103 surprising facts, easter eggs and trivia that every Schitt's Creek fan should know
Aruna Dutt | CBC Comedy | Posted: March 2, 2020 12:00 PM | Last Updated: March 2, 2020
It's been a wild ride for Schitt's Creek since it premiered on CBC on January 13, 2015. Over the years since, it's been discovered far and wide, stealing the hearts of viewers from the United States to Malaysia to a staggering number of places in between.
The show is now an 18-time Canadian Screen Award winner, a four-time Emmy nominee, has twice been nominated for a Critics' Choice Award for best comedy series and has garnered glowing reviews from media around the world. This month, it pulled in a record-breaking 26 Canadian Screen Award 2020 nominations.
So, as we savour every moment of the show's sixth and final season (you can watch the entire series for free here on CBC Gem) we've put together the ultimate Schitt's Creek fun facts list. Enjoy 103 of the most juicy, strange and fun stories from the world of Schitt's Creek.
Updated: Since publishing this, Schitt's Creek has won nine Emmy's.
1. What was the inspiration behind Schitt's Creek?
After their business manager steals their family fortune, the wealthy Rose family moves to the town of Schitt's Creek, which they once bought as a joke. Dan Levy was watching Keeping up with the Kardashians when the notion of them losing all their wealth led him to visualise the concept for Schitt's Creek; the show explores what would happen if the riches and glamour disappeared. It was also inspired by the time actress Kim Basinger bought a small town in Georgia in 1989.
2. Camp Schitt's.
Because the entire cast and crew came together to create the show during the spring and summer, they referred to the production period as "Camp Schitt's," said Dan Levy.
3. The Rose Mansion.
The mansion scenes in the first episode and the holiday special flashback were shot in a Toronto mansion at Bayview and York Mills. The architecture was inspired by the Sistine Chapel. The house is no longer used for location shooting.
4. The CBC set up a promotional Twitter account for fictional streamer Interflix.
In the season six premiere, Moira Rose learns that the streaming platform, Interflix rescued her movie The Crows Have Eyes 3: The Crowening. Her long-awaited debut as Dr. Clara Mandrake is finally here. Watch the trailer and follow for updates!
It's going to be a very hip horror movie! - Catherine O'Hara on The Crowening
5. Chris Elliott wears a prosthetic beer belly while playing Roland Schitt, starting in the second season.
6. Emily Hampshire appeared in a 2020 Super Bowl commercial.
Hampshire took one of Stevie's shirts to set and it's in the laundry basket shown in the commercial.
7. Catherine O'Hara gave Emily Hampshire advice for playing drunk in a movie.
When they were in a movie together, The Life Before This, Catherine's advice to Emily was to spin around before you take a step to walk, which will give you a drunken stagger.
8. None of the books being read by characters on the show are real.
Some of them are even loosely related to a current story line.
9. Noah Reid's acoustic cover of "The Best" became a Top 10 single on the iTunes Canada chart.
After the airing of Season Four episode "Open Mic" in 2018, Noah Reid's performance of "The Best" (made most-famous by Tina Turner) gained attention and topped charts. As of today, it has over 5 million streams on Spotify alone. Noah Reid says he was terrified of social media, but after that, it made him enjoy the experience.
10. A Twitter easter egg:
The first word of every tweet posted by @SchittsCreek from April 23-Jun 5, 2019 spells out the entire lyrics to "The Best."
11. When Noah was preparing his acoustic version of "The Best"...
He recorded nine takes before being happy enough to send one to Dan for his approval.
This song means quite a bit to me, so don't f*ck this up. - Dan Levy to Noah Reid on his cover performance of Tina Turner's song "Simply The Best.
12. Schitt's Creek goes on tour:
Unlike most television shows, the cast goes on tour to do fan events, during which they talk about the show, quiz audience members and thank them for their support. The show, Up Close & Personal, normally features a performance from Noah Reid. It's interesting to see audience members dress up as their favourite characters!
13. The show turned the convention of making fun of small towns on its head.
Schitt's treats the romance between David (an out pansexual) and his fiancé Patrick like any other romantic storyline, from the time they first meet in the third season. Unlike many other LGBTQ+ relationships on TV, David and Patrick aren't confronted with homophobia.
