SChitt’s creek
Genre/vibe: Quirky comedy with heart
Commitment: 6 seasons / 80 episodes (~22 minutes)
Stream it on: HBOMax (Originally aired on CTV)
The premise
Classic fish out of water story, Canadian-style. An extremely wealthy, extremely out of touch family loses everything in a fraud scandal, except for a small town called Schitt’s Creek that dad Johnny Rose had once bought as a birthday gift for his son David as a joke because of the name. Now left with nothing, Johnny moves his family – David, along with wife Moira, and daughter Alexis — to the town full of colorful small town characters. Hilarity, and personal growth, ensues.
THE MAIN CHARACTERS
JOHNNY ROSE (played by Eugene Levy) — Levelheaded patriarch of the ultra-wealthy Rose family, and former successful video store chain owner. Across the series, he serves as the ‘straight man,’ always doing what he can for the best of his wife and children, though his tech-unsavvyness and peak Eugene Levy cringey parent moments provide plenty of laughs. The way he shows such pure pride at the growth his wife and children experience across the series is incredibly heartwarming, as is the fatherly relationship he develops with the closed-off Stevie.
Memorable moment:
Quintessential Johnny quote:
MOIRA ROSE (played by Catherine O’Hara) — Matriarch of the family, and a former actress known for her leading role on a long-running soap. She’s melodramatic and eccentric to the nth degree, comes with a vast vocabulary of 10-dollar words and a hilariously inconsistent accent, sports a black-and-white avant garde wardrobe straight out of Vogue, and treasures a wall full of wigs (all with human names) that she treats like her children. I can’t imagine a better showcase for the elite comedic talents of the great Catherine O’Hara. An icon like Moira could never be played by anyone else.
Memorable moment: Moira’s Vitameatavegemin-inspired commercial for the local fruit winery
Quintessential Moira quote: “I’m positively bedeviled with meetings, et cetera”
DAVID ROSE (played by Dan Levy, Eugene’s real-life son) — Matriarch of the family, and a former actress known for her leading role on a long-running soap. She’s melodramatic to the nth degree, comes with a vast vocabulary of 10-dollar words and a hilarious inconsistent accent, sports a black-and-white avant garde wardrobe straight out of Vogue, and treasures a wall full of wigs (all with human names) that she treats like her children. I can’t imagine a better showcase for the elite comedic talents of the great Catherine O’Hara.
Memorable moment:
Quintessential David quote: “I have asked you THRICE now for a towel.”
ALEXIS ROSE (played by Annie Murphy) — Matriarch of the family, and a former actress known for her leading role on a long-running soap. She’s melodramatic to the nth degree, comes with a vast vocabulary of 10-dollar words and a hilarious inconsistent accent, sports a black-and-white avant garde wardrobe straight out of Vogue, and treasures a wall full of wigs (all with human names) that she treats like her children. I can’t imagine a better showcase for the elite comedic talents of the great Catherine O’Hara.
Memorable moment: Alexis’ audition for the local production of Cabaret, performing the title track from her short-lived reality show “A Little Bit Alexis”
Quintessential Alexis quote: “Yeah, no. I know composting. Gwyneth Paltrow does a compost gift exchange.”
NOTEWORTHY SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
STEVIE BUDD (played by Emily Hampshire) — Matriarch of the family, and a former actress known for her leading role on a long-running soap. She’s melodramatic to the nth degree, comes with a vast vocabulary of 10-dollar words and a hilarious inconsistent accent, sports a black-and-white avant garde wardrobe straight out of Vogue, and treasures a wall full of wigs (all with human names) that she treats like her children. I can’t imagine a better showcase for the elite comedic talents of the great Catherine O’Hara.
Memorable moment:
Quintessential Stevie quote: Helping David look for a job in Schitt’s Creek: “I’m not seeing anything in trend forecasting or art curating. That’s weird.”
