Book Review | Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: The Story of Schitt's Creek

 

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This will be less of a review and more akin to posts I write about Dan Jones's books.

You know, the big fan-girlie ones.

Because I fucking love this show as much as I love Buffy and Friends. If you've been around for any amount of time, you know that my love for those two shows is quite off the charts. (I once faked being sick just to stay home and listen to a 10 minute morning radio interview with David Boreanaz when I was in high school. When my mom got home from work she rolled her eyes at me and said she knew I wasn't sick and that I should've just straight-out told her why I wanted to stay home becase she would have let me either way.)

I was late to the game, but when I finally started watching, I could not stop. I was hooked from that first moment - seeing their lives turned completely upside down, yet still having the emotional energy to incredulously ask Johnny why on earth he actually purchased a town as a joke for David's birthday one year. Johnny could not understand why it was so confusing for them. I about died laughing and knew I would love this show forever from that moment.

I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the town and everything Dan and Eugene were creating. I let Eleanor start watching the show (much like with Buffy, there is some censoring here and there) and she also finds it hilarious. We have a keychain set, one saying Best Wishes (mine) and the other saying Warmest Regards (hers) that we each carry, and it is even how we sometimes bid each other good-bye. We planned to dress as David (me) and Alexis (her) for Halloween this year, until we unfortunately remembered she had to be at her father's house. Next year though, it is ON.

This book is exactly everything you would want as a perfect book-end to one of the smartest, funniest, sweet, hopeful shows ever created. To hear directly from the actors and actresses who brought the characters and the town to life, was almost like sitting and having conversations with them. To see photos from behind the scenes, to see how close they were as a cast, was also wonderful.

I especially appreciated the pages dedicated to Moira's ensembles. I laughed as I remembered specific scenes that paired with the variety of outfits. And we cannot forget the wigs as well. The same was done for David's sweaters. Oh, how I love his sweaters, so so much. (When we do get to dress as them for Halloween, Eleanor and I decided I will be wearing the lightening bolt one.)

One thing I especially appreciated was getting to the heart of the family, particularly when discussing the relationships between David and Moira, Alexis and Moira, and David and Alexis. This is not to diminish Johnny Rose in any way, he is certainly the rock and most level-headed member of the family (most of the time, especially early on). But exploring those three relationships in particular was really important. In "Finding David", the season two premier. Seeing how they chose to mirror David and Moira through their choice of clothing, and how clothing in general was a major way of communicating for the entire six seasons, was important. Until looking back at the stills included in the book, I did not take much notice of how much David and Moira were dressed alike and what that meant.

As for the other two relationships I mentioned, there is discussion around those as well, specifically as the show goes on and Alexis keeps giving Moira these chances to be the mom Moira already thought she was in her own mind. That culminates in the finale of season three, and if you have not seen it yet, I will not spoil it. But I was very touched by the book when Annie Murphy says that in that scene, it is not Alexis smiling but Annie herself, in awe and admiration of Catherine O'Hara.

David and Alexis also have quite the complicated relationship at times, but they always come through for each other when it really matters. I always found it so funny when they would have these big blow-ups, especially early on - like the first episode of the show when they are arguing about who can get murdered first when fighting over who will sleep in which bed (one of my fave scenes ever), after getting into a fight outside telling each other to shut up (another fave scene and one that Eleanor and re-enact often because it makes us laugh).

A point the book really drives home is that they really never had the chance to do this as kids, to have arguments like this, because they didn't really grow up together, what with the boarding schools and all. So, when we see them act like petulant children toward one another, it's because in that way their relationship was kind of stunted and now suddenly they are stuck together in this tiny room for the foreseeable future.

There is so much more here and I could go on forever, both about the book and the show. I loved watching the family grow as individuals and together, to see how their outlooks on life change as they become part of the town that they hated so much when they first arrived.

Best Wishes, Warmest Regards is a must-own for any fan of the show and I can not recommend it highly enough.