14. Where did David and Patrick get engaged?
The hike featured in the engagement episode, "The Hike" in Season 5, is at Rattlesnake Point, a conservation area just outside of Toronto with breathtaking lookouts and towering cliffs.
15. Dan Levy had to do retakes of the piggy-back with Noah Reid nearly 15 times.
They even waded through poison ivy.
16. There's a Tumblr devoted to Moira's vocabulary:
Moira's love of unusual words and phrases like "pettifogging" and "frippet" is always entertaining. Take a look at Schitt Moira Says. New York Magazine/Vulture put together a mashup of Moira's funny phrases from the show:
17. Annie Murphy watched reality TV to master Alexis' vocal fry.
Murphy admitted to Vulture that reality TV helped her learn Alexis' tone and accent. Murphy herself is not much of a reality-TV fan: "It's a level of comedy where it's so beautifully unnatural and I had to bring that fry to the character."
18. We don't see the actual creek of Schitt's Creek until the first episode of Season 6.
19. Debra Hanson is the show's award-winning costume designer.
Hanson works closely with Dan Levy to source costumes and work on fittings that don't break the budget, and many of their finds come from thrift stores and online sales. Levy spent months tracking down this faux-horse-mane Helmut Lang hoodie in Season 2. He found it on eBay.
Hanson was honoured for her work by the Costume Designers Guild of America, specifically for the Season 5 episode, "The Dress."
20. Moira's aesthetic is based on Daphne Guinness.
When first exploring the aesthetic of her character, Catherine brought in a picture of Daphne Guinness — fashionista, designer and descendant of the Guinness family, who made their fortune in brewing.
We needed to make the family stand out. And for me, the wardrobe was what was going to do it!
- Dan Levy on visualising the fashion for the Rose family.
21. There are more than 3,500 CBC Schitt's Creek GIFs.
And way more to come. Stay up to date on the latest GIFs here.
22. Martin Short's brother Michael is one of the writers on Schitt's Creek.
23. Why does Catherine O'Hara's character Moira Rose wear so many wigs?
Moira Rose has worn more than 100 wigs on Schitt's Creek, and counting. O'Hara told Toronto Life she was inspired by a woman she knew who would disappear from dinner at her home and come back with a different wig on, singing, "Hi, look what I've got!"
24. Who chooses Moira Rose's wigs?
Dan and Catherine, along with Ana Sorys, who has been a hair stylist on the show since 2015. She does Catherine O'Hara's hair.
Sorys was also the hairstylist on The Great Canadian Baking Show Season 2 for both show hosts — Dan, and Julia Chan.
25. Ana Sorys once found a full Anime Sailor-Moon-style wig.
The navy blue wig with two pigtails never ended up being used, so Dan Levy kept it for his own "personal role playing."
26. Alexis only says "ew, David" three times on the show.
"Ew, David!" — the iconic line that fans love, was only said a few times in the show, and it stuck. Conversely, she said "David" 224 times over the first five seasons.
27. It's a family production.
Father-and-son team Eugene and Dan Levy founded their own production company, Not a Real Company Productions, in order to produce Schitt's Creek. Eugene Levy plays Johnny, his son Dan Levy plays David, and his daughter Sarah Levy plays Twyla, a waitress at the town diner. Fred Levy (Eugene Levy's brother, Dan Levy's uncle) is also a producer of Schitt's Creek.
28. Dan Levy had fun with his father's story lines.
In Season 1's "The Drip", Johnny is awakened by a motel-room drip over his head — which Dan knew would be a trying test for his father, who is sensitive about getting his hair wet.
29. Eugene Levy's dedication to set the scene amazed everyone on set in Season 6.
For the creek scene in the episode "Smoke Signals", Eugene Levy (Johnny Rose) insisted that he gets completely wet from head to toe, even though Dan suggested that it wasn't necessary to imply that he submerged himself in the creek.
He looked like James Bond when he came out of the water. - Emily Hampshire
30. 30 towns were scouted…
To be the filming location of Schitt's Creek.
