Today I finished rewatching Schitt’s Creek.

I first watched it when we had far too much time on our hands during lockdown. Lots of people were talking about the series and we thought we’d give it a shot. We were not immediately sucked in. The first couple of episodes about a wealthy family who suddenly lose it all and have to move and live in a small town with regular people did not seem like our sort of entertainment.

Various people encouraged us to keep going, insisting that it was worth persevering. Before I knew it I had warmed to the spoilt children, David and Alexis, their eccentric mum, Moira, and failed businessman father, Johnny Rose.

Nothing really happens in the six series but slowly but surely you start to see them change as the Schitt’s Creek locals, including Stevie, Roland and Twyla, become their true friends and they see who they could be and what life could be like away from the world of the rich and famous from which they had come.

Without wanting to ruin it for those who haven’t seen it, by the time you reach they end of series six you want them to succeed in life, business and love. I’d be lying if the final episode didn’t leave me in tears each time I’ve watched it.

I later learned that it was apparently 20 years ago today that the final episode of Friends aired. That episode where Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey leave their keys on the kitchen counter in the final scene after ten years of friendship still gets me today. I grew up with those Friends and couldn’t believe it when it came to an end.

I’m not suggesting the two series are the same or have had the same cultural impact, but every now and then a series comes along that captures the imagination and takes its viewers along on a journey.

Sometimes you don’t want a series to come to an end, but these things can run their course and need to end when they do. Whilst there are many films I have and will happily rewatch, the same can’t be said for many TV series, with the occasional exception.

I can’t quote or reference Schitt’s Creek in the same way Friends can be referenced in so many areas of life (though Alexis’s hand gestures do make a regular appearance), but both these series include characters and storylines that you can even in some small way relate to.

I’m glad I persevered with Schitt’s Creek and I know that this isn’t the last time I’ll pay a repeat visit to the town.