'Schitt's Creek' Cast's Emmy Speeches Are A Masterclass In Mutual Appreciation

“Schitt’s Creek” made history with a record-breaking nine wins at the 2020 Primetime Emmy and Creative Arts Emmy Awards this week, leading host Jimmy Kimmel on Sunday to joke that there’s “chaos on the streets of Saskatoon!”

There weren’t any TV-related riots in the province of Saskatchewan, but there was a hearty celebration going on at Casa Loma in Toronto , where members of the cast and crew of “Schitt’s Creek” watched on as they won seven statues on Sunday night, and made Canada proud.

Sweeping the acting categories — a comedy first  — “Schitt’s Creek” also sets the record of most Emmy wins for a comedy in a single season, with nine, topping “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”’s haul of eight in 2018 and 2019.

Each of the “Roses” won their trophies in reverse family-like succession, starting with parents Moira (Catherine O’Hara) and Johnny (Eugene Levy) before eventually moving on to David (Dan Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy), all for this outlandish show about a wealthy family who loses it all, only to find a new lease on life in a small Ontario town.

It was clear from the acceptance speeches that this was a show built on love, tolerance, and reinventing the “fish out of water” television trope for a more substantial message of acceptance. And the love obviously translated off-screen as well, with not an “Ew, David ” in sight. 

For those who were not watching live, or want to relive the glory that is Moira Rose’s true-to-character “gaudiloquent” acceptance speech, they are all transcribed below. And we “love that journey” for you!

Catherine O’Hara, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

OK, we have it ... how cool is it that Eugene has a microphone in his bedroom? This is so cool. Thank you, members of the Television Academy for nominating me opposite these very cool women and topping off this fun evening with a real treat!

I will forever be grateful to Eugene and Daniel Levy for the opportunity ... for bestowing upon me the opportunity to be playing a woman of a certain age — my age — who gets to be, who gets to fully be her ridiculous self! They gathered the most beautiful, fun-loving people in Toronto, cast and crew, and then, by example, led us all to be the best we could be for each other.

But I must pay an especially gaudiloquent tribute to Debra Hanson our wardrobe angel, to my guardian makeup whisperer, Lucky Bromhead, and to our dare-doing hair wrangler Ana Sorys; every day their munificent venistation made me who I thought I was, and I would be an ungrateful dodipole not to share it with them.

May I please wish you all a sound mind and a sound body and though these are the strangest of days, may you have as much joy being holed up in a room or two with your family, as I am with my dear Roses. Thank you so much!

Eugene Levy, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

You see, I told you I was good! I guess it’s kind of ironical that the straightest role I’ve ever played lands me an Emmy for a comedy performance ... So now I seriously have to question what I’ve been doing for the past 50 years.

I first want to thank my darling wife of 43 years, Deb Devine, for all the love, support and sage counsel over the years, wouldn’t be up here without you, Deb!

I want to thank our amazing production team, terrific writers, and exceptionally talented cast that I loved working with for six years, including the Emmy winner, my dear friend of many many years, Catherine O’Hara, who evidently can make anyone she works with look good ... and as a dad, getting to work on-camera for six years with both my kids, Daniel and Sarah — hi honey! — is, we love you both, and could not be prouder.

And that brings me to my multi-Emmy nominated partner, Daniel Levy, who took our show that we came up with and brilliantly guided it to this little Emmy party tonight. So thank you, son, thank you Academy, and to my fellow Emmy nominees, it was an honour to be in your company, thank you!

Dan Levy, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Holy cow! Ohhh my goodness! Oh my goodness, this tent’s on fire! Writers don’t get awards? What is this? First of all, I want to say thank you to my Dad, for giving me the reins to this show, even though I didn’t have any experience in a writer’s room, which saying that aloud right now feels like a wild choice on your part, but I’m very grateful for it! I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you ...

Thank you to my team, David West Read, Rupinder Gill, Mike Short, Winter [Tekenos-Levy], every single person that sat in that writers’ room and offered up traumatizing, embarrassing, deeply triggering things so that the Rose family could be who they are.

Getting to write David Rose, getting to write this show, getting to tell [these] stories has been the greatest, most cathartic experience of my life. Thank you to CBC and Pop for broadcasting these stories without hesitation.

Oh my goodness, I guess this is it, thank you to all of the fellow nominees in this category, it was an honour to be nominated alongside you! And I also want to recognize Issa Rae and the writers on Insecure for writing some of the funniest, most heartfelt television of the year.

Thank you, this is absolutely incredible. Thank you to the Academy for this tremendous honour. Thank you so much!

Dan Levy and Andrew Cividino, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series 

Dan: Andrew and I met in film school. I dropped out, he stayed in! I don’t know what that message is, but this is a full-circle moment and I’m happy share it with you, go go go!

Andrew: I just touched my face and hugged you, like, three times, so from a COVID perspective, this is terrible!

Thank you so much to POP and CBC, to our incredible cast and crew. It’s been so fantastic, through this entire process... I really want to say a special thank you to Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy, who have been... their grace, genius and generosity, it bubbles through the entire set! They’re role models! And I want to thank Dan for inviting me into the world of “Schitt’s Creek,” which is a world that’s driven by love, and I’m very glad that you let me into it, so thank you!

Dan: And thank you to an incredible cast who made it so, so easy to direct! Thank you so much!

Dan Levy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Oh no, oh no. OK, the Internet’s about to turn on me, I’m so sorry!

First of all, I would not be here if it were not for the six-year masterclass that was led by two brilliant comedic minds that I had had the good fortune of working with for the past six seasons. My dad, Eugene Levy, and the magnificent Catherine O’Hara who led by example; they led without ego and they led by excitement, and the trickle effect of that was felt through everybody. And as actors, we were given the safety and security to do what we wanted and to try and to experiment and to grow because of you, so thank you!

And to Annie Murphy, I would not be up here if it were not for you being my better half. Thank you for your unbelievable work on this show, and to play David Rose, this has been the greatest experience of my life! Thank you to my incredible team... This is a night to remember and I cannot thank the Academy enough for their generosity, this is completely overwhelming and I thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.

Annie Murphy, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Annie: Oh my god, wow wow wow. The six years that I have spent working on his show have been the best six years of my entire life, and I can’t believe Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara are my friends! And I’m so proud to be a part of a show that stands for love and kindness and inclusivity and acceptance, because those four things are things that we need more than ever right now, and... hi to my family and my friends and I love you so much and this is just really, really wild. Thank you so so much!

Outstanding Comedy Series

Dan: Oh my goodness! Oh, we get one of these? Oh boy. Our show at its core is about the transformational effects of love and acceptance and that is something we need more of now than ever before, and I just wanted to say for any of you who have not registered to vote, please do so, and then go out and vote because that is the only way that we are going to have any love and acceptance out there. Please do that, I am so sorry I had to make this political, but I had to. Dad, do the rest of the fun stuff!

Eugene: I want to thank our good friend... everyone at CBC! I want to thank the CMF [Canada Media Fund] for all of their financial support ... and Netflix for the spark that seemed to start everything. I also want to thank once again this young man and took this fish out of water story about the Rose family, and transformed it into a celebration of inclusivity, a castigation of homophobia and a declaration of the power of love. So thank you, Daniel, thank you Academy!

Dan: And thank you to our tremendous cast, we are so proud to be accepting this award in the midst of some of our cast and crew members here, but to everyone at home, and everybody watching, this is for all of you, for everyone who showed up and did their work and did it 110% and I am so proud that I am able to accept this Emmy award in Canada with our Canadian cast and crew, thank you, so, so much!