Corner Gas Countdown, #7

#7: Two Degrees of Separation
This April 1st, CityTV (or was it Global? I forget) announced that recent legislation mandated temperatures be given only in Fahrenheit. It was an April Fools gag of course, but for a lot of people the conversion rule^† gets confusing. That's the point of this episode, where Oscar and Emma get a digital thermometer at Lacey's insistance. Emma's on board with saving money, and so is Oscar. But when they discover that exact digital readouts reveal a discrepancy in how they perceive room temperature, and Oscar discovers he's helping the environment, the well is poisoned. Speaking of poison, don't ever go to rural Saskatchewan and insult a yield sign: apparently they take it pretty personally. The highlight by far of this episode? Hank's sound effects and Captain Picard-inspired lines for opening and closing the shutter on the digital thermostat. Emma and Oscar are pretty much at his mercy: Hank gets a lot of flack for being the "town idiot" but electronics and mechanical work are his two major aptitudes, and its nice to see that the writers don't let his character always be the butt of jokes. Incidently, since Lacey lost her license she's at the mercy of the town's only (part-time) licence tester: Emma. Will Emma let her personal animosity get in the way of an objective analysis of Lacey's driving? No. Is Lacey a good driver? Uh... not really, no. Wanda's shortness is a subplot that doesn't really go anywhere, but it is fun to hear the downfalls of pathetic security solutions now and again.

Honourable Mention: Good Tubbin
Where exactly is Hank staying? The mystery pits Brent against Wanda, and ultimately its not too surprising to discover that Wanda's elaborate scheme fails miserably. Hilarity ensues. There's a creepy main storyline about Oscar and Emma having a hot tub, and more than a few swinger jokes had at Lacey's expense. Pretty much the reason this warrants an H.M. isn't the entertaining Brent/Wanda plot, or the pretty enjoyable Davis/Karen competition, and certainly not the cringe-worthy aspects of the main storyline. You get to see Tara Spencer-Nairn, Gabrielle Miller, and a couple female extras in bathing suits. And that's a spicy meataball!

#101: Dog River Daze
A radio station in Regina makes fun of Dog River. Brent tries to deal with it and eventually succeeds. Oscar and Hank try to stop being the town laughing stocks. It was way too contrived, and it doesn't help I have no use for goofy radio DJ antics, particularly the sound effect and prank call variety. Emma's being sick is pretty much the bright part of this episode, which also features a lot of Lacey blathering a lot. That's the gag, she blathers too much, but in entertainment its usually a bad idea of have a gag that involves us feeling uncomfortable.


^† To convert a Celcius temperature into Fahrenheit, double it and then shave 10% off that number and add 32. ie: 100 * 2 = 200 * 0.9 = 180 + 32 = 212

To (roughly) convert a Fahrenheit temperature into Celcius, subtract 32, divide by 2, and then add 10%. ie. 212 - 32 = 180 / 2 = 90 + 9 = 99 (basically 100)

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