Dear Gossips,

Tonight’s the night, the series finale of Schitt’s Creek. It’s been six seasons – and it’s ending now, when it’s more popular than it’s ever been. Schitt’s Creek has been namechecked by almost every celebrity you can think of. Carol Burnett mentions it on talk shows. Jennifer Lawrence is a big fan. Mariah Carey watches Schitt’s Creek. So does Paul Rudd. Pretty sure Tiffany Haddish does too. As they say, Schitt’s Creek has the range.

OK but here’s the thing, as Dan Levy said in a new interview, Schitt’s Creek was big time here in Canada before it was embraced by America. 

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing to look to America as an example as having succeeded because, to me, we succeeded when this show was a hit in Canada and this show was a hit in Canada long before it was a hit in the States.”

To be honest, even though Canadians might get mad at me for saying this, we’re not so good at that sometimes. Sometimes we don’t recognise our own until they’ve made it somewhere else. But this is not what happened with Schitt’s Creek. Schitt’s Creek might have taken a while to get going in the US but we always knew here. What’s amazing about Schitt’s Creek is that in its sixth season, when most comedies have plateaued, the momentum is only surging. According to Variety, “In the first week of March, “Schitt’s Creek” was the second-most-watched acquisition [on Netflix], behind only “The Office”. 

For some shows, then, this wouldn’t be where they call it. Probably they’d want to keep going. So how do you conclude a series at its peak? For that we go back to a common theme here at LaineyGossip, and if you’ve been visiting this site over the years, almost from the beginning, you know it’s almost our mantra – as given to us by Duana as a guide to good storytelling: 

Give them what they need, not what they want. 

Here’s how Dan explained it when asked about what fans can expect from tonight’s finale: 

“This season has been the only time we’ve taken fan expectations into consideration. So, when we started, we looked at what fans might be expecting and tried to tick off as much as we could. We wanted to give them what they wanted, but also what they might not know that they need. I think that’s been the key to all the series finales that I’ve loved in the past.”

The Schitt’s Creek series finale is tonight on CBC in Canada and Pop in the US at 8pm immediately followed by a one hour farewell documentary called Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: A Schitt’s Creek Farewell. 

If you’ve never watched Schitt’s Creek, well, maybe you have the time right now? Exactly the kind of content you need right now in these f-cked up times. It’s not complicated: Schitt’s Creek is about love. All previous seasons are available on Netflix. This is how you should spend your time. To borrow from Alexis, I love that journey for you. 

Yours in gossip,

Lainey