31. The small town chosen to be the set of Schitt's Creek is Goodwood, Ontario.
It has a population of 663 people. The Schitt's Creek fan convention known as SchittCon brought hundreds to the small town of Goodwood. The 2020 event is almost sold out with close to 200 delegates.
32. The town of Goodwood changed the name of their Lion's Club for the summer.
From the "Goodwood Lions" to the "Schitt's Creek Lions."
33. Goodwood's baseball team also changed its name to honour the show.
The amateur team switched from the Goodwood Bears to the Schitt's Creek Bears.
34. Eugene Levy and Noah Reid are avid Blue Jays fans.
Eugene went as far as streaming a game on his iPad during a 2015 promotional shoot, when interest in the team was super-high.
35. Each cast member that played in the softball game has their own softball card.
36. The inspiration for the softball episode came from...
When Noah invited Dan to join his softball team for a game and Dan did surprisingly well.
37. Dan Levy had to dive into home plate around 100 times while filming the softball episode.
The editors made a running montage of his falls as a running joke amongst the cast and crew!
38. Catherine admitted that she cried during every take while filming Noah's performance of "The Best."
39. Cameron Crowe, renowned Hollywood director/writer (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous)...
Contacted Dan on social media complimenting him on the way the romantic moments were written on Schitt's Creek.
40. Dan Levy's first solo-directed episode.
The creator, writer, and actor co-directed two episodes with Andrew Cividino before helming "Smoke Signals", the season premiere of Season 6, solo.
41. Annie Murphy and Dan Levy got into an argument on set about fast-food pizza.
Dan ordered five different pizzas and made the cast taste-test each to decide which is the best.
It feels like we've been married for 75 years. Or I would've been his mom in the past.
- Annie Murphy on her chemistry with Dan Levy as siblings who know how to push each other's buttons.
42. Alexis's iconic hand gesture was inspired by the way the Kardashians hold their handbags.
She simply did it without one.
43. Filming could get messy.
Tim Rozon, who plays the character of Mutt, had his beard dyed for an exterior shoot in Season 1. During the scene where they kiss in the rain, Annie Murphy got his hair dye all over her face during the first take.
44. The time Catherine laughed the hardest on set…
Was when filming the scene when David and Moira are selling Allez-Vous makeup and David has bronzer all over his face.
45. Robin Duke (who plays Wendy Kurtz) and Catherine O'Hara were best friends in high school.
46. Dan Levy, like his character, is also terrified of moths (and any bugs, really).
47. Three women that Dan Levy idolises are Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé.
In a heartfelt moment on the show, Patrick opens up to David about his feelings for him, and tells him, "You're my Mariah Carey."
Levy tweeted this scene of the show with the caption, "Never thought this line would see the light of day." Soon after, Mariah Carey saw the tweet and responded. Mariah Carey's tweet made Dan scream and cry with emotion as it was one the highest points of his life.
48. Schitt's Creek fans left five star Google reviews for the Rosebud Motel.
In honour of the final season, fans payed tribute to the fictional landmark.
49. Dan Levy made a Pinterest board to inspire the set design.
The Schitt's Creek set was inspired by real motels from the 1950s and '60s, and antique shop finds.
50. Before Schitt's moved into the Rosebud Motel…
It was being used as a dormitory for a basketball camp.
The cast before Schitt's Creek
The dynamic duo:
51. Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy first met in the 1970s at Second City improv theatre in Toronto and appeared together on Second City Television (a.k.a. SCTV).
With cast-members John Candy, Rick Moranis, Martin Short, Joe Flaherty, Harold Ramis, Andrea Martin, and Dave Thomas, SCTV ran from 1976 to 1984. In 2018, the cast reunited at Toronto's Elgin Theatre to shoot a panel discussion for an upcoming Netflix-produced documentary directed by Martin Scorsese.
52. Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara have a long history of acting side-by-side.
They starred as a couple of porcupines in the animated movie Over the Hedge (2006), as husband and wife in Best in Show (2000), and singing partners in the movie A Mighty Wind (2003).
Catherine O'Hara...
