Were the Gemini Awards a popularity contest, the scale would tip to CTV’s hit laugher Corner Gas, about the goings-on of the quirky, lovable residents of small-town Dog River, SK. Canada’s highest-rated comedy series – with a third-season average of 1.6 million viewers last year – is favored to take its second best comedy prize after winning in 2005.

‘[The Geminis are] very relevant if you win and it’s all crap if you don’t,’ jokes executive producer and star Brent Butt, from Regina’s Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios, where Gas is currently filming its fourth season.

Produced by Prairie Pants Productions – comprised of Virginia Thompson of Vérité Films and 335 Productions, the shingle of Butt and David Storey – Gas has also received noms for best ensemble performance in a comedy program or series and best writing for Butt, Mark Farrell, Paul Mather and Kevin White.

While the recognition is always welcome, Butt believes a Gemini is also good for garnering new viewers. ‘If they see you’ve won some awards, it gives the show a little credibility and makes them more prone to watch,’ he says.

Also in the CTV fold, Jeff Ltd., coming off its first season about a skirt chaser and self-proclaimed advertising and marketing whiz, looks to dethrone the incumbent. Producer and star Jeff Seymour is no stranger to the Geminis, with one win in 2003 and nominations in both 2004 and 2005 for his acting work on CTV’s The Eleventh Hour.

Seymour is especially tickled about this Gemini nod for comedy.

‘People probably figured I was firmly entrenched in being a dramatic actor,’ he says from the Toronto set of Jeff Ltd., currently shooting episode 10 of its second season. ‘Certainly when you put together a new project, it’s always a thrill to get nominated.’

Meanwhile, Rick Mercer’s ‘ultimate dream job’ has yielded him 16 Gemini Awards since 1995, and this year the entertainer and political satirist – often described as Canada’s Jon Stewart – is back in the comedy category for the third season of The Rick Mercer Report, looking for its first win.

‘There have been times in my career where a Gemini win has been imperative to get that next contract,’ says Mercer, who also produces the show for CBC along with Gerald Lunz.

While Mercer agrees the Gems are relevant and a ‘good indication people are watching your work,’ he says it’s important to not get carried away with trophies, noting, ‘In this business it’s all about working.’

Mercer can be seen in the Quebec box-office record-breaking film Bon Cop, Bad Cop, in which he plays a colorful hockey commentator à la Don Cherry, while season four of The Rick Mercer Report premieres Tuesday, Oct. 3 on CBC.

Some of the other series vying for the Gemini comedy crown are lower-budget affairs to be found on specialties.

While Rick Green says he’s ‘flattered’ to receive a second nomination for his skit comedy series History Bites – which explores what television would have been like had it been around for the past 5,000 years – he is also surprised, since his show operates on ‘a fraction of the budget [of] the other nominees, and we’re on History Television.’

History Bites: Mother Britain, a one-hour 2005 Canada Day Special, examines the history of the relationship between Canada and Britain, and spotlights all 21 Canuck prime ministers – rendered by a cast of comedy performers

including Patrick McKenna and Ron Pardo – up to that point.

‘It’s not just laughs; the viewer is also left with something to think about,’ says Green, who produces with David Smith of S&S Productions.

Green, who adds he’s glad to ‘contribute to Canada’s reputation for comedy,’ is currently working on two additional specials for History – History Bites: Celine Dion and History Bites: The Separatist.

The second seasons of Kenny vs. Spenny (Breakthrough Films & Television) and Naked Josh (Productions Sexant), both from Showcase, round out the best comedy nominees.

Josh, starring David Julian Hirsh as a university professor who teaches a course in sexual anthropology, has four nominations in all, including one for production design (Mario Hervieux) and two for directing (Jim Donovan and James Allodi). The last episode of Josh aired on July 18, as Showcase cancelled the show after three seasons.

Creative producer André Béraud says the nom reflects well on everyone who worked on the show, but adds that, in the end, ‘no one remembers who won what – they remember the shows.’

The antics of two best friends – Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Hotz and Spencer ‘Spenny’ Rice – who endlessly challenge each other in a variety of outrageous competitions form the premise of the reality comedy series Kenny vs. Spenny, nominated for the first time as best comedy.

The show recently wrapped production on its third season in Toronto, with 13 new half-hour episodes set to air beginning Thursday, Oct. 19.

Surprisingly absent from the comedy category for a second straight year is Showcase’s perennial cult favorite Trailer Park Boys, which took home the top hardware in 2004.

Last year, The Boys had two noms (direction and writing), and one win for best ensemble cast, but were a no-show at the ceremony. An Academy spokesperson says the production chose not to enter this year. Representatives from the show were unavailable for comment.

The award for best comedy will be revealed during the main gala on Nov. 4 at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, B.C.

www.geminiawards.ca