For the last month or so, I kept hearing people talking about Schitt’s Creek, a Canadian comedy show which originally aired on Pop TV. (Seasons 1-5 are on Netflix, but the final season, season 6, has to be watched on cable). I finally decided to watch the show and I’m so glad I did!
I’ll admit, the first few episodes weren’t my favorite. The basic premise of Schitt’s Creek is that the Rose family loses their fortune when their financial manager steals everything from them. Although really funny, the characters were pretty abrasive and hard to relate to at first, because they were coming from a place of wealth to a small town. I appreciated the fact that they behaved realistically given their former status, but it did make it harder to watch until the characters began to grow and become more likeable.
However, I soon began to love the show. Each character has a very unique personality, which leads to hilarious situations and conversations as the Rose’s interact with everyone else in the town. It’s definitely entertaining to watch them adapt to small town life, and eventually adjusting and becoming more loving and understanding people due to their experiences. The character development on Schitt’s Creek was really well done, and by the end I was super attached to all the characters because of how I watched them grow and change.
I won’t say too much because I don’t want to spoil the show’s later seasons, but Eugene and David Levy, the co-creators of the series, who also played Johnny and David Rose on the show, not only made the show funny but also used it as a platform. When writing the show, they wove in several LGBTQ characters and relationships without making it unusual or a big deal. A central same-sex relationship on the show is treated just like any other relationship on the show, something which has impacted many families and viewers. For example, as they showed in “Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: A Schitt’s Creek Farewell,” (a special which aired after the last episode) a group of more than 1,800 mothers of LGBTQ kids wrote a letter of gratitude to David Levy and the rest of the show’s cast and crew for their positive influence (check that out here).
The characters and events in Schitt’s Creek are in many instances very real and raw, so while many aspects of the Rose family and the show are wild and entertaining, everything that occurs is deeply human as well. A good comedy should be balanced with a bit of reality, and that is something achieved very well here. By the end of the show (which is not disappointing!), the characters have become much better than they were at the beginning, and the viewer is left feeling connected to them and their stories.
Schitt’s Creek is definitely worth a watch. It had me laughing constantly, and it also had me crying as I watched the series finale. So do yourself a favor and pull it up on Netflix immediately!