The town has its own newspaper, the Howler, and only one gas station, Corner Gas. The Ruby Café 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 relatively few towns in Saskatchewan to still have a grain elevator, although plans (later abandoned) were made to demolish it during the first season.

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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 apparently do 60 km/h).

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The residents of Dog River have a pathological dislike of the residents of Wullerton, a neighbouring town, to the point that they 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 this has yet to be explained. (Publicity for the second season indicated that the season finale would reveal the reason for the spitting, however the episode as broadcast did not actually do so.)

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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 dozen dogs in the river. She discovered this trivia while researching information for a history plaque. In order to play down this unsavoury branch of her family tree, Lacey instead used a story that Officer Karen made up — that pioneers somehow got hold of a hot air balloon, got an aerial view of the town site, and noticed that the creek formed a shape similar to that of a dog.

Related Topics:
Homage - Brent Butt - Tisdale, Saskatchewan - Doghide River - Family tree - Hot air balloon

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A Regina tour operator regularly takes busloads of tourists to Rouleau to visit "Dog River". Visitors can tour the on-location sets of Corner Gas, including the service station. Many components of Dog River are in fact real attributes of Rouleau, notably the combined liquor and insurance store.

Related Topics:
Tour operator - Liquor - Insurance

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