Face of Nation : It was a big day for the Ontario-shot show “Schitt’s Creek” on Tuesday as the series landed four Emmy Award nominations, including best comedy series.
Hamilton-born Eugene Levy and Toronto native Catherine O’Hara also got acting nominations for starring as married couple Johnny and Moira Rose on the series, which airs on CBC and Pop TV and is also on Netflix.
The show, which often sees O’Hara’s character wearing outlandish designer outfits, is also nominated for best contemporary costumes.
This is the first Emmy love for “Schitt’s Creek,” which also stars showrunner Daniel Levy and Annie Murphy as a formerly wealthy family who now live in a small town they once bought as a joke. The Levys co-created the show, which has become an international phenomenon and recently finished filming its sixth and final season.
Its competition for best comedy series includes HBO’s “Barry” and “Veep,” Amazon Prime Video’s “Fleabag” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Netflix’s “Russian Doll,” and NBC’s “The Good Place.”
Eugene Levy and O’Hara were also on the Emmys circuit together in the 1980s when they were starring on “SCTV” and got nominations for their writing on the sketch series.
“Having a show like ‘Schitt’s Creek’ in the autumn of my years, so to speak, is something not a lot of people get to experience,” Eugene Levy said in a recent phone interview.
“Eugene says it’s ‘The little engine that could, finally reaching the train station,”‘ added O’Hara. Other Canadians named in Tuesday’s nominations include Ottawa native Sandra Oh, who is up for two trophies.
One nomination is for her leading role as an MI5 operative hunting down a female assassin on BBC America’s “Killing Eve.” Last year she made history as the first Asian woman to be nominated for an Emmy for lead actress in a drama series for the same show. Her other nod this year is for guest actress in a comedy series for hosting NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton native Luke Kirby is nominated for guest actor in a comedy series for playing New York City comedian Lenny Bruce in “Mrs. Maisel.”
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” hosted by the titular Toronto-born comedian, is nominated for best variety/talk series. Bee also shares a nomination for writing on the show, which airs The Comedy Network.
Toronto-raised Lorne Michaels earned two nominations — one for writing on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and another for being part of the executive producing team.
Canadian-born former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter snagged a nomination for being part of the producing team of HBO’s “The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley.”
And Nova Scotia’s Paula Fairfield shares a nomination for sound editing on HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” which has a record-breaking 32 nods this year.
The 71st Emmy Awards will air Sept. 22 on Fox, with the host yet to be announced.
