In this video grab captured on Sept. 20, 2020, courtesy of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and ABC Entertainment, Eugene and Daniel Levy accept the award for Outstanding Comedy Series for Schitt's Creek, during the 72nd Emmy Awards broadcast.The Associated Press
Canadian television producer Mark Montefiore says the historic Emmys sweep by Schitt’s Creek has “blown the doors wide open” on the possibilities for the next generation of homegrown TV creators.
The Letterkenny executive producer watched last weekend as the beloved comedy scooped up one Emmy after another, ultimately pulling in nine trophies this year.
The tally was a record for the most wins in a single season for a comedy, and Montefiore said it sent a clear message to the global entertainment industry: Canada’s hit shows can play in the big leagues.
“I don’t think Canada can ever be second-guessed the way it might’ve been in the past,” he added, comparing the Schitt’s Creek creators taking home armfuls of awards to other treasured Canadian achievements.
“It’s like Drake hitting No. 1 on Billboard; it’s the Raptors winning the World Championship; it’s the Blue Jays winning the World Series; the Canadiens winning the Stanley Cup.”
Of course, Schitt’s Creek is hardly the first Canadian comedy to find success stateside.
Sketch comedy shows SCTV Network and Kids in the Hall both left significant marks on pop culture in their heydays on U.S. television, for instance.
But Montefiore said in the age of streaming entertainment, the path a show takes to attract mass viewership is less linear.
His show Letterkenny carved its own niche in the Canadian market through Crave before signing a deal stateside with Hulu, which exposed the series to a whole new audience, attracting fans that include Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.
“In the past, there was always a chance you could get something out of Canada that would be a success,” he said.
“But now those successes are coming more frequently, more aggressively and more impactfully.”
Seeing the cast of Schitt’s Creek build a massive hit from Canada was inspiring to Tim Long, who grew up in Exeter, Ont., before moving to Los Angeles several decades ago to work on the Late Show with David Letterman and write for The Simpsons.
“When I started my career I felt like, ‘everything’s happening in America, so I guess I’ve got to go there,’” he said. “I’m glad I did that, but at the same time, it’s completely different now.”
Long is currently developing Cottage Country, a comedy series about a divorced Toronto couple who head to Muskoka’s great outdoors to sell off their final piece of their marriage – their dilapidated cottage that’s been overtaken by local kids who are using it as their “beer shack.”
“It’s very much in an embryonic stage,” he said of the concept, which is in development in with Toronto-based Elevation Pictures.
“If the show succeeds, and I think it will, we will definitely be standing on the shoulders of Schitt’s Creek.”
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