53. Has always taken life "one day at a time."
Throughout her career, it seems she never really planned the next step.
54. On SCTV, Catherine O'Hara took on many well-known personas:
Lucille Ball, Tammy Faye Bakker, Katharine Hepburn, to name a few.
55. O'Hara played Delia Deetz in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice.
Her Schitt's character, Moira Rose frequently wears black and white stripes as a nod to the character.
56. "KEVIN!"
Catherine O'Hara played the mother who left young Macaulay Culkin alone in Home Alone (1990) and its sequel Home Alone 2 (1992).
Eugene Levy...
57. Gave important sexual education tips as the father of Jason Biggs's character in the American Pie films.
58. And was in Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory.
Eugene Levy is the voice of Dory's dad, Charlie.
59. Emily Hampshire…
Played Jennifer Goines on Syfy Network's adaptation of 12 Monkeys, and Angelina in the 1998 romantic comedy Boy Meets Girl.
60. Dan Levy was an extra in a Kelly Clarkson music video.
Levy Tweeted, "it remains the single greatest moment of my professional career," and Kelly Clarkson gave a shoutout.
61. Noah Reid was a child actor.
62. "I remember putting Skittles in my Smirnoff Ice." - Annie Murphy
Here's what Annie and Noah were like as teenagers:
63. Chris Elliott, who plays Roland Schitt, had recurring appearances on these U.S. TV shows:
How I Met Your Mother, Law & Order SVU, and comedy sketches on the Late Show with David Letterman.
64. The wig Chris Elliott uses in Season 1...
Is the same wig he used in the 1994 movie Cabin Boy.
65. A funny story from when the cast was first on location:
One of the security guards who claimed to be a huge Chris Elliott fan quizzed Chris Elliott about all of his roles without figuring out that he was actually quizzing Chris Elliott himself.
66. The Rosebud motel was also featured on the Netflix show Umbrella Academy.
The motel's real name: Hockley Valley Retreat.
67. Eugene and Dan guest-hosted Ellen.
In January 2020, they welcomed co-stars Catherine and Annie as guests and played a hidden-camera prank on Annie.
68. Bob's leather suit.
Bob wore a 45-pound suit in the episode "The Job Interview."
69. Daniel Levy co-hosted the first two seasons of the cooking competition The Great Canadian Baking Show.
Levy teamed up with Julia Chan, who guest starred in the Season 3 episode "New Car."
70. A critically reviewed, limited reality series.
Alexis Rose's reality series "A Little Bit Alexis" was first mentioned in Dan and Eugene Levy's original description of Annie Murphy's character, years before her performance of the fictional theme in Season 5.
71. "A Little Bit Alexis" dance moves.
Annie Murphy choreographed Alexis's dance moves based on videos by Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. "A Little Bit Alexis" also charted on iTunes Canada. You can stream the song here.
72. Kelly Clarkson joined Annie Murphy...
To perform "A Little Bit Alexis" on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
73. Schitt's Creek fans celebrated creator Dan Levy's birthday with a fundraiser for LGBT Youth Line in Ontario.
They raised over $20,000.
74. Canadian designers loaned some amazing clothes to be featured on the show.
Items designed by the likes of Jeremy Laing and Pink Tartan were worn by Catherine O'Hara and Annie Murphy. (Dan gave a shoutout to Jeremy during the Schitt's Creek Premiere Event in 2015.)
75. Life is a Cabaret:
There was an actual audience of 150 people who watched the cast perform "Cabaret."
76. After the actual dance rehearsals for Season Five's Cabaret…
Dan sent Noah and Emily to get IV drips so that they could regain their energy.
77. Emily Hampshire's dream role was always to play Sally Bowles in Cabaret.
78. Annie Murphy also auditioned for...
Emily Hampshire's role of Stevie Budd.
79. Dan Levy drank a bottle of Prosecco before his performance of "The Best" in the episode "The Olive Branch."
80. All leaflets, pamphlets, cards and posters were created specifically for the set by the show's graphics department.
81. Dan Levy's dog, Redmond is the logo on bottles of Man's Best, a beer that appears often in the show.
Redmond was four years old when Levy adopted him.
