Corner Gas Wrapup

Well, now that the countdown is concluded, I thought I'd take a chance to mention a few of the episodes that just weren't good enought to make it into the Top Ten [or into the Top 20, what with the Honourable Mentions -ed]:

Oh Baby: This was the first Corner Gas I ever saw... the first time I saw Emma and Brent's "Yoda" conversation I was hooked. It also features Hank locking his keys in his truck, and Davis realizing that it wasn't exactly Lex Luthor-worthy to fail to steal your own vehicle... especially with the passenger window open.

Whataphobia: As Brent Butt said in his DVD commentary, there's something crazy about a resident of Saskatchewan being afraid of "open spaces".

Hook, Line, and Sinker: Karen falls in love with "sexy fish man Hank", and their scenes together are amazing. Lacey and Brent's sign feud isn't bad either.

Contageous Fortune: The pink eye combat scenes are awesome, especially Brent's victory at the end when he gains sole possession of Corner Gas -- so Wanda and Hank just piss off to go have a beer.

Gopher It: Prime Minister Harper's episode features a great Dallas style dream ending. You wouldn't believe how many people actually thought that Corner Gas was going off the air because of this episode. Seriously. Newspapers were confused by this.

Fun Run: The gags with the handicapped plates were good, particularly Emma's crack about Manhatten. The fun run parts were great, with the road-runner style runby with Wanda and Lacey being classics. I would have included this in an honourable mention if it wasn't for the presence of something called "Prime Minister Paul Martin", if you can shudder to believe such a creature once existed.

Buzz Driver: Oscar reminds me enough of a few bus drivers I've known in my time that I have a soft spot for this episode. However, the best part of this episode is Hank's realization that he was the only person losing money from Brent and Lacey's lates battle.

Dark Circles: Airing in October of 2007, this movie really captured the Spider-Man 3 "black spidey suit" storyline with Brent being a tough guy and Lacey being strangely attracted to him in it. Hank and Karen with the crop circles was a little too predictable and weak a storyline to be worth an HM.

Slow Pitch: This slo-pitch themed episode featured Lacey's perfect attendence on the line, and a lot of drinking and baseball. Other good parts were the distraction of Wes, the Brent/Wes confrontation, and Emma's difficulty in hitting (well known to anybody who played a lot of regular baseball and discovered in slo-pitch that they swung too early every time.

Outside Joke: Karen and Davis' practical joke storyline, as mentioned before, brought the phrase "impractical serious" into the lexicon. It also has the joys of Hank the garbage man, and Brent's discovery conversation with the guy from his own municipal district ("when you said that just now, did it sound stupid to you?")

Lacey Borrows: Hanks' pant gag wasn't bad but it got old fast. Otherwise, the horror movie plot was pretty good, especially when Brent was totally unaffected by it (his teenage drive-in memories were also great). Lacey and Karen catfighting over the borrowing was quite entertaining: particularly the scene where Lacey borrows the police car and Gabrielle Miller looks damn nice in her jeans while she does it... a great booty shot really increases my appreciation of the episode.

Bed and Brake Fast: Lacey buying Hank's incompetant handyman services was really the greatest part of this episode and gave some of the best laughs of season 5. Oscar's bed and breakfast plot was a little too Three's Company, and Davis using ghost cars was a good idea that went most of the way but never seemed to reach its full potential.

Picture Perfect: Did the creators make the Oscar gnome, or did they find him and insist on using it. Either way, the gnome version of Oscar was just the right mix of funny and creepy.

Trivia Answer: The question was which six Corner Gas episodes mentioned Alberta or towns in Alberta. The answers are:

1. "Tax Man": Brent tells Marvin Drey that Oscar has gone to Hawaii. When Marvin questions it, Brent replies "no, not Hawaii, somewhere cheaper than that: Red Deer"

2. "World's Biggest Thing": Vegreville, AB is the "New Vegas" when Hank's scheme involves building a giant hoe in Dog River references the giant Easter egg.

3. "Hurry Hard": Brent tells Oscar that Randy Ferbey and Dave Nedohin switch skip/third roles, and mention that they are from Team Alberta.

4. "Doc Small": Hank has trouble with this joke, and Karen tries quizzing him on some other matters. Her one question involves a plane crash equally straddling the Alberta/Saskatchewan border asking where the survivors are buried. Hank guesses the Alberta side.

5. "Merry Gasmas": Lots of Alberta in this one: Lacey is in Calgary airport, then on the bus past Red Deer ("Red Deer's west, you want to be going east: that'll add 40,000 kilometres to your trip") then to the Edmonton airport before winding back at Calgary again.

6. "Gopher It": At the end of the episode, Hank brings up the cows in Calgary as a comparison for his prairie dog statue idea.

7. "Coming Distractions": When Davis is thinking of acronyms for "WANDA", "Wizards Against Nude Dancing in Alberta" is one of his suggestions.

Technically, the "I Love Alberta Beef" sticker on the back of Hank's truck and the Big Rock poster in Wes' Liquor/Insurance store could expand this to almost every episode, depending on the shots featured.

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