‘Schitt’s Creek’ wins big on Emmy night.
LOS ANGELES >> “Schitt’s Creek,” the little Canadian show about a fish-out-of-water family, had a big night at Sunday’s Emmy Award, sweeping the comedy category with best series honors and awards for its stars, including Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy.
“Our show at its core is about the transformational effects of love and acceptance, and this is something we need more now than ever before,” said co-creator and star Daniel Levy, who encouraged people to register and vote to achieve that goal.
O’Hara accepted the award virtually in the pandemic-safe ceremony.
“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 had with my dear Roses,” O’Hara said, surrounded in a decorated room by mask-wearing co-stars who play the Rose family members.
Eugene Levy called it “ironical that the straightest role I ever played lands me an Emmy for a comedy performance. I have to seriously question what I’ve been doing” for the past 50 years.
Moments later, Levy’s son Daniel won the award for comedy writing for an episode of “Schitt’s Creek,” then shared a directing award and captured the supporting actor comedy trophy. The supporting actress trophy went to his costar Annie Murphy.
Daniel Levy thanked his father and O’Hara for teaching an extended “master class” in comedy.
References to the coronavirus were a part of the ceremony, with essential workers — including a teacher and a UPS deliveryman — presenting awards and Jason Sudeikis ostensibly getting a COVID-19 test onstage.
In a year with a record number of Black nominees, 35, there was a notable lack of diversity in the show’s early going. With “Schitt’s Creek” gobbling up comedy awards, that left “Insecure” and creator Issa Rae empty-handed Sunday.
That was also true of Ramy Youssef, creator-star of the semi-autbiographical comedy “Ramy,” about a young Muslim American’s love and religious life. Yousef tweeted a video of a haz-mat suit-wearing person clutching an Emmy and waving goodbye after he lost the lost the comedy actor category.