25 feel-good shows to start 2018 off right

Schitt’s Creek

The premise: A wealthy New York family loses all their money to the IRS and is forced to move to the remaining piece of property left in their fortune. The town, Schitt’s Creek, is situated in a remote, rural area, and the Rose family has a very hard time fitting in. The family’s father, David Rose is played by Eugene Levy, and David’s son on the show is played by his actual son, Daniel Levy. David’s wife Moira is played by Catherine O’Hara and it is just as fun and wry as anything Levy and O’Hare have done together.

Why it’s so good: At first, it’s hard to put your finger on what’s so compelling about this show. On the surface, it’s just another fish out of water story about rich folks slumming it in the country. You don’t want to like the Roses, but you certainly do, and you even find yourself rooting for them a little.

While it’s not in my nature to feel sorry for the poor little rich folks, the show sets the Roses up as their own worst enemy. It rarely takes cheap shots at the working class citizens of the town, and usually makes the Roses the butt of the joke. In this paradigm, it makes it far easier to find them sympathetic or relatable. It boils down to a story about a (highly dysfunctional) family, and there is just something very comforting about that.

How to watch: Netflix has the first three seasons of the series, and the fourth returns to Pop TV in 2018.