Top Ten Schitt’s Creek Characters

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Top Ten Schitt’s Creek Characters

The main reason why Schitt’s Creek is one of my favorite comedy shows lies in its characters. The character development in this show is simply terrific as characters grow and become better people throughout the show’s run, and all of that progress felt nuanced and believable. The acting is also uniformly stellar. You come to care for these people, which is why saying goodbye proves to be so difficult. With all that said and done, the show has a small amount of important characters overall, so this is my fairly easy ranking of them.

10. Jocelyn

At first, Jocelyn and her husband felt like redneck stereotypes, but later on you come to really appreciate them as they are such great people. Jocelyn is this somewhat ditzy housewife and teacher who can be quite amusing at times, especially when interacting with Moira. Their relationship blossomed into a genuine friendship.

9. Roland

Stereotypically crude and dumb, but still kind of clever, Roland’s jokes can become repetitive, but still him messing with Johnny throughout the show’s run provided consistent source of humor that never exhausted. The fact that he genuinely cares for him and he stuck out for him countless times makes their friendship truly priceless.

8. Ronnie

The same that applies to the above two also applies to Ronnie. Her consistent bitchiness and sarcastic remarks could prove to be too much at first, but later on she did receive a softer side. Her lines are constantly very well delivered and on-point while her rivalry with Patrick was particularly entertaining to follow.

7. Twyla

I know that many would find Twyla’s placement so high on the list questionable, but to me she deserves it, and I’ll explain why. Although at first I found her overly good-natured, I came to love her later down the line as she’s a genuinely awesome, wonderful person difficult not to love. The twist that she won a lottery, but still chose a simpler life made her an admirable person anyone could aspire to become. Her friendship with Alexis was emotionally rewarding and so powerful.

6. Stevie

I actually found Stevie much cooler during the first season than later on, but it was still essential to make her softer and more approachable to make her closer to the family. Her at first sexual, then purely friendly relationship with David was beautiful, and she was so important for his evolution and acclimation to this town. But her business relationship with Johnny was also wonderful as it was full of reciprocal respect. Individually, she is amazing with her deadpan attitude and genuinely relatable with her messy life and honest thoughts about anyone.

5. Patrick

Although much less fun than David, Patrick is much more believable as this regular, good-natured guy who just wants happiness and a meaningful relationship out of life. It was a great choice to portray two very different gay men – David being effeminate and campy, and Patrick being a regular guy into sports etc. That made them very different, resulting in excellent, comedic interactions throughout the show’s run. They remain one of the best gay male couples in history and the heart of Schitt’s Creek in my book. I especially respected his very suave attitude, evident in his chasing David that was both cute and admirable.

4. Johnny

Although he is the least interesting among The Roses, Johnny is the pillar of the family, the patriarch and the provider. Although excessively obsessed with business in a stereotypically Jewish manner, his business endeavors with Stevie (and also Roland amusingly so) were mostly a lot of fun. I found his continual eager optimism infectious and inspirational even. He is a great father in my opinion while also being a genuinely terrific husband as his marriage with Moira is admirably respectful, playful and wonderfully devoid of drama and major problems.

3. Moira

Speaking of Moira, I know that some would rank her higher, and she would deserve it judging on Catherine O’Hara’s remarkable performance alone, but I personally found her development lesser in comparison to others as, at the end of the day, she still remained very arrogant and quite selfish. But that made her hilarious through and through. Being by far the funniest character on the show, she sold all of her scenes with panache. Whether she was obsessing over Bosnia or her Crows movie or anything in-between, she was consistently hilarious in her camp and vanity.

2. Alexis

Along with David, Alexis changed the most throughout Schitt’s Creek’s run. At first very selfish, unlikable and genuinely horrible at times, she progressed, learned a lot from others and became a good person as a result. Her relationship with Ted was moving and he changed her for the better, and so did her friendship with Twyla. She is stupendously performed by Annie Murphy. Alexis is this ditzy, but surprisingly resourceful person. Her constant coolness when faced with tribulations was very memorable as were the allusions to her past dangerous life. Her sibling bickering with David was also fun to follow.

1. David

Yes, probably the most obvious choice for the number one, David just is the quintessential Schitt’s Creek character, the one that is the heart and soul of the whole show. Stupendously portrayed by Dan Levy, David also was quite unlikable, selfish, spoiled and silly in the first couple of seasons, but then he met Patrick and he became this genuinely good human being. His romance with Patrick is the show’s beating heart and the two get many of the best, most iconic moments here. However, individually speaking, he is also fantastic. Always melodramatic and having a knack for crazy, idiosyncratic clothing, David is the most memorable, most complex and ultimately best character on this beautiful show.

Honorable Mention:

Ted – I did not care much for Bob, so this sole honorable mention belongs to Ted. He is overly good-hearted and somewhat one-note, but still a wonderful boyfriend for Alexis. It was genuinely sad seeing their relationship end mostly because he was so sweet.

You can get the first two seasons of Schitt’s Creek on Amazon.