Johnny (Eugene Levy) rediscovers the hustle that made him successful in the first place, and he slowly makes Schitt’s Creek a nicer place. Instead, all four Roses become better people. This could easily be a trite, fish-out-of-water show, or one about nasty rich people getting what’s coming to them. It’s about the wealthy Rose family, who lose their fortune in a financial scandal and must resettle in the crappy motel in Schitt’s Creek, a town they once bought as a joke. thanks to the POP channel, is arguably the best sitcom overall of the last decade. More than just one of the best Canadian sitcoms, Schitt’s Creek, a hit in the U.S. (Available for purchase on Amazon.) Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020) A recovering addict rents out space in a small Toronto coffee shop, through which he operates a hockey goalie rental service. You can’t run a list of stuff about Canada without making at least one reference to the sport of ice kings, and so we have this lovely sports comedy which is also unexpectedly touching at times. Here’s an obscure and fun fact about Canada: The country is quite fond of hockey. (Available on YouTube) Rent-a-Goalie (2006-2008) Apart from that scripted structure, there are recurring sketch segments, like the “Possum Lodge Word Game” and “Handyman Corner.” The Red Green Show is so broad that it borders on hokey, but that’s quickly stripped away because of how self-aware and clever it also is.
It’s a show within a show about an outdoors expert (the titular Red Green, as portrayed by Steve Smith) who hosts a cable TV show about outdoor sports and such. This ran on tons of American PBS stations for years. (Available on Amazon Prime) Kim’s Convenience (2016-present )
It’s corny to say this, but watch like five of these in a row and you feel like you’ve spent the day in a real town, hanging out with Brent at his gas station Lacey, the skittish Toronto transplant who operates the diner next door or Davis and Karen, the mismatched beat cops with not much beat to cover. Little actually happens in Dog River or on Corner Gas, but that makes for an engrossing show. That leads to gentle, charming character comedy, derived from the fact that most of the people of Dog River, Saskatchewan, have known each other all their lives, and bust each other’s chops out of love. Corner Gas is so refreshing in that creator Brent Butt presents his very fleshed-out, three-dimensional, small-town goofball characters with respect … and they just so happen to be quirky on their own. Small-town shows - of which Canadian TV has many - often give off a whiff of disdain for its characters, because if they never left their tiny hometowns, they must be dumb. (Streaming on CBC Gem - in Canada.) Corner Gas (2004-2009) There’s a local cult that worships PEI icon Anne Shirley, mediocre covens, possessed statues, and all live in fear of “The Beast” - a frightening monster who is probably just a wolf. Set in and named after the real town of Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, this very new show features sketch performers Mark Little and Andrew Bush as brothers who return to their hometown for the first time in decades, only to find that the place has taken on a surreal Pete and Pete meets Welcome to Nightfall kind of vibe, albeit seeped in Canadiana.