Brent Butt knows when to quit. He’s just got that timing thing down pat. Yesterday he was writing for the final season of Corner Gas – while the comedy series is still a smash hit. Tomorrow he’ll be planning Corner Gas – the movie – as well as another series for CTV. And today the series’ multitalented creator, star, executive producer and head of the sitcom’s writing team shares his successful tricks of the trade with Playback.

What do you think was the most important decision you made when originally developing Corner Gas?
At the very first production meeting I said there are two things I want to do – a double mandate for the show – and everything else will fall into place.

First of all, prioritize funny over everything else. It comes before logic, it comes before budget. And I want it to be a comfortable show that isn’t trying to be anything. Just a show that is funny. If you have an agenda, people can smell the effort. A lot of shows come along and you see they are trying to appeal to a certain demographic, or be edgy or hip. It is like trying to be cool as a teenager: you can’t, don’t. Conspicuous effort is the enemy of comedy.

I think keeping it simple, funny and comfortable – that was a good move.

Did you have any initial concerns about doing a TV comedy?
I really wanted to work in TV, but I had a good life going. I was a stand-up comic, which was my dream. Sleeping in late, free cocktails – that is a pretty good living. So when they talked to me about doing the show, I said I want to do TV but not at any cost, because the cost can be too great. I have seen in the past how comedy can get derailed or crushed by the process of taking it from your head and putting it on television.

In stand-up, you are guiding the waters, you know the bumps and what can ruin the jokes, so you steer through them and it is your call.

When I did other TV shows, there were often situations where I was talking to someone who didn’t have a funny bone in their body who was telling me it would be funnier if I did it this way, while I was thinking, ‘This is way less funny.’

So that is why you wanted creative control over Corner Gas?
At the end of the day, if this show isn’t funny, it is my face up there, so I am going to wear it. No one is going to say that show was poorly edited or that was an odd camera angle. They are going to say that jerk isn’t funny. And the only asset I have – at the time I had been doing stand-up for 15 years – is that some people think that I am funny enough that when I come to town they buy a ticket.

I can bomb in a club on a given night in front of 200 or 400 people and get them tomorrow night. But if I bomb in front of half a million people every week, it won’t take long until the whole country thinks I am not funny. I can’t afford for that to happen.

So you set boundaries with the network at the beginning?
I was upfront with them. I said I don’t know what kind of lights we need, I can’t do the books. I am not good looking. I can’t run fast. The only reason we are talking is because I am funny, so let me be in charge of that. I don’t want to be in charge of the finances; I don’t want to be in charge of how many cameras we use. But at the end of the day, when it comes down to is it funnier in a monkey suit or a duck suit, I want that call. And they gave me that call.

You have stated that your reason for ending the series now is based on a ‘quit while you are on top’ mentality. Did any other factors influence your decision?
Creative people have to create, need to create, and at a certain point you want to do something from scratch again, and that played a part. But the main reason was the notion that this is a special thing. I didn’t want to see it start to stumble or falter or be less than it could be, or get to the point where people were making fun of it. That would be heartbreaking.

Audiences and critics can be pretty tough on final episodes of cherished series. Did you have much angst writing that final episode?
No, because I haven’t written it yet. But the thing about the ending of Corner Gas is I am not writing to something. It isn’t a culmination of anything. My idea is at the end of the final episode, have the viewer feel like life goes on in Dog River, we just aren’t rolling the cameras anymore. All your favorite characters are still there going about their business and everything is as you remembered. So the gas station isn’t going to blow up and no one is leaving town.

What will you miss most?
I was thinking about this the other day while filming at the gas station. It is very comfortable, me leaning on that till reading a comic book. I am going to miss that. Sometimes I look at the call sheet and say, ‘Excellent, I get to hang out and lean on the till and read comics.’ It is very comfortable to me. I am a good leaner. I am one of the world’s best leaners. I could lean for a long time.

What would your advice be to someone embarking on their first TV show?
Eat right. Drink lots of water. You need more water than caffeine. That is something I learned the hard way. Stay hydrated. It helps with the lack of sleep.

The TV industry is like everything else. It comes down to balance – the balance between what you as an artistic creative individual want to do and what you think people will want to see or are willing to pay for. Ultimately, you are trying to sell the show; it is a business. If it was just art I could do it in my backyard for friends.

You don’t want to pander and do what you think other people want, and you don’t want to be a complete self-centered asshole who only does what you want to do. If that is where your head is at, then TV isn’t for you.

You have to find that balance, and that is as much an art as anything else. It’s a hard target to hit and a hard road to stay on.

What do you plan to do next?
I am going to try and stay in show business. CTV has said they will go into development with me on a new show if I am so interested, and I am so interested. I am thinking about another series idea. But I can’t put my mind anywhere else right now. I have to commit myself fully to ensuring Corner Gas ends the way it needs to end.

And I have signed a deal to coproduce and write and star in a feature with Brightlight Pictures in Vancouver and my company Sparrow Media. I have only written the broad strokes. I can’t say anything about it at this point because it is a process and you end up changing your mind and looking like a fool. But it will be filmed in color and humor-driven.

What about a Corner Gas movie?
I am all for it. I think it is going to happen. I would be surprised if it doesn’t happen. Everyone seems to be on board. My partners like the idea, the cast likes the idea, the network likes the idea, the fans seem to like the idea, distributors are interested, so it will come down to scheduling and getting everyone there.