Stumbled onto Schitt’s Creek: Blog in the Time of Corona

Schitt’s Creek has been around for a little while but I was not aware of it until 2020. I first found out about it on a hilarious episode of ‘Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend’ with Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara. First and foremost, the show was highly recommended by Conan; I tend to treat Conan’s recommendations as commands. But the two Canadian comedy legends were also incredibly funny and likeable, talking about their common start in comedy, achieving legendary status and, of course, Schitt’s Creek. As if I weren’t already convinced, O’Hara did an impression of Moira’s accent on the show and my first thought was that this was the silliness for the sake of silliness that was currently missing from my life.

This is the show I began and finished watching within the pandemic and honestly brightened my panic fuelled days. Despite this unfortunate connotation, I only remember this show as a tonic; an alternative to gin, wine, valerian root tea and any other natural remedies I had turned to when the Guardian first published an app where you could track affected people in your area. Assuming we all consider gin a natural remedy. I cannot recommend this show enough to anyone who wants to laugh, empathise and, occasionally, cry.

The premise is relatively straightforward. An obnoxious rich family loses everything but ownership of a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. They move there, struggle to fit in, reminisce about the old days and eventually change and get changed by the people they meet. It is a simple premise, but oh is it elevated by brilliant writing. When I say the family is obnoxious, I do not say that lightly. They are hateful, snobbish, entitled, lazy, show offs and a little bit Alexis. Sorry, I meant insane. I thought I would love these characters the way I love reality show contestants that make my stomach hurl. But little did I know that this silly comedy would have such beautiful character development. Seamless. By the end of the series the characters were who they were, but better. They were never caricatures, even though they were so over the top. Which is difficult to achieve in comedy. And the supporting characters were equally lovable, with the two long-term boyfriends of the show completing two of the best romantic couples I have ever seen on television. They’re simply the best.

I also have to bring this up. This is a family show. Not only because it features a family, but also because it is created by a family. The family of Levy’s. The family of 21^st century eyebrow goals. Dan Levy and his father Eugene created the show and play father and son respectively. Respectively? I mean Eugene is and plays the father and Dan is and plays the son. They didn’t have much of a choice, really, they couldn’t be in the show without acknowledging they look so alike. Especially in terms of eyebrows. Seriously, google those eyebrows. They also have their daughter/sister on the show, whose Levy-brows are a bit more inconspicuous and you don’t immediately realise the family ties, until she is in a scene with her dad. I think Catherine O’Hara probably also counts as family, I can see Eugene Levy’s children calling her Auntie Cathy. If they don’t, I would rather not know.

And now, let me present some unconsented endorsements. My housemate, who watches TV shows with a pace taken straight from the 90’s, would have me watching this until 1 or 2am. Seasons would go by in a single day. My brother who has two small kids, a huge dog, three cats and practically no time managed to watch it all in two or three weeks. My friends who have watched everything that’s ever been produced reference David and Alexis every couple of utterances. And me, I went from following Seth Rogen on Twitter to following half of Canada for even the slightest extra glimpse into the world of Schitt’s Creek.

I have incredible excitement for this show, which is the wrong sentiment considering it is over. It is six seasons long; long enough to get you properly invested and short enough that you don’t start comparing seasons. I will reserve most of my excitement for the inevitable rewatch, but try to convince my friends to watch the show and hopefully get inspired by Alexis’ wardrobe and David’s skincare for future birthday presents.

Stumbled onto … well, people: Blog in the time of corona

Originally written for the 18^th of April 2020. Yes, I am that slow.

It has been a little over a week since I left my quarantine and entered national lockdown. After this, I am expecting to be moved to social isolation and have my mom insist that these are all different things. I don’t want to complain that things are monotonous though, there are some differences between my time in quarantine and now. I no longer text the government to take out the trash, but the dog. I traded in my pyjama pants for sweatpants. I stopped watching Greek drama and began watching Cocomelon and Baby Shark. At this point, it might be useful for me to mention that I am cohabiting with a two-year-old; otherwise, my viewing choices sounded a bit too weird. But the biggest difference is that I go out of the house; I have even been to a mini-market and a supermarket. I see neighbours, I see humans!  From afar, but it still counts.

The things that will follow are not complaints, by the way. I am very happy that people are careful about not getting themselves or others sick. It certainly makes things less stressful for this anxiety driven blogger. But social norms are different. I went to buy newspapers for my dad and during any other time, had I shown up like that, the storeowner would have called the police. He would have thought I was wearing a face mask/sunglasses duo so I wouldn’t be recognised and latex gloves so I wouldn’t leave any fingerprints. Yet, he greeted me like the customer I was. I should have robbed him; the world is becoming too gullible. He then left the newspaper on a porch outside his store, to avoid contact. He pulled back when I approached to pay with my debit card and I know it was not because I stank. I mean I did, but that was not the reason. It was a new social norm that didn’t need to be analysed any further, yet here we are. Analysing.

Walks have been more tricky than purchases, mostly because I usually have Leyla on the leash. Leyla is a gorgeous New Foundland with a heart of gold. And an appetite for dog shit. So two things happen; one, everyone wants to pet her. Two, everyone used to pet her so she is expecting royal treatment on our walks. She is a jaw dropper. People stop their cars to get a better look and say something usually stupid, usually in a squeaky voice. I don’t blame them, that is 85% of my interaction with her too. But it has been very hard stopping people from actually petting her. She has plenty of people who know her around the area and when they cross paths there is jumping and howling. And Leyla gets excited too. I will never get over the first time a friendly gentleman coughed all over her face. The same face I would later pet. Turns out he is a heavy smoker, and that is either a cigarette cough, or coronavirus has actually been around for, like, a decade. Being who I am though, we showered her in antiseptic. She thought we were petting her so it was fine and her fur is as smooth as ever. Most of her local friends we have decided to categorise as necessary risks, but anyone else is out of order. I have become Indiana Jones, but with a leash. Worst part is, walking a dog is usually a good excuse to get out of the house for a bit, get a change of scenery. However, this particular dog is even less fit than I am and that is an accomplishment considering she doesn’t have a Netflix account. So our walks finish five meters away from our front door. And then we feed her ice cubes for rehabilitation.

Social norms are different. We were face masks, we tip delivery drivers in advance, we arch our back to avoid spit molecules and move from pavement to pavement like playing Mario Kart and encountering banana peels. We have been here before so I am confident we will leave this behind again. I just want to close this post by saying that me and my housemate were doing the elbow bump when either was sick long before the rona. We deserve royalties.