Dan Levy On The Comedic Alchemy Behind Schitt's Creek
New York magazine|January 21, 2019

Dan Levy is the star, creator, showrunner, and helicopter parent of Schitt’s Creek, the biggest little show on television.

E. Alex Jung
Dan Levy On The Comedic Alchemy Behind Schitt's Creek

Here’s what I think we should do,” says Dan Levy, fingering a rack of Balenciaga at L.A.’s freshly opened Dover Street Market. He gives me a glance I’m familiar with, amused and slightly conspiratorial, his lips curling like a scroll. It’s a restrained version of the unbridled facial reactions he delivers as his character, David Rose, on Schitt’s Creek, the sitcom he co-created with his father, SCTV legend and American Pie regular Eugene Levy. Or the look he gave Larry King when the octogenarian host asked him to explain pan sexuality on TV.

“I say we do just a full fashion look,” Levy continues. “Label whore–y.” He pulls on an oversize matte-gray Balenciaga hoodie and a pair of black Vetements sweatpants. Total retail price: about $1,730 before sales tax.

“David would wear these sweatpants for sure. Just letting people know that you have money,” he says, considering himself in the dressing-room mirror. Buying the outfit is wholly unrealistic, though, both for the show’s budget (“Fourteen episodes of our show is comparable to what one single episode of a larger, bigger-budget blockbuster show costs,” says Levy) and because it’s not period appropriate, so back to the rack it goes.

The story of Schitt’s Creek revolves around the members of the Rose family— the father, Johnny (played by the elder Levy); the mother, Moira (Catherine O’Hara); and their two kids, Alexis (Annie Murphy) and David—who find themselves bamboozled and bankrupt, all of their assets repossessed save for their considerable wardrobes and a small town called Schitt’s Creek that David’s parents once bought him as a gag gift.

This story is from the January 21, 2019 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the January 21, 2019 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINEView All
Good One: Ramy Youssef
New York magazine

Good One: Ramy Youssef

The comedian on the first Israel-Palestine joke he wrote after 10/7.

time-read
4 mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
Not Your Average Heartthrob
New York magazine

Not Your Average Heartthrob

Nicholas Galitzine can play himbo, Prince Charming, and Gen-Z queer iconsometimes all at once. Now, he's coming

time-read
8 mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
Northern Mexico, Just Below Canal
New York magazine

Northern Mexico, Just Below Canal

Corima has potential-and excellent tortillas

time-read
3 mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
A Tree House for Two Architects
New York magazine

A Tree House for Two Architects

Phu Hoang and Rachely Rotem built the indoor-outdoor \"Mini Tower One\" extension of their Carroll Gardens home.

time-read
1 min  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
THE ERIC ADAMS SMASH - AND - GRAB
New York magazine

THE ERIC ADAMS SMASH - AND - GRAB

It's a brazenly transactional era of government here in New York City.| FRANK CARONE is its master practitioner.

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
JEFF ZUCKER'S FLEET STREET MISADVENTURE
New York magazine

JEFF ZUCKER'S FLEET STREET MISADVENTURE

The former CNN and NBC boss wants a new media empire. Is that even possible in 2024?

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
MECHANISMS of CONTROL
New York magazine

MECHANISMS of CONTROL

Andrew Huberman has attracted millions of acolytes by preaching self-discipline and healthy lifestyle habits. But those closest to him suggest there is a darker side to his appeal.

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
Streetscape: Mark Jacobson
New York magazine

Streetscape: Mark Jacobson

Charging Ahead Baruch Herzfeld wants to end the rash of e-bike battery fires.

time-read
5 mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
461 MINUTES WITH...Hanif Abdurraqib
New York magazine

461 MINUTES WITH...Hanif Abdurraqib

The MacArthur-grant winner's unclassifiable new book is as idiosyncratic as the author himself.

time-read
6 mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024
Neighborhood News: The 'SNL' Guys' Ferry Isn't Adrift
New York magazine

Neighborhood News: The 'SNL' Guys' Ferry Isn't Adrift

Colin Jost and Pete Davidson's architect has a real plan.

time-read
2 mins  |
March 25 - April 07, 2024