Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury said today it has acquired U.S. broadcast syndication rights to Schitt’s Creek, the critically acclaimed half-hour, single-camera scripted comedy.
The series, created by Eugene Levy and Daniel Levy, follows a wealthy family who suddenly find themselves broke and forced to live in Schitt’s Creek, a small town they once bought as a joke. Schitt’s Creek is the No. 1-rated original series on Pop TV, the cable network owned by Lionsgate and CBS, according to Debmar-Mercury. Season five of the series, renewed by CBC and Pop, is in production now.
The character-driven series features comedy legends and Emmy Award-winning actors Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Chris Elliott, alongside breakout stars Daniel Levy, Annie Murphy and Emily Hampshire. Since its season one debut on Pop, Schitt’s Creek has grown its audience for four consecutive seasons. The show’s fourth season, which had its finale on Pop on April 11, out-delivered its season one average by 116% in adults 18-49, 76% in adults 25-54 and 81% in total viewers (through March 2018).
Schitt’s Creek centers on an outrageously wealthy video store magnate, Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy), his former soap-star wife Moira (Catherine O'Hara) and their two adult children — the self-described black sheep of the family David (Daniel Levy) and career socialite Alexis (Annie Murphy). With their pampered lives a memory, they struggle to find jobs and relationships, and most importantly, figure out what it means to be a family in the makeshift but loveable town they’ve reluctantly come to call home — leading TV Insider to declare, “Abject poverty has never been funnier.”
“It is not every day you can walk into a TV station with a comedy this good, with a cast this talented and be able to point to the kind of ratings growth, social buzz and critical acclaim that Schitt’s Creek has generated,” said Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein, co-presidents of Debmar-Mercury.
