Seven years after its final season aired in 2009, The Comedy Network is bringing back Corner Gas – with a twist.

The Bell Media specialty channel has greenlit an animated version of the series, from 335 Productions and Vérité Films, which is set to begin pre-production in January in Vancouver and Toronto.

The 13-episode half-hour series, for the channel’s 2017-2018 broadcast season, is executive produced by Brent Butt (a.k.a. Dog River’s Brent Leroy) and David Storey from Prairie Pantoons and Virginia Thompson from Moving Mountoons, in association with The Comedy Network. Animation work will be produced by Prairie Pantoons, Moving Mountoons and Toronto’s Smiley Guy Studios.

The main cast is confirmed to return in animated form, including Butt (Brent Leroy), Gabrielle Miller (Lacey), Eric Peterson (Oscar), Fred Ewanuick (Hank), Lorne Cardinal (Davis), Tara Spencer-Nairn (Karen) and Nancy Robertson (Wanda). While cast member Janet Wright (Emma Leroy) passed away earlier this year, her character will also return to the animated series. Casting for the voice of Emma is currently underway.

This isn’t the first time the residents of Dog River have gathered since the series came to an end. Corner Gas: The Movie, executive produced by Butt, Storey and Thompson, opened in more than 100 theatres across Canada in December 2014 and was watched by more than seven million TV viewers.

From Playback Daily