The Three People You Meet When You Don’t Like ‘Schitt’s Creek’

Tressie McMillan Cottom
4 min readOct 11, 2020
Lovely people, forgettable show.

Schitt’s Creek is not good. Let’s get that out of the way. Some of the performances may be lovely, but the show is not good. I am qualified to say this for two reasons.

One, I watch bad content to the point of obsession: Hallmark Movies, Murder She Wrote, C-List Netflix series, and the entire back catalog of Hart to Hart. I know bad television.

Two, I am more than familiar with the Schitt’s Creek genre and especially its stars. I watch Best In Show three times a month, more if it has been a particularly crappy month. Waiting for Guffman is my weighted blanket. It soothes me. I can recite entire scenes of What We Do In The Shadows, while drunk and sleep-deprived. Catherine O’Hara is basically Vivian, if she was Canadian. I want to marry Eugene Levy’s Mitch Cohen. I know the genre. I am the genre. I should love this show.

Despite being the audience for this show and having the world’s worst taste in popular culture, I do not like Schitt’s Creek. I am not confused about what Schitt’s Creek is. I’m not missing some vital piece of information about the show. I get it. I simply do not like it.

I make that distinction because when you do not like Schitt’s Creek, you are met on your journey into hell by three spirits. Each one is lying to you about how good Schitt’s

--

--

Tressie McMillan Cottom

Sociologist. Writer. Professor. MacArthur Fellow. Books, speaking, podcast: www.tressiemc.com