Blockbuster (Netflix

2022 - 11 - 3

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Blockbuster review – like stepping into a time warp (in a very bad way) (The Guardian)

This timid sitcom set in the last ever video rental store has such a dated feel. In the age of streaming services, this isn't good enough.

I think it is aiming to be a warm workplace comedy, and it has all those elements in place: the hapless yet lovable boss, a spark of romantic tension between colleagues, an ensemble of characters with their tics and quirks. Even more subversive might have been the fact that a show about the decline of a business that offered in-person recommendations and the human touch is housed on Netflix, which is, of course, part of the reason for its demise. Maybe it is unfair to expect this to be a spiky dark comedy, despite its themes. But the worst crime Netflix is accused of here is its algorithm recommending The Great British Bake Off to a man whose girlfriend left him for a pastry chef. Those of us old enough to remember the ceremony of renting a film at the weekend may be curious to see what nostalgia Blockbuster (Netflix) is able to conjure up. [“the last Blockbuster on Earth”](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/06/blockbuster-video-closes-remaining-stores).

Blockbuster, review: Netflix owes the video shop an apology – this ... (Telegraph.co.uk)

The show, centred on America's last remaining Blockbuster store, has heaps of potential, but the leading man and the jokes are weak.

It’s bold of Netflix to commission a comedy that depicts itself – along with Amazon, Apple and the rest – as the bad guys. The over-written dialogue is laden with so many nerdy pop-culture in-jokes that it clanks and groans under their weight. The romantic subplot goes around in tedious circles as Timmy and Eliza constantly miscommunicate. It’s created by Vanessa Ramos, a writer for Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the underrated Superstore. Timmy realises that the only way to stay afloat in the streaming age is to remind the local community that small businesses provide something the digital corporations can’t: personal service and human connection. As this 10-parter begins, manager Timmy Yoon (Randall Park) learns that the struggling chain is closing its other remaining branches, leaving his Michigan outlet as the sole survivor.

Critics are crushing Netflix's new 'Blockbuster' sitcom: “It just isn't ... (NME.com)

The first reviews for Netflix sitcom Blockbuster have just come in. The series stars Randall Park and Melissa Fumero as employees of the last operating ...

[The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/03/blockbuster-review-netflix-sitcom-last-store-rental-film-market) and [The Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2022/11/03/blockbuster-review-netflix-owes-video-shop-apology-meta-sitcom/), with the former criticising the show’s lack of energy and the latter saying: “It just isn’t funny.” [Collider](https://collider.com/blockbuster-netflix-review/) criticised the “poorly conceived premise” and wrote: “By the time it all winds down, Blockbuster is ultimately a series you’d likely return to the video store before you actually got around to finishing it.” [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/blockbuster-netflix-randall-park-melissa-fumero-1235252839/)‘s Angie Han said the show was relatively forgettable, saying: “If Blockbuster isn’t doing anything especially wrong, its shortcoming is that it’s also not doing anything impressively right.” The series stars Randall Park and Melissa Fumero as employees of the last operating Blockbuster Video store and is out on Netflix today (November 3).

'Blockbuster' Tries, and Fails, to Escape the Irony of Airing on Netflix ... (Variety)

Netflix's 'Blockbuster' can't escape the irony of its situation, despite Randall Park and Melissa Fumero's best efforts.

It could’ve ditched the 2022 setting and taken place in the past, even if a more recent one (the late aughts would do!). After this point, though, the show quietly drops this thread — or even any real suggestion that the last Blockbuster might follow in its doomed parent company’s footsteps — for so much of the 10-episode season that you’d be forgiven for wondering if it was suddenly taking place in an alternate universe. It’s not the fault of the show itself — a workplace comedy set in the last Blockbuster video store — that the biggest streaming service on the planet bought it, but without being set in the past, it has a hell of a hard time getting out from underneath that shadow all the same. For as hard as its upbeat music and capable actors try to sell it, “Blockbuster” struggles to land on a comedic tempo all its own. Even though the pilot episode throws out jokes that could’ve used a couple more passes, it at least promises some kind of mission statement for the show to come. Rounding out the Blockbuster staff are Madeline Arthur and Kamai Fairburn, who bring some welcome wild card energy to otherwise predictable scenes.

