Schitt's Creek

Schitt's Creek (stylized as Schitt$ Creek) is a Canadian television sitcom created by Dan and Eugene Levy that aired on CBC Television from January 13, 2015 to April 7, 2020. It consists of 80 episodes spread over six seasons. Produced by Not a Real Company Productions, the series follows the trials and tribulations of the formerly wealthy Rose family when they are forced to relocate to Schitt's Creek, a small town they once purchased as a joke. Now living in a motel, Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) and Moira Rose (Catherine O'Hara)—along with their adult children, David (Dan Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy)—must adjust to life without money and with each other.

The series was conceived when Dan Levy wondered how the wealthy families frequently depicted on American reality television would react if they were stripped of all their money. He further developed the series with his father, Eugene, before pitching the series to several networks in Canada and the United States. The series was first sold to CBC Television in Canada and later to Pop TV in the United States, where it debuted on February 11, 2015. Although limited in popularity throughout its first few seasons, the series' appearance on Netflix after its third season is credited for the show's sudden rise in stature, attributed to the "Netflix bump" and a dynamic social media presence.

Schitt's Creek received widespread acclaim, particularly for its writing, humor and acting. The series has won various accolades, including two ACTRA Awards and 18 Canadian Screen Awards. It is the first Canadian comedy series to be nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Comedy Series. It also received two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, including Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and a total of 19 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The show received 15 of these nominations for its sixth and final season. O'Hara received both a SAG Award and Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance. For its portrayal of LGBTQ+ people, the series won once and was nominated twice for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

At the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, the series' final season swept all seven major comedy awards — Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing for Dan Levy (the last shared with Andrew Cividino), and setting a record for winning all four major acting categories (lead actor/actress and supporting actor/actress) for O'Hara, Murphy and both Levys. At the same time, the series set a new record for most Emmy wins by a comedy series in a single season.

Synopsis
The wealthy Rose family—video store magnate Johnny (Eugene Levy), his wife and soap opera actress Moira (Catherine O'Hara), and their adult children David and Alexis (Dan Levy and Annie Murphy)—lose their fortune after being defrauded by their business manager. They are forced to rebuild their lives with their sole remaining asset: a small town named Schitt's Creek, which Johnny had bought for David as a joke birthday gift in 1991. The Roses relocate to Schitt's Creek, moving into two adjacent rooms in a run-down motel. As the family adjusts to their new lives, their well-to-do attitudes come into conflict with the more provincial residents of Schitt's Creek, including mayor Roland Schitt (Chris Elliott), his wife Jocelyn (Jennifer Robertson), and the motel's manager Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire).

Critical response
The first season of Schitt's Creek received generally positive reviews. It holds an approval rating of 61% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 6.38/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The title is one of the best jokes of Schitt's Creek, but performances from Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara give the writing a comedic boost." On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 64 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews." Vinay Menon of the Toronto Star wrote that the show "is one of the best CBC comedies in years." After being picked up by Pop, the Los Angeles Times described the show as "very funny, beautifully played, [and] sometimes touching," although Mike Hale of The New York Times called Schitt's Creek "drab and underwritten."

Subsequent seasons of Schitt's Creek have been more positively received, with the show growing in popularity after debuting on Netflix in January 2017. On Rotten Tomatoes, seasons 2, 4 and 5 have approval ratings of 100%, with season 4's consensus reading, "The comedic real estate value rises for Schitt's Creek in its fourth year, the series gradually maturing into appointment viewing with a big, beating heart beneath its absurdity." Bridget Read of Vogue wrote that while the series "started off with typical fish out of water scenarios," it has "fully come into its own, with a whole cast of Twin Peaks-meets-Christopher-Guest-universe characters that are as equally endearing." In New York Magazine, Maggie Fremont wrote that "the show takes a few episodes to get into its groove, but once it does, you’ll never want to leave." The series has placed on annual best-of lists published by Esquire, Glamour, The New Yorker, and Variety. In 2019, the series was named "The Best Show on TV Right Now" by TV Guide.

The series has also been praised for its portrayal of a pansexual character, played by Dan Levy, as well as for how David's sexuality is simply accepted by the other characters with no expressions of homophobia in the storyline.

LGBT Cast and Crew

 * Dan Levy

Lesbian

 * Ronnie Lee

Gay

 * Patrick Brewer
 * Sebastien Raine

Pansexual

 * David Rose