‘Schitt’s Creek’ Fans Have the Kardashians to Thank for the Iconic Show
Schitt’s Creek might have gone off the air in early 2020, but the series remains wildly popular with fans of all ages while attracting new viewers at the same time. The show, while ostensibly a comedy, featured everything from serious drama to heartfelt emotions between family members—and that is likely why it received such massive critical acclaim. Schitt’s Creek was created by Dan Levy, who also starred in the show as David Rose. In a 2015 interview, Levy revealed his unlikely inspiration for Schitt’s Creek, an inspiration that would likely surprise many of the show’s diehard fans.
‘Schitt’s Creek’ tells the story of the privileged Rose family
Schitt’s Creek ran from 2015 to 2020, the brainchild of Eugene and Dan Levy. The series focuses on the wealthy Rose family, who lose all their money and are forced to relocate to the rural community of Schitt’s Creek. Although the Rose family, which consists of Johnny, Moira, David, and Alexis Rose, all struggle with their new circumstances, they eventually find love and acceptance in the town – and manage to grow closer to each other at the same time.
Although Schitt’s Creek is laugh-out-loud funny, many fans love the series for the way it portrays the dynamic in a dysfunctional yet loving family. As it turns out, the show’s creator based the Rose family on another very well-known TV dynasty.
What did Dan Levy say about basing ‘Schitt’s Creek’ on the Kardashians?
Dan Levy admitted in a 2015 interview with Out that he took some inspiration for the Rose family from the Kardashians. As reported by Insider, Levy said “It really just started with me being in Los Angeles, knowing that I wanted to write. I had been watching some reality TV at the time and was concentrating on what would happen if one of these wealthy families would lose everything.”
Levy went on to muse: “Would the Kardashians still be the Kardashians without their money?” The stroke of creative genius propelled Levy to write the treatment for what would become Schitt’s Creek – and the rest is history. The show debuted on TV in 2015, but it wasn’t until 2017, when the series started streaming on Netflix, that it really became a pop-culture mainstay.
Annie Murphy admitted to basing Alexis on reality TV stars
Dan Levy wasn’t the only Schitt’s Creek star to have been influenced by the Kardashian family. Insider notes that Annie Murphy, who played the rebellious and preppy Alexis Rose, was heavily influenced by the reality TV stars of the early 2000s – stars such as Kim and Kourtney Kardashian. Murphy revealed in a 2018 interview that she really wanted to nail the “nasty old vocal fry” that is so closely associated with California-girl culture.
“I popped my eyelids open with toothpicks and watched and watched and watched,” she said. “It’s a level of comedy where it’s so beautifully unnatural, and I had to bring that fry to the character.” In another interview two years later, Murphy called out celebrities like Paris Hilton as having provided inspiration for Alexis Rose’s unique mannerisms: “I stole a bunch of stuff from them, which I am so grateful for — the vocal fry and the [holds out her hand]. I noticed they all carried their handbag like this,” she said. “One late night I was like, ‘What if there was no handbag?'” In the end, it was an amalgam of influences and talents that brought Schitt’s Creek to life – and certainly, fans everywhere are fond of the creative process that imbued the comedy series with such joy.
