Schitt’s Creek creator Dan Levy’s new comedy series is a hit with audiences, earning an impressive 95 percent positive score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Big Mistakes, which stars Levy and Taylor Ortega as two incapable siblings, Nick and Morgan, who are blackmailed into the world of organized crime, premiered on Netflix Thursday, April 9. Laurie Metcalf plays their mother, Linda.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the series has 18 positive critics’ scores and just one negative.
It was co-created by Rachel Sennott — who was originally set to play Levy’s sibling; however, her HBO comedy I Love LA was picked up to series, ruling her out. Jack Innanen, Boran Kuzum and Abby Quinn also star.
“You might think the minds behind Schitt’s Creek and Bottoms would make for strange bedfellows, but Levy and Sennott’s sensibilities combine for a compelling blend of dark family comedy, crime caper, and character study,” Jenna Scherer raved in her review of Big Mistakes for The AV Club.
“The cast are all brilliant,” Rachel Aroesti wrote in her three-star review for The Guardian.
“Metcalf swings masterfully between steely authority and papery fragility, Levy is predictably charming and Ortega is downright hilarious.”
Meanwhile, NPR’s Glen Waldon heaped praise on Metcalf. “Metcalf’s already earned four golden Emmy statuettes; she doesn’t need yet another. But that doesn’t change the fact that the work she’s putting in on every episode of Big Mistakes is pure comedy gold,” raved the critic.
“Even when it’s not being sweet, or when Nicky and Morgan are sincerely terrified about what’s happening to them, the criminal, drug-kingpin-related trappings around them are so heightened and silly that Big Mistakes can’t help but come across as mostly a fun time,” Kathryn VanArendonk surmized for Vulture.
This is Levy’s second original scripted series after Schitt’s Creek, which won nine Emmy Awards across six seasons running from 2015 to 2020.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
The series starred Levy and his father, American Pie’s Eugene Levy, alongside the late Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy as a dysfunctional, wealthy family that is forced to live in a motel after losing all their money.
Last week, Levy shot down the possibility of a Schitt’s Creek sequel after the death of O’Hara.
O’Hara — who played flamboyant matriarch Moira Rose on the sitcom — died from a pulmonary embolism in January at age 71.
“No. We can’t,” Levy said in an interview with CBS News. “I was thinking about it. Yeah. It’s tough. It’s tough going back.”
“It’s an amazing thing to be a part of something that she loved so much. You know, it feels very special. It’s what you have to hold onto, is the memories of it all.”