The news gets worse by the day. Scrolling through Twitter has become emotionally devastating. How do you deal? How does anyone deal? I try and turn off my phone, but that never works for long (I log off Twitter, only to log back on an hour later).
The best way, I’ve found, to fully deal with terrible news is to just watch something else. I’ve watched Mamma Mia a lot recently (it is the best movie, do not @ me), and I am glad there was a brief period this summer where we were all obsessed with Peter Kavinsky.
But sometimes, you need more than just a movie with beautiful leads. You need a TV show, with multiple episodes and seasons, that you can keep watching, that will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. And that will remind you there’s good left in the world.
Enter Schitt’s Creek. (No spoilers, I promise.)
This JOY of a television show premiered in Canada in 2015. It focuses on a Jewish family — starring Eugene Levy and his son, Dan — who lose everything and have to move to a tiny town (aptly named Schitt’s Creek).
Dan Levy is remarkable as David, Annie Murphy’s Alexis is our favorite character on television (seriously), and Catherine O’Hara’s wacky Moira is the best. And did we mention Eugene freakin’ Levy is in this?
Some clips, for you:
Alexis gets a bike
“Fold In the Cheese!”
“Tweet Us on Facebook!”
As my colleague Lior Zaltzman wrote in Kveller, “Right now, when finding my faith in humanity seems particularly challenging, this kind-hearted comedy is exactly what I need. And yes, it features some crude humor and embarrassingly out-of-touch dialogue, but unlike, say, Larry David, it also features some surprisingly frank and heartfelt moments.”
Simply put: There’s goodness at the heart of the show. The jokes don’t come from a place of malice. And we need this now more than ever.
Season four — which aired in Canada earlier this year and will be on American Netflix mid-October — was Schitt’s Creek in rare form. As the LA Times wrote, the show “took a leap into loveliness in season four, pushing the Rose family toward acceptance or commitment or self-reliance in a way that has made this strange little comedy one of the most genuinely romantic shows on television.”
Because, yes, not only is the show joyous, but you will legitimately swoon over the romantic storylines (for both David and Alexis). As Maggie Fremont writes in Vulture, “David’s current relationship makes me misty-eyed just thinking about it. Not only does it have a very romantic build-up (that first kiss!), but it feels very authentic as it develops — especially in regard to David confronting his fear of being vulnerable.”
(For those who have followed along, how many times have you watched the serenade scene? I genuinely think I watch it daily.)
On top of the romance, and the warm and fuzzy feelings you get, you will laugh out loud. It’s that funny. There’s a ton of running gags, like Alexis saying David:
At a recent event in Los Angeles, the whole cast was present to discuss the show. As the LA Times wrote, “They took the stage to ascending waves of delirium, as if every appearance were a delightful surprise, like it was a Christmas when everyone forgot they were getting presents.” Someone even proposed in the audience.
As someone tweeted today, “As an American, I thought I’d forgotten how to laugh…until Schitt’s Creek. It‘s the only form of media that I can watch uninterrupted for hours and hours and when I’ve reached the end I cheer ‘Again! One more time! Take it from the top, Moira!'”
If you’re feeling hopeless, and cannot look at Twitter for one more second, turn on Schitt’s Creek. You won’t regret it.
