Dan Levy - 2021 Gotham Awards, NYC
The ending of Schitt's Creek left fans devastated, to say the least.
The show's sixth season culminated in an equally heart-warming and gut-wrenching finale that saw our beloved Johnny, Moira, David, Alexis moving into the next phases of their lives. Many people mourned the show's conclusion hard, begging its creators for more seasons, but creator Dan Levy was adamant.
"The reason we ended the show in the first place was because I never wanted it to get stale," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "I never wanted to overstay our welcome. I wanted this show to have a legacy that people return to. I wanted it to be included in conversations about great series and not just a great season. And that requires making tough decisions about saying goodbye."
Levy went on to say that he hoped to work on other projects; and since the conclusion of Schitt's Creek, he's had a few major gigs — a stint hosting SNL and a scene-stealing performance in the queer Christmas movie Happiest Season, to name a few. But it seems that despite his success, he hasn't been able to forget the fictional small town that made him a superstar.
On August 5, Levy announced that he and his father, Eugene Levy (who of course played the unforgettable Johnny Rose), are releasing a book called Best Wishes, Warmest Regards. The book shares its title with the tear-inducing Schitt's Creek documentary on Netflix. According to Jamie Colman, and it promises to capture the "essence and alchemy of all six seasons," including "the town, the characters, and the state of mind that is Schitt's Creek."
With its blend of dark, macabre humor and absurdist slapstick comedy, Schitt's Creek was a portal out of the COVID-19 pandemic for so many families. "The show has established a position as the kind of escapist television that we've needed in tumultuous times," said Colman. "To enter the world of Schitt's Creek is to escape to somewhere you don't want to leave and for so many viewers, the series finishing left them bereft."
But, he promised, the book would be a journey back into the warm, absurdist realm of the strange little town that brought so many of us so much joy in a dark year. "Reading Best Wishes, Warmest Regards is like taking a trip back to the Rosebud Motel with the cast as your guide, a feel-good journey back to the creek that we all need," he said.
The 368-page book will offer a look behind the scenes of the series and will feature character profiles of some of the show's most beloved stars. It also includes a complete guide to Moira Rose's rather unique vocabulary and her magnificent collection of wigs, as well as a rundown of Alexis's wild globe-trotting adventures. It will also feature key moments from the series, such as David and Patrick's first kiss, the Rose family Christmas, and of course, the iconic performance of Cabaret.
The book won't be the same as another season, but it'll certainly be a walk down memory lane through the chaos and escapism of one of the best comedies of the past decade. It's hard to pin down exactly what made the show so magical — its iconic characters, its perfect casting, its nonchalant acceptance of David's queerness, its bombastic fashion choices, and its magnificently absurdist humor certainly helped. The fact that it became popular at a time when, just like the Roses, many people were trapped at home with their families after experiencing a massive interruption in their daily lives, also probably helped. But regardless, we'll always be grateful for David, Moira, and the rest of those icons.
Fortunately, it is possible that another season might be on the way. "I don't even doubt. I wouldn't put it past him for a second," said Sarah Levy, Dan Levy's sister who played waitress Twyla on the show. "I think we'd all just drop every project we were on just to get a chance to work together again. We just love each other so much and have kind of experienced this just incredible experience over the past six years together, seeing how the show has really taken off and affected so many people around the world," she said. And I think through that, we're all kind of tied together forever in a way, but we would in a heartbeat do it."
Levy himself has also cautiously teased a potential movie. "I hope eventually," he told Town & Country. "Listen, I love everybody so much. I love Annie, even for hinting at that. We had such a great time making the show and I think if the idea is right, I would love to explore what a movie could look like. But I don't have that idea yet. I'm still searching for it. So, my fingers are crossed, but I also think you need to give people a little time to miss you. So, I'm taking some time and we'll see what happens in the next couple of years, but my fingers are tightly crossed."
So our ours, Dan, but until then we'll be memorizing every word of Moira Rose's splendacious vocabulary and dreaming of the day when we can stay in a Rosebud motel of our very own.
Best Wishes, Warmest Regards is available for pre-order from most major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.
