# Anyone watch "Corner Gas"? (Canadian sitcom) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936 "2018-12-30T19:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/41 "2019-01-03T05:47:49Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’m not getting the difference here. No big deal, but again, it’s not clear to me what you’re trying to convey. > > Is the first one more like “DRAW-ma?” > > ETA: Because Davis’ pronunciation is correct for Canada. Nope, there’s no “w” in the way I pronounce it. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/42 "2019-01-03T13:27:25Z")
> [@cgg419](#): > > Skipping all the original aftermath of this post, I have been told more than once by Americans that I have an accent. I’ve lived my whole life in southern Ontario, and don’t notice one in myself or my family and friends. Of course you (and **Leaffan** ) have accents! I’ve not heard either of you speak, but I’ll assume that you both sound like typical, white Ontarians. I’m a Michigander; my accent is different than yours. Depending on how much US media you consume, you may not realize that we Michiganders have an accent, but we do. I’m not even referring to the obvious things such as vocabulary (“hydro bill,” “railway,” “cutlery,” “serviette”), or obvious pronunciation differences (“progress,” “process”), but much more subtler things, such as the rising inflection at the end of statements at times, or speaking more forward in your mouth (hard to describe). The Ontario accent is a bit crisper, less “lazy mouth” than a typical Michigander who rounds off T’s and such. And Ontario is large. People in the GTA sound slightly different than people in Sault Ste. Marie who sound slightly different than people in St. Mary’s. The GTA, in particular Toronto proper, is much more of a melting pot, not just foreigners, but folks from other provinces as well. A lot of them sound like CBC announcers, who tend to not have such obvious accents. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/43 "2019-01-03T13:33:05Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Of course you (and **Leaffan** ) have accents! I’ve not heard either of you speak, but I’ll assume that you both sound like typical, white Ontarians. I’m a Michigander; my accent is different than yours. Depending on how much US media you consume, you may not realize that we Michiganders have an accent, but we do. > > I’m not even referring to the obvious things such as vocabulary (“hydro bill,” “railway,” “cutlery,” “serviette”), or obvious pronunciation differences (“progress,” “process”), but much more subtler things, such as the rising inflection at the end of statements at times, or speaking more forward in your mouth (hard to describe). The Ontario accent is a bit crisper, less “lazy mouth” than a typical Michigander who rounds off T’s and such. > > And Ontario is large. People in the GTA sound slightly different than people in Sault Ste. Marie who sound slightly different than people in St. Mary’s. The GTA, in particular Toronto proper, is much more of a melting pot, not just foreigners, but folks from other provinces as well. A lot of them sound like CBC announcers, who tend to not have such obvious accents. Resolved: people in different parts of the United States, Canada, and other countries have regional accents (however mild), pronounce words differently, and use local expressions/figures of speech. When you hear someone speak who is not from your local area, you may notice their accent (however mild) or you may not. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/44 "2019-01-03T13:55:09Z")
We just discovered the show too, and have been working our way through the episodes (not exactly binging (that’s what the kids do.)) Love the dry comedy writing and characters! Although the dad, while a very recognizable type, comes off as a little too harsh right out of the gate. Took some getting used to for me. My great-grandparents lived on a farm in Saskatchewan a hundred years ago before relocating to Michigan, so I could have ended up there myself! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/45 "2019-01-03T17:42:50Z")
When we first started watching the show, back when it was being broadcast on WGN, the wife commented that “Oscar is your father.” By the time we got to the end of the show, she was saying “Oscar is you!” ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/46 "2019-01-03T20:01:12Z")
I’ve just binge watched the first 2 seasons in a couple of days! Could someone explain the lyrics of the title, something I’ve only bothered to notice through repetition, but I don’t really get: "You can tell me your dog ran away Then tell me it took three days I’ve heard every joke I’ve heard every one you’ll say" ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/47 "2019-01-03T20:11:19Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I’ve just binge watched the first 2 seasons in a couple of days! > > Could someone explain the lyrics of the title, something I’ve only bothered to notice through repetition, but I don’t really get: > > "You can tell me your dog ran away > Then tell me it took three days > > I’ve heard every joke > I’ve heard every one you’ll say" Saskatchewan is so flat and featureless that the joke is that you could see a dog run away for three days before you can’t see it any more. The joke goes “I once heard that Saskatchewan is so flat, you can watch your dog run away for three days.” But more than that, it is an old joke that gets repeated over and over and over (and over again!) He’s saying he’s heard them all a million times before. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/48 "2019-01-03T20:14:28Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Saskatchewan is so flat and featureless that the joke is that you could see a dog run away for three days before you can’t see it any more. Yep, should have got that one, there were a lot of flatness jokes and should have put 2+2 together :smack: ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/49 "2019-01-03T20:22:30Z")
