Canadian province declares April 13 "Corner Gas Day" to honour retiring TV sitcom

April 10, 2009 On Monday, April 6 Saskatchewan Premier, Brad Wall, signed the proclamation that April 13 shall be declared “Corner Gas Day” to honour six seasons of the award winning sitcom, Corner Gas the hit television comedy which will air its last episode “Good Night, You've Been Great” April 13, 2009. Lead comedian, producer and writer, Brent Butt was recognised at the signing ceremonies for developing what is called the most successful Canadian show made.

"For six great seasons, Corner Gas has welcomed people from across Canada and around the world to our province, and made short work of the misconception that there's 'not a lot going on' in Saskatchewan. We want to thank Saskatchewan's own Brent Butt, the Corner Gas producers, cast and crew for many hours of laughter." said Wall, "Their stories have really captured the spirit of this great province, and shown off Saskatchewan to the world."

Corner Gas has an audience of 1.4 million in Canada since first airing in January 2004. The show has been honoured with over 80 nominations, and diverse accolades and awards such as six Gemini awards, one of which was Best Comedy Series.

"I'm honestly humbled by this. It's a wonderful and much appreciated gesture by my home province to honour us in this way. It's the type of honour you don't even think about happening, so when it does, it makes you stand up and think: 'Wow, maybe we really did something here'," said Butt.

Joking with Wall, Butt suggested that “Corner Gas Day” should be a statutory holiday, if not for everybody then at least for service station attendants. The proclamation signing was aired on CTV the same Monday that Wall was featured in a cameo appearance on the Corner Gas series episode, "Get the F Off my Lawn". Wall was filmed in a scene in which he was getting his gas tank filled up at the Corner Gas service station.

Susanne Boyce, President, Creative, Content and Channels, CTV Inc said "It's farewell, not goodbye. While April 13 marks the series' finale, the memories and the legacy it leaves behind will live on forever. A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who have made this history-making series a juggernaut success, and to the millions of fans who visited Dog River weekly."

The Canadian comedy series is aired by CTV Television Network in Canada and is distributed to 26 countries worldwide.

The popular sitcom, Corner Gas is filmed about south of Regina in the tiny farming community of Rouleau. CTV will air tributes on April 13 in honour of Corner Gas and Dog River which feature the cast and behind the scenes footage.