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Gabrielle plays Lacey Burrows, the niece of the recently deceased owner of a local coffee shop in Dog River, Saskatchewan. Lacey is from Toronto, and the whole town is nervous about how the big city newcomer is going to change the shop.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: The opening episode wastes no time in establishing what the series is about - dry humor without a laugh track (a major plus, in my view), not tied to any one area
. After this one episode, you know a fair amount about five of the main characters: Brent and Emma are the sarcastic voices of reason, Oscar is the overreacting cranky old man, Lacey is the likeable newcomer who hasn't quite fit in yet, and Hank is the village idiot. The essence of Hank is laid out perfectly in this episode, as he overreacts to everything about Lacey and takes a dislike to everything she does, when no reasonable person could react that way. The other three characters (Wanda, Karen and Davis) get a more in-depth introduction in the series' next episode.
TRIVIA: The show's eight main characters all have last names which are actual towns in Saskatchewan - Brent / Oscar / Emma Leroy, Lacey Burrows, Davis Quinton, Hank Yarbo, Wanda Dollard and Karen Pelly.
MEMORABLE MOMENT: Gabrielle's first appearance in the series takes place at 3:55 into the episode (assuming you don't count the opening credits, in which case it would be 1:10).
MEMORABLE LINES:
1.) From Lacey, after being told that the article about her in the local paper is no big deal (4:19): "Oh, yeah, I suppose. I mean, they could have run a photo of me in a Hitler moustache tossing puppies into a woodchipper."
2.) From Hank (who has yet to be introduced to Lacey), in response to what Lacey just said (4:26): "Does such a photo exist?"
3.) From Oscar (9:01): "I have never overstated a single thing in the history of the planet."
4.) From Hank (14:27), as he expresses his opinion about the coffee shop's new look: "We're in the seventh circle of hell here."
5.) From Hank, as he lays out his plan to restore the coffee shop to its former state (15:11): "I got two words for you: boycott."
6.) From Brent, asking Oscar about the movie "Jaws" after Oscar's highly dubious claim of having been able to hook up his VCR (17:13): "How about the part where the shark grows legs, and climbs up on the beach and has a sword fight with the sheriff?"
7.) From Lacey, continuing with Brent's game (17:21): "Oh, my favorite part was when the shark went back to his home planet. It made me cry." This was especially funny because of the fact that Lacey was so new to the town and jumped in anyway.
FUNNIEST SCENE IN THIS EPISODE: At 17:45, Brent does Lacey a favor by going outside and "reasoning" with Hank.
BLOOPERS:
1.) The issue of the Dog River Howler introducing Lacey, which has the headline "Big City Woman Destroys Landmark," is dated July 12, 2003. This is the same date as the "Moose Jaw Gets NBA Franchise" issue shown later in the episode which is designed to portray the inaccuracy of the paper (the Moose Jaw issue appears at 13:50). The same date was used on the issue of the paper shown at the end of the episode "Grad 68" as well. It also appears to be the date of the 17th annual Dog River Talent Show (see my blooper notes on the episode "Cousin Carl").
2.) Starting at 8:29, when Davis asks Lacey to open up the Ruby because of "police business," you can see a stain on the left side (viewer's right) of Lacey's shirt. Two consecutive scenes then show that the stain has been covered by a fold in the shirt, but on the fourth scene the stain is visible again, exactly as it was in the first scene.
3.) Brent's glasses change from non-prescription to prescription throughout the episode. The most easily visible example occurs in the following scene: from about 8:57 to 9:24, Brent is wearing Drew Carey-type glasses (no prescription),but from that point in the scene (beginning with Brent saying "Geez, you're asking a lot, Ma"), until about 9:50, his glasses clearly have prescription lenses. The difference can be seeing by looking at the grass in the background through his right (viewer's left) lens, or by looking at the reflections on the lenses - the prescription models are curved, and the Carey models are flat. At 9:50, the Drew Carey glasses return, and the prescription lenses come back at 10:03. They also change back and forth again when Emma is staring down Brent and Oscar to the tune of a spaghetti western soundtrack..
Brent's glasses change throughout the series, too - a good example from a different episode is when in "Pilates Twist" Brent and Karen walk into the station at the beginning of the episode. From thirty seconds into it until the run of the opening credits, you get several chances to look through Brent's lenses, and they clearly aren't prescription lenses. At 3:13 you see Brent in the Ruby, and his lenses are obviously prescription.
4.) At 12:43, just as Oscar is leaving the gas station with the VCR, you see Wanda turn to Brent, about to ask him something. The hair closest to her right (viewer's left) eye is hanging down like bangs would. At 12:45, the camera angle provides a closer shot of Wanda as she asks if it's a good idea to rent a movie as intense as "Jaws" to someone as wound-up as Oscar. At that point, look at the hair which was once hanging down, and you can see it's now neatly combed back.
5.) One of Lacey's many hair bloopers (you can see them rather often throughout the series) starts at 16:10, where she's shown in two consecutive scenes with a small amount of hair over her right shoulder. In the third shot of her, there's four or five times as much hair over her shoulder, and in the fourth (where she says "I can read people"), her hair is exactly as it was in the first two.
6.) There's a less obvious hair blooper just before that scene, as Lacey orders a drink. Look at her hair near her right (viewer's left) shoulder at 15:56 and then again at 16:03, where there's far more hair over the front of her shoulder. In between these two scenes is a partial shot of Lacey from the back, and her head remains perfectly still.
7.) Yet another hair blooper shows starts at 19:19, when Lacey addresses Hank's complaints about the diner's new look. Look at the hair near her right (left, to the viewer) shoulder in the first and second shots, and then in the third when she says "I mean, c'mon, a boycott?" In the third shot, it looks like she just ran a comb through her hair on that side. The difference is most obvious between the first and third shots.
8.) Still another pretty obvious hair blooper starts at 20:57, when Lacey asks Brent "So what can I get you?" Watch the shots of Lacey's hair near her left shoulder as the camera angle shifts from Lacey, to Brent, to Lacey again and back to Brent. These hair bloopers are all over the series, so from this point on only the most blatant ones will be pointed out.
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