L IFESTYLES /C ULTURE
A Happy Ending for ‘Schitt’s Creek’
T E L EVISON
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
AT THIS POINT in 2020, TV
audiences have settled on their
preferred forms of escapism.

My parents are on what
appears to be the 137th season of
“Th e Walking Dead,” engrossed
in a zombie dystopia even more
gruesome and endless than
the one we inhabit. One of my
friends, comforted by story lines
nestled safely in the past, can’t
get enough of historical dramas
like “Downton Abbey.”
I gravitate toward lighter
fare in my streaming queue.

Wholesome reality TV like
“Queer Eye,” (the latest season
takes place in Philadelphia) and
hilarious sitcoms like “Parks
and Recreation” have graced
my laptop screen at some point
during the past six months.

At a time when so much is
uncertain and negative, any
show where people are actually
decent to each other and the
stakes are lower than the
average trip to the grocery
store strikes the perfect balance
between indulgent fantasy and
audacious hope.

Pop TV’s beloved comedy
“Schitt’s Creek” fi ts nicely into
this comforting lineup. Final
Season 6 premiered on its home
network on Jan. 7 and hit Netfl ix
on Oct. 3, along with “Best
Wishes, Warmest Regards:
A Schitt’s Creek Farewell,” a
documentary about the making
of the show.

Th e feel-good sitcom follows
the Rose family aft er they lose
their fortune and are forced
to move into the tiny epony-
mous rural town Eugene Levy’s
Johnny Rose once bought as
a joke for his on-screen son
From left: Annie Murphy, Dan Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy of “Schitt’s Creek”
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OCTOBER 15, 2020
JEWISH EXPONENT
David, who is played by Eugene
Levy’s real son Dan Levy.

Th e father and son duo are
executive producers and star
alongside Catherine O’Hara,
who plays Rose family diva
matriarch Moira, and Annie
Murphy, who portrays socialite
daughter Alexis.

Aft er fi ve years on the air,
the show has garnered critical
acclaim for its emotional
depth, dry wit, epic one-liners
and creative costume design
(Moira Rose has a wig for every
occasion.) Eugene Levy, Dan
Levy and Sarah Levy, who
plays local waitress Twyla,
headlined Jewish Federation
of Greater Philadelphia’s Main
Event before the show won
nine Emmys in September.

As far as finales go,
Season 6 was exceptionally
strong. Each of the Roses got
the goodbye they deserved
and demonstrated heart-
warming emotional growth
— particularly regarding their
appreciation for family and
community — while staying
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



L IFESTYLES /C ULTURE
true to the zany quirks that
made them so compelling.

Moira makes her triumphant
return to show business and
learns how to be present for her
family. Johnny builds a motel
franchise fueled by appreciation
for small-town communities
and the colorful personalities
he clashed with for so long.

Alexis transforms her narcis-
sism into healthy independence
and sets out to pursue a public
relations career in New York.

Drama king David fi nds true
love with Noah Reid’s stead-
fast Patrick Brewer and settles
down in the town he was once
desperate to fl ee.

Judaism is not a central
theme of the Roses’ story, but
the show never lets you forget
that David, Alexis and Johnny
are Jewish. While Patrick is
hopped up on pain meds aft er
his wisdom teeth are removed,
he calls David “the Jewish
Channing Tatum.” Later, he
advises David to stop stress-
eating bagels. In a desperate
attempt to escape a sex party,
the couple excuses themselves
to go to their car for their wine.

“Don’t worry about it,
plenty of vino here,” host Jake
says while David and Patrick
exchange panicked glances.

“It’s just that ours is, um,
kosher,” David improvises.

Th ere is even a prayer scene.

Aft er Johnny departs for New
York with his business partners
to pitch their motel franchise
to a group of investors, Moira
pleads with her children to join
her on the fl oor, join hands and
pray for their success.

“To whom it may concern,”
she begins reverently. Reader, I
shrieked. David and Patrick’s relation-
ship has been the show’s chief
source of cuteness since Patrick
serenaded David at an open
mic in Season 4, and Season
6 continues that dynamic
beautifully. Highlights include
Patrick donning his nighttime
mouth guard and “nose thing”
breathing aid to comfort
a humiliated David aft er he
wets the bed, David rallying
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM his reluctant family to attend
Patrick’s dream escape room
bachelor party and Patrick
singing Mariah
Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” to David
during their wedding vows.

Like all fi nal TV seasons,
Season 6 faced the pressure of
neatly wrapping up plot and
character arcs. It rose to the
challenge with countless nods
to earlier plot threads.

One particularly successful
come-full-circle moment was
David and Moira’s trip to Herb
Ertlinger Winery, the site of
Moira’s glorious drunken train
wreck of a fruit wine commer-
cial in Season 1. Th e pair arrive
for a wine tasting and proceed
to get accidentally drunk
together, much to the irritation
of the beleaguered owner. Come
for David’s teeth-sucking looks
of disgust, stay for Moira tipsily
declaring, “Now I’m getting
hints of tomato.”
Th at is not to say the season
is without its fl aws.

The plotline for Emily
Hampshire’s Stevie, David’s
best friend and co-owner of
Rosebud Motel, felt oddly
paced, as she leaves the
motel briefl y to explore other
career options before rapidly
returning. Some of the
farewells are a little too sickly
sweet, such as when Moira’s
singing group, the Jazzagals,
descend on her for a group hug
when she announces she has
earned a role on the reboot of
her old soap opera.

Some of the gags are more
cringeworthy than funny, like
Johnny’s discomfort when
Alexis starts dating a man who
is his age aft er breaking up
with her beloved boyfriend,
Dustin Milligan’s Ted.

In the end, these minor
issues did not detract from
superb storytelling. Season
6 reminded me of a bowl
of matzah ball soup —
comforting, satisfying and
a cure for many ailments.

Moments like David and
Patrick’s town hall wedding
and Johnny’s last grateful look
at the town he called home for
three years are just what the
doctor ordered to restore our
faith in happy endings. ●
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...to be continued
JEWISH EXPONENT
OCTOBER 15, 2020
27