REGINA – CTV’s comedy series Corner Gas will end with the upcoming sixth season, creator and star Brent Butt announced Thursday. When the last episode airs sometime in the spring of 2009, 107 half-hour shows will have been created.
Production on the final 19 new episodes, which will be broadcast in 2008-2009 on CTV and The Comedy Network, begins May 15 in Regina and Rouleau, Saskatchewan.
“It’s a very difficult decision, but the right decision, and one I felt I had to make,” said Butt, who is also a writer, director and executive producer of the series. “When I told CTV about my decision, they made it clear that they were keen to do more seasons. They didn’t want it to end yet. But for the good of the show, I wanted to exit gracefully, on top of our game, when we’re at our prime – because that’s how I want viewers to remember Corner Gas: at its very best.”
Butt will continue to develop projects for CTV and The Comedy Network as production wraps on the finale season of Corner Gas.
Originally developed by Butt for The Comedy Network and CTV, Corner Gas went into production in the summer of 2003. The series premiered on TV on January 22, 2004, attracting 1.15 million viewers.
The TV series spawned a book, sold-out comedy tours, a successful line of clothing and merchandise, a top-selling series of DVDs and a thriving tourist industry in Rouleau, Saskatchewan, where the series if filmed.
Corner Gas is produced in association with CTV by Prairie Pants Productions, comprised of Virginia Thompson (Incredible Story Studio, renegadepress.com) of Vérité Films and 335 Productions, a partnership of Brent Butt and David Storey (Blackfly, The Sean Cullen Show).
