A Marriage Made in Comedy Heaven Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara have a storied history together as an


onscreen duo. The two first met during the early 1970s when she was a hopeful comedian/waitress at the famed Second City in Toronto, and he was in the cast of improv actors. Six months later, she joined the ensemble by replacing Gilda Radner. Eventually the two became part of the cast of characters that populated the TV showSCTV, which also featured Rick Moranis, John Candy and Martin Short, among others. They brought their A game to the show – or would that be C game, cuz you


know it was Canadian-based sketch show? Whatever the case, they embodied characters such as Lola Heatherton for O’Hara, while Levy was known to skewer celebrities with impersonations of them. And while they went their separate ways after leavingSCTV, landing on the big screen with O’Hara bringing her bravado toBeetlejuice(1988)andHome Alone (1990), and Levy landing parts in Splash (1984) and most notably as the father of a pie-loving son inAmerican Pie (1999); the two maintained their friendship. In 1996, they brought their improv chops to the world of Christopher Guest’s


Waiting For Guffman. That cinematic journey continued with 2000’sBest in Show, which had them playing married couple Cookie and Gerry Fleck, while 2003’sA Mighty Wind had them on the opposite end of the spectrum as ex-lovers. And their last big screen effort with Guest was 2006’sFor Your Consideration, marking a nine-year gap in them collaborating untilSchitt’s Creekbegan filming for Pop TV, wait for it, which is based in Canada. I’m starting to sense a theme here. There, don’t ya feel like you learned something?


A Rose by Any Other Name You could tell from viewing the very first episode of the show created by


Dan Levy and his father Eugene that it would be something special, from the cast chemistry to the whip-smart writing about a family of fish that were most definitely out of water. I mean, c’mon, Moira, shrieking that two of her wigs, Christy and Robin, couldn’t


be in the same bag because “they don’t like other!” was a very early indicator that she would go down in the pantheon of characters for the gays to love. And her love affair with wigs knows no bounds on the show, as the former soap opera actress has a spreadsheet to remember which one hangs where in the motel room where they reside. Then there is the matter of her cadence and vernacular that also makes her


such an interesting character and knowing that “gossip is the devil’s telephone” falls under the more you know category of life, really. While David doesn’t have his mother’s penchant for over-the-top attire, he


does know his way around a sweater and a perfectly timed one-liner. I have to say the aspect that I will miss the most about one of the funniest gay characters on television is his relationships with Stevie (Emily Hampshire) and Patrick (Noah Reid). Each one served as a perfect foil for him, albeit with Stevie serving as a sarcastic partner and Patrick showing the softer side of the heart that’s underneath all of those aforementioned sweaters. Seriously, he even wears them in the summertime! In my humble estimation, he and Patrick had one of the best queer relationships on television. The biggest mystery that I hope the final season will provide the answer to is


how Alexis gets her wrists to bend like that! It’s like they’re boneless or something. Somehow Murphy has made the vapid Alexis very endearing, kind of like making Kim Kardashian likable – maybe she should hire Dan Levy to write her life? It couldn’t hurt! The thing that I like about Alexis and her character arch over the last five years is that she tries, even if she fails miserably. Plus, her relationship with Ted (Dustin Milligan) provided viewers with some serious guy candy; not surprisingly he is a former model. Go ahead and google that s**t, as the kids say. You’re welcome!


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Eugene Levy had perhaps the toughest role on the show as patriarch Johnny,


the somewhat straight man to his more eccentric family, who bought the titular town for his son as a joke. While he’s the show’s more optimistic and grounded character, there is no mistaking that Levy delivers in the deadpan department. He certainly flourished with his encounters with Mayor Roland (Chris Elliott), and I will confess he is probably the character I will miss the least, as there is something skeevy about his character that I can’t put my finger on and that digit ain’t getting anywhere near him! And digit meant finger, not, you know, some other body part, you sickos!


Catch That Phrase Let’s be real if you made a drinking game around some of the characters signa-


ture catchphrases, you’d die from alcohol poisoning pretty quickly. By far, David has uttered his two signature responses of “Eww” and “Oh My God” the most, with Alexis’s calling out for her sibling with a hilarious “David!” comes in a close second. But I’d have to say my favorite quote was uttered by Alexis as a one-time throwaway line – and it’s one that I use when something is not sitting well with me – is “fun, so fun.” Another one that has slipped into my lexicon is the way Moira pronounces baby


as “babay.” Where am I going to appropriate other people’s sayings now? I mean, I could venture outside, but that’s highly overrated if you ask me.


What’s Next? With the show coming to an end soon, there will be other ways to keep in touch


with the Rose family. Dan Levy has signed a three-year deal with ABC Studios to produce and develop scripts for them, while Murphy has signed onto a new show on AMC calledKevin Can F**k Himself , where she’ll be the lead in the dark comedy that is set to turn the idea of the typical sitcom wife on its ear. Perhaps O’Hara can do a guest spot and they can have a Kevin-off. Speaking of O’Hara, she will be providing voice work for two animated efforts,


Extinct andThe Beast, Heroes of the Wildfire, and the latter is also slated as the next project for Eugene Levy.


Cut. Print. That’s a Wrap! While I understand that Dan Levy wanted to pull the plug on the show before it


wore out its welcome with audiences, it doesn’t make theSchitt’s Creek hole in me any smaller. Wait, that didn’t sound right. Take two. It will take a very special show to fill that void. Um, that’s not better. Sufficed to say, I am going to missSchitt’s Creek, especially since it’s one of those shows that got better with each passing season. Here’s hoping that come Emmy Awards time this year that the show will win a golden statue. Or maybe down the road have some sort of reunion movie. A girl can dream, can’t she? Stay tuned.


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