You’ve no doubt seen Schitt’s Creek listed on Netflix, but might be in the (ever-decreasing) group of people who still haven’t dived in to experience the utter joy of the Canadian comedy series.
After sweeping the board at this year’s Emmys (bagging nine awards and breaking a few records in the process) and with a l-o-n-g winter ahead for us all, now is the perfect time to get stuck into the feel-good, fishes-out-of-water comedy everyone is talking about...
It’s very 2020
A family of five forced to live in close proximity to each other under stressful circumstances sounds pretty familiar, right? No wonder the show’s popularity has soared over the last six months.
Everyone is welcome
Schitt’s Creek is a hate-free zone. The fact David is queer is never mentioned, or worse, used as a punchline. Same for Ronnie. Instead their sexuality is casual and as unremarkable as any of the straight characters. That might not sound a lot, but for a mainstream, hugely successful show to normalise LGBTQ people in this way and not feel like a box-ticking exercise is still pretty radical - even in 2020.
Speaking at the GLAAD Gala last year, Daniel Levy, who plays David and also co-created the show, said he “seized the opportunity to make a television show that might, in its own way, offer some support, encouragement and love to those who might not have it in their homes or in their schools or in their day to day lives.”
He added: “It’s a place where acceptance incubates joy and creates a clarity that allows people to see themselves and each other more deeply. It’s fiction, yes. But I’ve always been told to lead by example and this felt like a good place to start.”
Moira Moira Moira
What’s not to love about Catherine O’Hara’s matriarch and former daytime drama star Moira Rose?
First there’s *that* accent. Not quite placeable. Is it Canadian? Is it English? It’s neither, nor a mix of both. But it is most definitely 100% bonkers. Like Moira’s pronunciation of ‘baby’ (“bébé”).
Throw into the mix Moira’s extensive vocabulary. This woman can turn a phrase like no other. Like when she tells son David to “stop acting like a disgruntled pelican” or warns her husband Johnny to be “careful, lest you suffer vertigo from the dizzying heights of your moral ground”.
When it comes to retorts, Moira could give Karen Walker a run for her millions. Just imagine if those two worlds collided? *gets on phone to Daniel Levy*
And don’t even get us started on the bottomless pit that is her wig collection, aka ‘The Girls’.
The adventures of Alexis Rose
Moira and Johnny’s daughter had quite the life before she was forced into living with them at the Rosebud Motel, which is where they usually hear about her wild adventures for the first time.
Like when she got a DUI for driving into a Prada store: “In fairness, it did look like the entrance to a parking garage. And I was high at the time.” Or when she was “taken hostage on David Geffen’s yacht by Somali pirates for a week and nobody answered my texts?” And what about that time she dated a Sultan’s nephew who “was forbidden to talk to me or even look at me, and we made it work for like, half a regime change.” Wild.
Oh, and it would be amiss of us not to give a special mention to her short-lived reality show A Little Bit Alexis...
The clothes
Is there a monochrome sweatshirt that David hasn’t ever worn? We doubt it. And we’re still trying to figure out how Moira fits all of her iconic outfits into that tiny motel wardrobe, considering she has never ever worn the same thing twice.
Stevie
The motel receptionist has deadpan down to a T and is unimpressed by pretty much everything. But she’s the unsung hero of the show (even Moira told her she was “cool”), who you’ll end up rooting for all the way - especially when she really takes herself out of her comfort zone.
Like when the town revived Cabaret and put Stevie centre stage… *heart explodes*
The eye candy
Yep, we really are that shallow. Schitt’s Creek itself might not be the most visually appealing place on earth, but plenty of its inhabitants make up for that…
All six series of Schitt’s Creek are streaming on Netflix now.