While its actual location is never mentioned on the show, the fictitious town of Dog River, Saskatchewan has been described by Brent Butt as somewhere between Regina and Saskatoon. It is also said to be within driving distance of the city of Weyburn (which places it closer to Regina than Saskatoon).
Wanda's (Nancy Robertson) son Tanner is mentioned but never seen. In fact in episode 1.4 "Oh Baby!" that featured Brent attempting to babysit the boy, things were often shown from Tanner's point of view, and he never spoke.
The surnames of all the major characters are named after towns in Saskatchewan.
To promote the second season, cast members pumped gas in stations across Canada.
The "surveillance bush" that Karen (Tara Spencer-Nairn) hides behind in her car in episode 1.1 "Ruby Reborn" doesn't actually exist, it was simply held up there by a crew member who was lying flat in the ditch. The bush appears in only one other episode - the finale, 6.19 "You've Been Great, Goodnight", and it once again had to be re-planted (footage of this event was featured in the "It's Been a Gas" special aired by CTV before the episode).
The "surveillance bush" in Episode 1.1 needed to be planted specifically for the shot. As trees cannot self-seed in the heavy clay soil surrounding Rouleau, SK, where the series is shot, there were no suitable natural bushes available.
Dog River's rival town is named Wullerton, and every time it's mentioned anyone who hears it in Dog River spits. According to publicity for season 2, the reason for this was to have been revealed at the end of the second season, but never was.
A wager was made between the mayors of Vancouver, Larry Campbell (II), and Regina, Pat Fiacco, on a CFL football game (BC Lions vs Saskatchewan Roughriders). The winning mayor would get a cameo appearance in a television show filmed in the losing mayor's city; Fiacco would win a guest role on "DaVinci's Inquest" (filmed in Vancouver) or Campbell would win a guest role on "Corner Gas". Vancouver won but Campbell's cameo was never filmed, though.
A widespread rumor reported in Canadian media erupted as the 4th season finale approached suggesting that the series was coming to an end. It turned out to be a publicity stunt for the final episode, which parodied series finale episodes. Renewal of the show for a 5th season was announced just prior to the episode's broadcast.
Then-Prime Minister Paul Martin (XVI) made a guest appearance at the start of a third season episode in 2005. This marked the first time in Canadian history that a sitting prime minister had appeared in a sitcom. The episode aired the day before Martin's government was crippled by a report exposing a corruption scandal. His successor, Stephen Harper, appeared in an episode of the following season. Two sitting premiers of the province of Saskatchewan have also appeared in cameos.
Corner Gas has the distinction of running for 107 episodes without a single major cast change, and all of the core cast members (i.e. those featured in the opening credits) appeared in every single episode.
Brent gets the first line of the series, ("Want me to fill it up?") and Oscar gets the last line of the series, ("Jackass!").
The scene in that shows Hank (Fred Ewanuik) outside of the coffee shop protesting and Brent (Brent Butt) walking out to break his sign, and smack him upside the head was all actually done in one long take. According to the DVD commentary, Brent Butt was stepping over cables and wires while he was outside.
The first episode that was filmed. Although, it was the second to be aired.
The first scene of the series that was shot, Oscar rooting through his closet for his tax forms, was in this episode.
Marks the first appearance of recurring character, Paul Kinistino (Mark Deiter), the bartender.
In the DVD insert this episode is titled "All My Ex's Live in Toronto."
Davis says that he will pick Lacey up at 7:30. However, when he opens the door, the signs says the meeting starts at 7. And that doesn't include the time to drive in to the city.
The American tourist asks several people if they are bilingual. Karen says that she is not and then spends the rest of the episode trying to learn French. Tara Spencer-Nairn is actually bilingual.
Mark McKinney, who plays Bill, the American tourist, is in fact a Canadian, born in Ottawa.
This episode is famous for introducing the word "staycation" (a vacation spent at home rather than traveling) to the English language. The word was introduced into the Merriam-Webster dictionary in its 2009 edition.
The then-Prime Minister Paul Martin starting off with a political announcement making it appear that his speech was to pre-empt the entire episode. Then Brent Butt interrupted the Prime Minister and it turned out to be a Halloween prank.
This episode features a guest appearance by Ivan Fecan who is the president and CEO of CTVglobalmedia. He is also the president of the CTV network.
SPOILER: Some of the parallels between the Brent vs. Karen Table Hockey Summit Series and the Canada vs. USSR Ice Hockey Summit Series of 1972: (1) Reference is made to Karen jogging while Brent spends his off nights drinking in the hotel bar. The Russian players were reputedly in better physical shape than the Canadians because of their intensive physical conditioning. (2) Karen's and Brent's respective win-loss records during the series reflect the outcome of the 1972 series (USSR: three wins; Canada: four wins; one tie). (3) In Game 4, Brent's rant about not being appreciated by his fans ("I'm disheartened and disillusioned, and, let's face it, Karen's a good player") parodies a comment made after the Canada-USSR game by the Canadian captain Phil Esposito ("to the people that boo us ... all of us guys are really disheartened and we're disillusioned ...we're doing the best we can, and they got a good team, and let's face facts"). (4) After Game 4, the table-hockey venue changes from Oscar and Emma's basement to the police station. The first four games of the 1972 series were played in Canada, while the remaining four were played in the Soviet Union. (5) Davis (Karen's coach) tells Wanda (Brent's coach) that if Game 8 ends in a tie, he will claim a victory based on goal differential, just as the Soviet delegation informed the Canadian team during the game in 1972. (6) During Game 8, Wanda suggests to Brent that he slash Karen's shins with a real hockey stick. This refers to an incident in which John Ferguson, an assistant Canadian coach, said to the Canadian center, Bobby Clarke, that Valery Kharmalov, one of the Russian forwards, needed to have his ankles slashed. Clarke thereupon slashed Kharmalov's ankles, disabling him for the rest of the game. (This incident actually occurred in Game 6.)
When Wanda mentions that her favourite Canadian TV series is Street Legal (CA), Oscar bellows, "Street Legal sucked!" Eric Peterson, who plays Oscar, was one of the stars of Street Legal.
Hank's full name is Richard Henry Yarbo.
Shirley Douglas couldn't portray herself onscreen because in a previous Corner Gas episode she played a woman who had a fling with Oscar.
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