I grew up in Wyoming in a family that owned an RV park and small 6 unit depression era motel. When I moved to an area where I could get Canadian TV for free I ran into this show and watched it on youtube, which the creator had uploaded the episodes about a decade ago. They are still there but uploaded in the old 15min limit style with a lot of effort needed to watch them in order. \*\*Edited to add, oops apparently the creator and the distributer classhed and many segments are missing. \*\* [https://www.youtube.com/user/CornerGasSeason1](https://www.youtube.com/user/CornerGasSeason1) Oddly enough living in the West or PNW I really related to this show despite having mountains. While a bit more edgy and more insane year to year the early seasons of “Letterkenny” is now on Hulu and if you like this show you may like it too. While not PC, “Letterkenny” also reminds me of my childhood, but so does Napoleon Dynamite. I do wish crave TV would figure out a way to accept US credit cards or at least publish their content to a US source. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/50 "2019-01-03T21:02:08Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Saskatchewan is so flat and featureless that the joke is that you could see a dog run away for three days before you can’t see it any more. The joke goes “I once heard that Saskatchewan is so flat, you can watch your dog run away for three days.” > > But more than that, it is an old joke that gets repeated over and over and over (and over again!) He’s saying he’s heard them all a million times before. You need to add a really long pause between ‘watch your dog run away’ and ‘for three days’. This is a close relative to “Saskatchewan: on a clear day you can stand on a cream can and see the back of your head.” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/51 "2019-01-04T00:50:50Z")
Another variant is "Saskatchewan - a Cree word meaning ‘place where it is impossible to commit suicide by jumping off something’ " ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/52 "2019-01-04T01:27:30Z")
Laurel and Hardy on Saskatchewan (starting at 2:33): [Saskatchewan - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92ULsS7Ts3g&feature=youtu.be&t=153) :o ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/53 "2019-01-04T03:19:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > When we first started watching the show, back when it was being broadcast on WGN, the wife commented that “Oscar is your father.” By the time we got to the end of the show, she was saying “Oscar is you!” Did you once punch a skunk? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/54 "2019-01-04T03:38:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > When we first started watching the show, back when it was being broadcast on WGN, the wife commented that “Oscar is your father.” By the time we got to the end of the show, she was saying “Oscar is you!” Haha yes! I had my parents watch it back way back when and Oscar was just amusing. Now 10+ years on and dad is Full Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/55 "2019-01-04T04:06:17Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Did you once punch a skunk? Or beat a skunk to death with a salmon? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/56 "2019-01-04T21:34:56Z")
This is a really great series, and doesn’t seem to have the mean streak towards any characters that a lot of comedy does - while someone may be the butt of the joke at various times, there isn’t an edge to it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/57 "2019-01-04T21:40:41Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Or beat a skunk to death with a salmon? Does a trout count? ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/58 "2019-01-05T02:43:06Z")
It’s not entirely flat, guys. We have a valley. Oh, and we built a hill. The full package, really, and being able to do something else with both hands for three hours out of a three and a half hour drive is a real time saver. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/59 "2019-01-05T03:47:39Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > But have you ever been to the land of rape and honey? Been through it, but didn’t stop. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936/60 "2019-01-05T03:51:24Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > My great-grandparents lived on a farm in Saskatchewan a hundred years ago before relocating to Michigan, so I could have ended up there myself! Where in Saskatchewan was their farm? Who knows, we may be kin! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-watch-corner-gas-canadian-sitcom/826936.md?page=4)