Cartoon 'Corner Gas' coming to the small screen in 2017

There wasn’t a lot going on in Dog River, Sask., but for six seasons, the kooky cast of characters brought the fictional town’s hijinks to the small screen.

And now, Corner Gas is getting an animated reboot.

The Comedy Network announced Monday that Corner Gas is returning – in an animated version – for 13 new half-hour episodes. They’ll air on The Comedy Network in 2017-2018.

“I’ve always loved animated,” said Saskatchewan-born Brent Butt, the series’ creator, executive producer and lead actor, in a news release.

“It’s been a huge amount of fun creating animated scripts for our Corner Gas gang. We used to come up with some pretty wild fantasy sequences and bizarre flashbacks in the old story room, but were limited with what we could do in the real world. Buckle up! We’re not in the real world anymore!”

Butt is returning as main character in addition to the full cast, minus Janet Wright, who passed away in November at the age of 71. 

However, her character, Emma, will be return in the animated series, with permission from Wright’s family.

“We are thrilled the original cast is back and that the Emma character will live on in the animated series,” executive producer Virginia Thompson said in a news release.

“Emma will remain funny and fearless and will pay tribute to Janet Wright for many years to come.”

This isn’t the first time Corner Gas has been revisited.

In 2014, a full-length movie was released. 

Then, in Nov. 2016, the Corner Gas set was deemed unsafe and torn down. 

Pre-production of the new animated series will begin in Vancouver and Toronto in January.