Anna Sawai, left, and Hiroyuki Sanada won outstanding lead actress and actor in a drama series for Shōgun at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 15.Mike Blake/Reuters
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This year’s Emmy Awards will be that much more interesting for Canadian fans. Eugene and Dan Levy, the homegrown iconic father-son duo who hold four Emmy wins each, are hosting the 2024 Emmys, and are sure to bring their signature dry humour to the event. The Levys are set to be the first father and son to co-host the Emmys together in its history. Before the pair steps on the stage to announce the major winners in the world of television – big contenders this year include The Bear, Shogun and Baby Reindeer – we’re looking back at their best moments on screen, both together and apart.
Schitt’s Creek
It’s the heartwarming comedy that made Dan Levy – and his signature glasses – a household name, and was the ultimate comfort watch for many during the pandemic. Eugene and Dan Levy star as Johnny and David Rose, who, alongside co-stars Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy, play a dysfunctional family ripped from their wealthy lifestyle and forced to rough it in the town of Schitt’s Creek.
Eugene is no stranger to playing exasperated father figures, and the show served as the world’s introduction to Dan’s signature quippy, sarcastic, but very genuine comedy style. After the show aired its final season in 2020, the show swept the Emmy’s comedy category, something that had never been achieved before.
Former cast members of SCTV, including Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy and Martin Short, are reunited at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival on March 6, 1999, in Aspen, Colorado.E PABLO KOSMICKI/The Canadian Press
SCTV
Eugene Levy’s foray into comedy fame started almost 40 years before his son’s big break, on the sketch comedy show Second City Television. Running for three seasons between 1976 and 1981, Levy starred alongside other Canadian greats such as John Candy, Martin Short, Rick Moranis, and his future Schitt’s Creek co-star O’Hara. His hilarious sketches are too many to count, but don’t miss his recurring characters Sid Dithers and Bobby Bittman.
Best in Show
It’s hard to imagine Eugene Levy without his usual onscreen love interest Catherine O’Hara. In another of their iconic roles, the duo play Gerry and Cookie Fleck, a couple travelling to enter their pet Winky in a chaotic dog show in Philadelphia. Their trip unravels as Cookie’s several past suitors come to greet the couple. Levy’s performance highlight? The hilarious reveal of his two left feet.
The Great Canadian Baking Show
The Canadian version of The Great British Baking Show could have been just that – a safe adaptation of the series where calm bakers accidentally burn their lemon scones under a pergola in the countryside. But Dan Levy, alongside co-host Julia Chan, brought an edge and some much-needed humour to the first two seasons of the show in 2017 and 2018. It’s worth a watch for his outfits alone.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dan Levy makes a guest appearance on the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is up for the Outstanding Comedy Series awards at this year’s Emmys. Larry David meets with his lawyer, and chaos ensues when he tells David he’s taking the name of his new spouse, Abe Zeckelman (played by Levy). Levy’s appearance isn’t very long, but he brings a no-nonsense intensity that evokes the best of Schitt’s Creek’s David Rose.
American Pie
Arguably one of Eugene Levy’s most famous roles, the American Pie series introduced the Canadian comedian as the ultimate father figure: needlessly helpful and painfully hard to talk to about sex. His timing is impeccable, and nobody can forget the pie scene, as much as they may want to.
New York Minute
Remember that time Eugene Levy shared star power with two of the most famous teenagers of the early 2000s? New York Minute, starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, may not be the first movie that comes to your mind from the Canadian actor’s extensive filmography, but it still remains iconic for many reasons. Eugene Levy plays a ruthless truant officer who’s tasked with tracking down sisters Jane and Roxy after they skip school to trek to Manhattan – and hilarity ensues.
Splash
For those who know Splash, you may think it’s a Tom Hanks and Darryl Hannah vehicle about a man who falls in love with a mermaid. But true fans know that the stars of this film are as Canadian as maple syrup, with the much-missed John Candy playing an effusive older brother to Hanks, and Eugene Levy using those ubiquitous eyebrows to their full effect as a frantic scientist obsessed with the prospect of a real-life Ariel.
Hosted by Levy and Jessi Cruickshank, 'The Hills: The After Show' consisted of the pair discussing what had happened on the show that week with a humour and kindness that was distinctly unlike the way anyone was treating reality TV at the time.
The Hills: The After Show
A TV show about a TV show doesn’t usually warrant its own mention, but in the case of the MTV Canada hit that aired after reality show The Hills (which in itself was the spinoff of another reality show, Laguna Beach), it was literally the 30 minutes that launched Dan Levy’s career. Hosted by Levy and Jessi Cruickshank, it consisted of the pair discussing what had happened on the show that week – essentially a live action review – with a humour and kindness that was distinctly unlike the way anyone was treating reality TV at the time. It parlayed them into a recognizable status in Canada previously only enjoyed by MuchMusic VJs like George Stroumboulopoulos and Sook Yin-Lee, and soon was aired in the U.S. as well. The show culminated in a finale that included the stars of The Hills – Lauren Conrad, Kristin Cavallari, Whitney Port and Brody Jenner.