PATRICK BREWER (played by Noah Reid) — Matriarch of the family, and a former actress known for her leading role on a long-running soap. She’s melodramatic to the nth degree, comes with a vast vocabulary of 10-dollar words and a hilarious inconsistent accent, sports a black-and-white avant garde wardrobe straight out of Vogue, and treasures a wall full of wigs (all with human names) that she treats like her children. I can’t imagine a better showcase for the elite comedic talents of the great Catherine O’Hara.
Memorable moment: The most heartfelt, impressive performance at open mic night
Quintessential Patrick quote: On David’s business idea: “Rose Apothecary, You know, it's just pretentious enough.”
ROLAND SCHITT (played by Chris Elliot) — Matriarch of the family, and a former actress known for her leading role on a long-running soap. She’s melodramatic to the nth degree, comes with a vast vocabulary of 10-dollar words and a hilarious inconsistent accent, sports a black-and-white avant garde wardrobe straight out of Vogue, and treasures a wall full of wigs (all with human names) that she treats like her children. I can’t imagine a better showcase for the elite comedic talents of the great Catherine O’Hara.
Memorable moment:
Quintessential Roland quote: “I don't wanna tell you where I was thinking, but it was a small room in my house and I was sitting down."
JOCELYN SCHITT (played by Jennifer Robertson) — Matriarch of the family, and a former actress known for her leading role on a long-running soap. She’s melodramatic to the nth degree, comes with a vast vocabulary of 10-dollar words and a hilarious inconsistent accent, sports a black-and-white avant garde wardrobe straight out of Vogue, and treasures a wall full of wigs (all with human names) that she treats like her children. I can’t imagine a better showcase for the elite comedic talents of the great Catherine O’Hara.
Memorable moment:
Quintessential Jocelyn quote: At jury duty: "I've been waiting for this moment. Apparently, if they call your number, you get to stand in front of a judge. I feel like I'm on The Voice!"
TED MULLENS (played by Dustin Milligan) — Matriarch of the family, and a former actress known for her leading role on a long-running soap. She’s melodramatic to the nth degree, comes with a vast vocabulary of 10-dollar words and a hilarious inconsistent accent, sports a black-and-white avant garde wardrobe straight out of Vogue, and treasures a wall full of wigs (all with human names) that she treats like her children. I can’t imagine a better showcase for the elite comedic talents of the great Catherine O’Hara.
Memorable moment:
Quintessential Ted quote: "I was just giving them a little pup talk."
My thoughts
I genuinely don’t think there’s a more perfect show, start to finish. We all expected Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy to be hilarious, which they are. As is Dan Levy who is officially a breakout a-lister now. But it’s unknown, about-to-quit-acting Annie Murphy as Alexis who is utter perfection in every line read and nuance and somehow makes a character you should loathe lovable. What a find!
The character development of all of the Roses from selfish and out-of-touch 1%ers to people who discover themselves and what it is to love other people, is just a joy to watch. And the Season 2 finale in particular, when the show transforms from wacky comedy about insufferable rich people to lump-in-your-throat hug for the heart, is one of the best scenes of the series– the entire cast dancing together to James Morrison’s gospel-tinged “Precious Love” in Mutt’s barn. Even, finally, perpetually disgusted David can’t help but smile. It’s the turning point that somehow propels the show to only get better season after season, culminating in one of the best series finales in all of television. The re-appearance in the finale of “Precious Love” in the most perfect way possible is the absolute cherry on top of my favorite series.
As a bonus bit of icing, this show has done great things for the LGBT community, depicting the dance-to-his-own-drummer queer main character of David and his healthy, heart-fluttering relationship with Patrick (Noah Reid) which is relationship goals for all of us. Up until Schitt’s Creek, it seemed like gay stories in TV and movies almost always involved conflict related to homophobia, bullying or some other tragic storyline, but Schitt’s Creek is all love, depicting a small town that would never consider questioning their relationship. So refreshing, and a great example of how the world could and should be.