'Corner Gas' getting positive reviews in U.S.

Leader-Post staff

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

CREDIT: Courtesy of CTV

Brent Butt celebrates the critical acclaim from American critics for the U.S. launch of 'Corner Gas' in front of the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles.
Having conquered Canada, it appears Corner Gas is on the verge of doing the same to the United States.

The CTV sitcom, which has been Canada's No. 1 comedy series for the past four seasons, debuted Monday night on Superstation WGN and early reviews for the show were good. Corner Gas is airing weeknights following Scrubs on WGN, which reaches 70 million homes in the U.S. from its base in Chicago.

Gannett News Service, which is the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S. with 85 dailies, including USA Today and the Detroit Free Press, in its stable, labelled Corner Gas, "One of the new season's best shows ... the humour is slow, sly and quite wonderful." McLatchy News Service, which publishes 31 daily newspapers, including the Miami Herald and Sacramento Bee, said, "The funniest show coming to television this fall season is not The Big Bang Theory or Chuck or Reaper ... No, the knockdown winner is an obscure little show from Canada called Corner Gas."

Star and series creator Brent Butt will be in Chicago on Sunday to throw out the first pitch before the Chicago Cubs-Pittsburgh Pirates game at Wrigley Field.
Season 5 of the series will open Monday on CTV with a new time slot of 9:30 p.m. following Dancing With The Stars. Produced by Prairie Pants Productions and 335 Productions, Corner Gas is filmed at Regina's Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios and on location in Rouleau.

Corner Gas finished its 19-episode Season 4 with an average audience of 1.52 million viewers and has delivered an audience of at least one million for each of its 69 episodes. The series was nominated for six Gemini Awards for Season 4, including Best Comedy Program or Series. The Gemini Awards will be held Oct. 28 in Regina.

© Leader-Post 2007