In the Canadian sitcom
Schitt's Creek (2015-), video magnate Johnny Rose (
SCTV alumnus Eugene Levy) loses his fortune to a shady business manager, and he and his wife Moira (Catherine O'Hara) and adult children David (Dan Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy) are forced to move into a cheap hotel in the desolate small town of Schitt's Creek, where they try to adapt to such hardships as sharing a room and making their own beds.
They butt heads with many curious, eccentric, and passive-aggressive smiling-as-they-dump-on-you residents, like Mutt (Tim Rozon), the mayor's son, who lives in a barn and collects compost.
It reminds me a bit of
Gilligan's Island, with the castaways trying to survive on a desert island, their plans to escape constantly falling through at the last moment.
Schitt's Creek is so small that it has only one hotel, restaurant, and "general store," and the same six people do everything. But still, there's a lot going on, and the Roses throw themselves into town life, getting jobs, joining clubs, running for city council, dating -- a lot of dating. David (Dan Levy) develops a friends-with-benefits relationship with Stevie (Emily Hampshire), who appears to be the hotel's only employee, and Alexis has a steady stream of boyfriends, like Mutt and town veterinarian Ted (Dustin Milligan).
That's one of the things I like about Schitt's Creek -- it's overloaded with beefcake, hot guys in tight shirts -- or out of tight shirts -- everywhere you look.
The other thing I like is the writing. The dialogue is witty, sardonic without being bitter. There is no us vs. them, normal v. hicks or normal v. snobs. Everyone has foibles, but almost everyone comes across as likeable.
What I don't like is:
1. David is pansexual, played by Dan Levy, who is gay, yet his relationships are exclusively heterosexual until the third season, when ex-boyfriend Sebastian (Francois Arnaud) rolls into town, and he and Stevie get into a three-way relationship with Jake (Steve Lund). I get so sick of men who are "bisexual" but only involved with women.
2. They go to great lengths to erase everything Canadian from the show. No loonies, no maple leaves, no jaunts to Toronto. Hello, CTV: half the fun of a Canadian sitcom is that it's set in Canada
. Corner Gas could not take place anywhere but Saskatchewan;
Trailer Park Boys could not take place anywhere but Nova Scotia.
Schitt's Creek wants you to believe that it's set in Iowa.
What's wrong with a small town in Manitoba? Especially with all that beefcake going on.
