The rich repair a schitty rural town
By Jerrison Oracion, Senior Columnist
Schitt’s Creek swept the awards and became the first Canadian show to get Best Comedy
I saw the commercials for Schitt’s Creek and I thought that it was not going to be funny, and we were probably going to see the Rose family getting roasted by country folk. The show is created by comedy legend Eugene Levy and his son Daniel (famous for MTV Live)—and the show also stars his long-time collaborator and comedy legend Catherine O’Hara. Annie Murphy is another star on the show who was not known until Schitt’s Creek aired.
This comedy got a lot of major awards for the later seasons and includes awards won at the Canadian Screen Awards (Best Comedy) and a sweeping of the nominations overall; Schitt’s Creek also garnered some fame at the Emmy Awards as it collected a few awards and became the first Canadian show to get Best Comedy. There were a few connections to Kim’s Convenience, one of my favourite shows, in Schitt’s Creek because one of the people that made Kim’s (Kevin White) wrote episodes for the show. Christina Song, who plays Mrs. Lee, makes appearances in Schitt’s Creek. The first season is straightforward but will tackle important topics, especially those concerning the LGBTQ2+ community, in the later seasons.
I watched the first six episodes, and the show begins with tax auditors collecting most of the Rose family’s belongings because Johnny (Eugene Levy) was involved in a money laundering scheme. The entire family finds out that Johnny bought a small town called Schitt’s Creek as a joke for his son, David (Daniel Levy). Both Johnny’s wife Moira (O’Hara) and their daughter Alexis (Murphy) move to the town and live in the local motel.
They are welcomed by the mayor of the town, Roland Schitt (Chris Elliott), and he gives them a hard time as the family settles in the country lifestyle. Out of the entire family, Moira who is a well-known actress is the most unprepared and Alexis easily gets around the town while randomly kissing a guy named Mutt (Tim Rozon) at a party and gets involved in a love triangle with a waitress at the Café Tropical named Twyla Sands (Sarah Levy). Meanwhile, David gets along with the motel’s receptionist Stevie Bud (Emily Hampshire) and their relationship peaks when David questions his sexuality in a later season.
Throughout the show’s six seasons, the Rose family tries to get their wealth back by repairing the town while spending more time together and experiencing the simple life. There is a bit of swearing in the show and that is the first time that I heard Eugene Levy saying the f-word while also saying “son of a bitch” frequently. Moira is a passionate actor and wears a lot of wigs throughout the run of the show.
In episode two, there was a debate on the town’s sign which will make you think if it should be standing. Schitt’s Creek looks promising so far and I have a long way to go to find out why it might be the greatest Canadian show of all time.
