Some TV shows have a large sequence of trailers, sneak peeks, and endless hype even before they air. Then there are others that you discover when it’s already well into the second season. Schitt’s Creek would be part of the latter category. A cult classic, Schitt’s Creek at face value, doesn’t give you the impression of a modern-day sitcom. With a boring name, and the plot of a family going to rags, people expected Schitt’s Creek to fizzle out after one season.
But the father-son duo that is Dan Levy and Eugene Levy unveiled a complete masterpiece of a show. We can’t forget marvellous performances by the iconic Catherine ‘O Hara to just the entire development of each character. Schitt’s Creek proved to be a total diamond in the rough. A diamond that only the Levy family could unearth. If you have not gotten around to watch Schitt’s Creek yet, we’d suggest you do. The show is streaming all it’s six seasons on Netflix right now, from the 14th of May onwards.
What Is So Earth-Shattering About Schitt’s Creek?
The premise of the story is simple. A family of four, rich, obnoxious, and corrupt people are forced to relinquish all their wealth in a raid of their manor. In the process, the FBI official conducting the attack lets them know that while all their wealth is gone, there is one thing of theirs that the government won’t be taking. Schitt’s Creek. A remote town off the beaten road that Johnny Rose had bought for his son as a joke. The family has to relocate to the town, with virtually no assets or belongings. The rest of the series is all about their life there. It’s about how they emerge out of this struggle, successful, but also changed people.
Schitt’s Creek follows the same stream of comedy as millennial hits Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, Parks and Recreation, and The Office. While it is not exclusively a workplace comedy, most of the humor is dry and yet very entertaining. The casting choices have been excellent, with each actor pulling their weight and making the show into a success.
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The Surprise Elements Of Schitt’s Creek.
We would expect the pivotal roles of the Roses to be excellent, but what is more surprising is that the side characters, the residents of Schitt’s Creek, have also managed to make the show sublime. Instead of making the show into a The Roses’ against the people of Schitt’s Creek, the creators of the show chose to go with a friendlier scenario. The people of Schitt’s Creek are welcoming and kind; they take the family into their bosom without judgment or complaint. They are all oddballs, with their quirks and fancies, but their welcoming nature and non-judgemental stance towards the family manages to teach them quite a lot.
Another surprise element is the introduction of the LGBTQ+ spectrum into the show. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that David was pansexual that caught us by surprise; our gaydars were already screaming. It was how casually the creators introduced his sexuality into the show. A lot of directors and writers see alternate, pansexual people and their sexualities as a point of tragedy. If they are pansexual, they tend to focus on the discrimination they have seen. The most eye-catching or emotion-evoking part of a homosexual character is the struggles they have been through, and directors tend to aim at that.
But here in Schitt’s Creek, there are not struggles. No discrimination. No-fuss created over David’s pansexuality. This quiet, nonconfrontation approach to not tolerating homophobia is commendable. The show even won the GLAAD award for best portrayal of a homosexual character. While there have been other shows which have taken the same approach, Schitt’s Creek could quite honestly be called the pioneer for this style of LGBTQ+ portrayal in the sitcom genre.
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The Roses’ May Have Gone From Riches to Rags, But Schitt’s Creek Went From Rags to Riches.
Did you know that Schitt’s Creek didn’t sit down well with all the big TV sharks like HBO and Showtime in the US, and only CBC in Canada finally took it in? It also started streaming on a little known pay to view channel Pop in the US. And from here on, it never looked back. Despite early on backlogs like the great Catherine O’Hara formerly rejecting the role of showrunner Moira, nothing could truly stop Schitt’s Creek from becoming the cult classic that it did.
The show is a wholesome drama, and while the earlier exhibit the Roses’ as snobbish, egotistical, obnoxious people, the show slowly and indeed grows their character. Like a rose sapling you have grafted, you see Schitt’s Creek go from a generic sitcom to a suburban masterpiece. Each character growth leaves you rooting for the characters, despite a lot of their situation being something that they deserve. The best part of the entire show isn’t this though. It isn’t the show’s development or even the character’s development.
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Sticking True To The Roots.
The one thing that Schitt’s Creek managed to keep intact was the inherent personalities of the characters without any misconstruction. The show captures and presents character growth in a group of the pettiest group of people you could meet. While shows create a complete change in persona, Schitt’s Creek manages to curate the essence of each character. It builds positive qualities. The growth they have undergone on these characteristics are brought to light. This is done without damaging what their real personality was from the beginning of the show. To see the actors then bring it out so flawlessly, is truly a work of art and Schitt’s Creek’s winning feature.
When asked about why they decided to end the show in six seasons only, the creators had this to say. “It is quite rare that a show gets to end on its terms”. “We didn’t have to get the plug pulled halfway and have to write a surprise ending. It was nice for the writers to end the show on its terms.”
And maybe it is this completeness, that brings you pure joy in watching Schitt’s Creek. If you haven’t you can catch it on Netflix, with all six seasons streaming right now.