It’s officially Groundhog Day. No, not just because these winter mornings all feel painfully identical. It really really is Groundhog Day today. As in February 2, the date Bill Murray’s character Phil Connors gets stuck on in the 1993 film of the same name.
It’s a classic film that we can watch again and again (pun intended) which sees Phil, a cynical TV weatherman covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, wake each morning to realise he’s reliving the same day over and over.
But one thing we never noticed before was the surprising link between the 90s film and the far more recent series, Schitt’s Creek, until one eagle-eyed Instagram user pointed it out. On re-watching the film today (when else?) Georgie Grier, host of film and TV podcast The Screenster Podcast, wrote: ‘Some thoughts I had while re-watching our friend Bill/Phil: Did the continuity person have a field day? Roland Schitt is in the film. The waitress in the diner is the same woman who works at the Blouse Barn in Schitt’s Creek.’
We immediately paused our rewatching to investigate and yes, Chris Elliott, who plays Roland Schitt in Schitt’s Creek – the mayor of Schitt’s Creek - is Larry the goofball cameraman in Groundhog Day. In both he’s a central, comedic character. Robin Duke played Doris the waitress in Groundhog Day and went on to star as Wendy on Schitt's Creek, a dress shop owner in five episodes of season 2.
Georgie went on: ‘At a time when the characters in the shows we watch feel like family and the cast of Schitt’s Creek have basically replaced my best friends, watching ‘Groundhog Day’ on actual Groundhog Day is a reminder, not just of life imitating art, but also of the importance of finding comfort in places you never expected.’
As maddening and incessant as it is for Phil to be imprisoned in the same day, we’ve decided we've definitely got the raw end of the deal. In the film, Phil gets to eat what he wants, smash windows, have one-night-stands, drink himself silly, and did I mention eat what he wants? Then the next day everything’s reset. It sounds rather dreamy: no consequences after drunk-dialing Deliveroo at 11pm, inhaling two takeaways, a box of Celebrations and a bottle of wine?
We’ll take the film version over another dark winter morning without the benefits any day. There's been a Schitt's Creek shaped hole in our life ever since the series finished in 2020, so what better way to maximise nostalgia watching today.
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