Corner Gas : The Movie

Corner Gas, my favourite sitcom of all time, was a program that aired on CTV from 2004 to 2009. The series completed its run following broadcast of its sixth season on April 13, 2009, with a total of 107 episodes. The show became an instant hit, averaging a million viewers per episode. Corner Gas has been the recipient of six Gemini Awards, and has been nominated almost 70 times for various awards. In December of 2014 the cast reunited for Corner Gas : The Movie.

In the movie a few years after the end of the show Hank Yarbo has a daydream while waiting at the airport about a werewolf attacking the gas station and Wanda, who alone with Brett turns out to be robots, fights against it. He is awaken by Tina Fuller, the National Star judge who he is there to pick up, and he drives her to Dog River. When they arrive they find the town is in a riot, the police car in flames, Oscar and Emma throwing flower pots with some women and a bunch of people led by Lacy who seem to be beating up a guy. They almost hit a disheveled and dirty Brett who just walks on by. Tina, who is there to judge Dog River in the Canada’s Quaintest Town contest is appalled so Hank tells her what has happened so far.

5 years after the show ended, Dog River is in debt as Fitzy the mayor invested the town’s money in a bad real estate deal in Detroit and the little town is now flat broke and the town loses it’s water & electricity. Davis, who had a contract for 25 years as a cop, is now out of a job as Fitzy can’t afford to pay both him and Karen, who met someone, got married and is now pregnant. An epiphany during a fish trip leads to Davis becoming a detective and he comes back home quicker than expected. He had left Wanda in charge of looking after his house and in his absence, Wanda had started an illegal bar, later a casino, out of his garage using his two diesel powered backup generators. Thinking that she may have to find another cop job out of town soon, Karen begins being real strict and hands out tickets one after the other. Oscar becomes a survivalist and trades his car for a horse, which is confiscated by Karen and repeatedly stolen back.

After many days of this problem and after Lacy says she may have to move her business out of town, Brett finally takes action and buys out the town’s bar which had been abandoned and starts fixing it and enters Dog River into a “Quaintest Town in Canada” competition, hoping that the $75,000 prize can save the town. Emma invites Lacey and Brent to dinner to spark a romance in a bid to acquire grandchildren. When Yarbo has an idea to invite a representative of the Coff Nuts (coffee and donuts chain) organization about starting an outlet in Dog River, Brett refuses to invest in his plan as it would hurt Lacey’s business. fter Lacey advises a Coff-Nuts representative named Jerome that the town is broke, a woman representing a company called CN Holdings attempts to convince the townspeople to sell their homes. Hank overhears the woman and Jerome scheming, so he takes Jerome to Wullerton in hopes that Coff-Nuts will change its plan and ruin the rival town. He abandons Jerome, but Wullerton’s astonishingly friendly citizens drive him back to Dog River. Both distracted — Brent by repairs to the bar, and Lacey by a quest to restore the town’s electricity — Brent and Lacey forget to attend Emma’s dinner.

Fitzy comes back to town saying that their neighbouring town has agreed to annex Dog River if it means saving the town but it is unpopular among his neighbours. Brent and Lacey then rally the town to prepare for the “Quaintest Town in Canada” contest judge, Tina Fuller, to enter Dog River, but a series of mishaps create the appearance of a riot in the middle of town. Everyone then gathers at The Ruby, where Lacey encourages everyone to financially support Brent, but Brent declines their aid due to the judgment against him. Tina sympathizes with the town’s predicament and writes an article to garner public support for Dog River. The media attention forces Coff-Nuts to drop the lawsuit. Between the proceeds from Wanda’s casino, Karen’s tickets, and a fundraising drive by residents of Wullerton, the town is saved. With the catestrophy averted Lacey and Brett hug and kiss in the diner, much to the shock of everyone else who had no clue that the two have been dating for over two years. Emma is initially thriller but none to please when Lacey and Brett say that they have no plans of having children.

Thus ends the greatest debate in Canadian sitcom – will Brett & Lacey actually get together? – and the movie is a just reward for fans who supported this awesome show. The movie is hilarious but it doesn’t go above the range of a long episodic event. Still it is worth getting and I give it an 8.5 outta 10!

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