82. The "Roadkill" episode was inspired by a childhood experience of Eugene's.
When he was a school-boy, Eugene found his friend's cat dead on the sidewalk. He lifted the dead cat, took it to his friend's doorstep and handed it over to him.
83. While some Schitt's fans express their love with Halloween costumes...
Halloween 2019 was taken over by over 500 Schitt's Creek costumes.
84. Other fans express their love with permanent ink.
85. Paul Rudd is a huge fan of the show.
Watch him rave about Catherine O'Hara.
86. Speaking of name-drops, there are over 50 on Schitt's Creek.
Name-dropping is a regular occurrence on the show.
87. The Family Portrait.
This portrait was also in the background during the holiday special's second flashback sequence where Johnny and Moira are catching up after the party. It made its first appearance in the series way back in the premiere episode, and then re-appeared in Season Three to remind them of what their life used to be like. Many fans speculate that the portrait wouldn't have fit through the motel door, but diagonally it did!
88. The misadventures of Alexis Rose.
Alexis talks about the glamorous and dangerous happenings of her previous wealthy life in almost every episode. Here are 42 of her misadventures from seasons 1-5: from Gwyneth Paltrow's compost gift exchange, to playing billiards to free her friend from a Ugandan diamond smuggler.
89. Catherine O'Hara arranged the music for "The Number" in the holiday special.
In Season Four's "Asbestos Fest", David suggests that he and Moira perform "The Number." We get to see them belting out the medley of Christmas songs in the holiday episode, "Merry Christmas, Johnny Rose."
90. Paul Shaffer was in the Schitt's Creek holiday episode.
David Letterman's former musical director, Paul Shaffer, appeared as the piano-man accompanying Moira and David at the top of the episode. Back in 1972, Eugene Levy was a cast member of Godspell in Toronto (which also starred Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, Gilda Radner and Victor Garber). Shaffer was the production's musical director.
91. It was Catherine's idea...
To have a false eyelash stuck on her forehead when she woke up and found herself in Roland's bed in "The Affair."
92. On the final day of shooting Season Six, Eugene Levy gave Dan Levy a framed photo of the two of them together.
On it, he wrote "Daniel, it was an honour being your partner, son. Dad xo."
93. Saying goodbye to the show:
The cast each snagged a few things from the sets. Eugene Levy took a few of the "family portraits," O'Hara took a few of Moira's iconic outfits, Murphy picked up a few props (including Alexis's "pubic relations" diploma), and Dan Levy took home the framed Rose Apothecary receipt that Patrick gave David on their first date.
94. Some of the top pet names of 2019 were Schitt's Creek-inspired.
Popular dog names: David, Johnny, and Stevie
Popular cat names: Moira and Alexis
95. The first scene Dustin Milligan (Ted) shot was tending to David and his panic attack.
96. Eugene Levy is a man of many musical talents.
He can sing, play the mouth trombone and he grew up playing the accordion.
97. Moira has never actually said the name of the town on the show.
98. The menu at Café Tropical was custom made to be "comically large."
It has around 150 items on it.
"They needed to be so big that no one person could open them on their own," says Dan Levy.
99. Chris Elliott doesn't mind eating for coverage.
He ate over 24 ribs during coverage of the party scene, at least four hamburgers for coverage in the diner scene, and at least a half-dozen eggs over three takes of another scene in the diner.
100. In the episode "Maid of Honour"...
Dan Levy made Emily Hampshire do retakes of her running out in the flight attendant's uniform nearly 20 times because he found it extremely funny to see the Stevie character dressed so differently.
101. Annie had to take off her shoes before kissing Noah in the "Housewarming" episode...
To try and equal his height. In the same vein, Dustin stood on a box in the Season Four episode "Singles Week" so Annie wouldn't be too tall.
102. Dustin Milligan loves using puns in his everyday life.
The writers incorporated his punny-ness into Ted's dialogue on the show.
103. Schitt's Creek fans in at least 29 states and provinces around North America have taken their love to a new level.
They've registered new license plates with some variation of "ew, David." You can see map updates here.