Corner Gas...
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...been watching the "preview" episodes of Corner Gas on WGN, part of my very basic cable. WHAT A HOOT! (To the homogenous middle-of-the-hemisphere experience of my ears it sounds like Wisconsin on a strict diet of BBC...scurrying quickly into the corners my head then releasing its time-delayed tickles :`)
Anybody familiar with it? I went to the website and the fifth season is starting in Canada...and is starting to now show in Australia and around world now as well.
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Hi Tom I'm very familiar with it. It is my son's favorite show and each year for Christmas his aunt gives him a DVD collection of the previous year's episodes. We watch them over and over! I've watched most episodes several times. Each time you pick up other clever aspects of the writing. Overall the writing & acting is consistently top-notch. Always clever and good for a laugh.
My favorite character is Oscar the cranky narrow-minded but somehow like-able dad who calls everyone "Jackass!". Overall the show is Very Canadian. It shows life in Canada very much as it is for many of us.
Regards, Ross
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I've never heard of it, I'll have to track down some YouTube vids.
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I like the show, not my favorite, but it definitely does have some quirky Canadian humour in it.
It's set in Saskatchewan right? you have to entertain yourself if you live out there! lol
now a great Canadian tv show that was canceled unfortunately was 'made in Canada' It was one of rick mercer's projects, and was absolutely hysterical, if you can catch it ever, please check it out!
also, another shameless plug for anyone interested in Canadian politics, check out rick mercer's monday report, its like Leno, colbert, and the daily show all rolled into one comic genius!
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The show is the number one situation comedy on Canadian TV.
Here's the first scene of the first episode of season one. The guy who drives up is the producer/writer of the show. He and the star, Brent Butt, (the guy pumping gas) were both well-known stand-up comics in Canada before creating the show which is derived from Brent's experiences growing up in a small town in rural Saskatchewan. The blond woman who works at the gas station is married to Brent in real life. The couple who play Brent's parents (Oscar & Emma) were only known as serious dramatic actors before the show.
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Here's a clip from Rick Mercer's The Mercer Report. I love the "you're not the boss of me" part! If you are wondering about Rick's accent, he comes from Newfoundland.
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On the subject of Canadian humour, one of the best stand-up comedians I've seen (I see dozens every year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) is Craig Campbell- I've seen him 4 times (twice by accident as he was part of a review show). He's very likeable, plays up to the safe, nice Canadian image (he does a brilliant joke about Canada phoning up Sweden to find out if it's disovered any new ways to make life a little bit safer) and very very funny.
Although not actually Canadian, Rich Hall's Fishing Show was on (and made by) BBC 2 here in the UK and was one of the most inspired comedy programmes I've seen in years. The reason I mention it here is because the American's co-star is Canadian, Mike Wilmot and his being Canadian plays an important part in the scripts. It's a little hard to describe, but it's basically the two of them, mostly in a boat on beautiful Scottish lochs just talking and fishing. The brilliant thing about it is that although the scripts are very well-crafted it's obvious that there's quite a bit of improvisation which just adds to the effect of two guys fishing and talking. That the conversation is cut with silent wide shots of the boat in stunning landscape is a stroke of genius. It's both hilarious and extremely relaxing to watch. It didn't really seem to generate much interest which is such a shame- most people I know who saw it loved it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Hall%27s_Fishing_Show
EDIT: Just checked wikipedia and it seems Mike Wilmot also stars in Corner Gas- it's a small comedy world.
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Here's why I like Oscar:
Oscar talks about growing old.
Oscar has fun scaring kids.
Oscar helps out at the gas station.Jackson - In real life Mike Wilmot is a buddy of Brent Butt so he had Mike as a guest star on one episode. Mike played 'Cousin Carl' whom Brent is really jealous of. Cousin Carl has returned from England a success and that bothers Brent who's never left the home town. Everyone (but Brent) loves Carl but Brent gets to expose him as a big jerk and get some satisfaction. It was a good storyline featuring a community talent show (notable for the complete lack of talent).
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Thanks for those links Ross- I watched the "egging" vid, love the last line- "Ungrates!"
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LOL
Just watched a few myself, the 'metric system' one was funny, and strangely true...hmmm..
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