'Like Leatherface wearing the face of his victims': Netflix fans ... (The Independent)

Another viewer compared new series to 'Macbeth making a wacky sitcom about King Duncan'

Actually, maybe you don't want to make it a Blockbuster night (The A.V. Club)

Netflix's workplace comedy has plenty of talent, thanks to a cast led by Randall Park and Melissa Fumero, but not nearly enough laughs.

[Midsommar](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/midsommar-2019) and [La La Land](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/la-la-land-2016) to calling [James Corden a bully and a menace](https://www.avclub.com/james-corden-balthazar-apology-late-late-show-1849699576)—but none of it elicits as much as a chuckle. And [American Vandal](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/american-vandal)’s Tyler Alvarez and [To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/to-all-the-boys-i-ve-loved-before-2018)’s Madeleine Arthur are MVPs as the other fun duo, young coworkers and BFFs Carlos and Hannah. [Fresh Off The Boat](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/fresh-off-the-boat) and B99, respectively, aid the ensemble. The jokes often feel as dated as the Blockbuster gimmick it’s trying to pull off. It’s specifically reminiscent of workplace comedies like [Superstore](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/superstore), [Brooklyn Nine-Nine](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/brooklyn-nine-nine), [Parks And Recreation](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/parks-and-recreation), or the sadly short-lived [Great News](https://www.avclub.com/great-news-brings-a-bit-of-30-rock-s-spirit-back-to-nbc-1798191211) in terms of tonality, its diverse ensemble, and how it tries to tap into the zeitgeist. The humor is either cringe-worthy or forced, as are the situations that lead to it, including a prank gone wrong and a ridiculous solar storm that briefly turns off the internet. [Blockbuster](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/blockbuster-2022) is meant to evoke nostalgia. In typical Leslie Knope or Michael Scott fashion, his employees are pretty much like his family (a trope that rarely exists in the real world). Here, she’s saddled with a mostly one-note character as a disheveled wife fighting to find her “me time.” Fumero is quite entertaining, but the script doesn’t do her justice. In fact, the very first joke in the premiere is about how audiences have quickly pivoted to streaming over renting DVDs. Timmy Yoon (Randall Park) is the lovable manager of the last operating Blockbuster. the list goes on and on) that have tried to recapture old-school sitcom magic.

Stream It Or Skip It: 'Blockbuster' On Netflix, A Workplace Comedy ... (Decider)

Randall Park, Melissa Fumero and JB Smoove lead the ensemble cast in a show that takes place in a fictional version of the last Blockbuster on the planet.

We like the cast of Blockbuster, especially Park, Fumero and Smoove. The first episode leans too heavily on gags about Blockbuster being an anachronism in this digital age, but then the second episode leans away from that so much that it feels like an episode that could have taken place in just about any setting. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere. Another issue is that it may take Ramos and her writing staff time to find that sweet spot where Blockbuster is a workplace comedy with a sense of its setting. A B-story about Carlos getting unusually upset at the death of the local TV film critic is an example of this. Sex and Skin: None in the first two episode. Then he gets a call from Blockbuster corporate: The remaining Blockbuster stores are closing, leaving his store as the last Blockbuster on the planet. Eliza, already touchy about things, taps out of the planning, but comes back to help out Tommy when the party gets out of control. It was shocking to us, given the talent in front of and behind the camera. Our Take: The first episode of Blockbuster is, to be frank, pretty bad. However, a decidedly 2020s twist during the party will help the last Blockbuster stay open for a little while longer. The Gist: Timmy Yoon (Randall Park) manages the store, in a strip mall in Michigan.