A comedy about a DVD rental store that's being killed off by Netflix, that can now be streamed... on Netflix.
Blockbuster is a Work Com series created by Vanessa Ramos (Superstore, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), centered on the titular former video rental store chain.
When they learn that they are the last Blockbuster in existence, store manager Timmy Yoon (Randall Park) and his staff; long-time crush Eliza (Melissa Fumero), aspiring film director Carlos (Tyler Alvarez), Carlos' friend Hannah (Madeleine Arthur), Timmy's Friend Percy (J.B. Smoove) and elderly staff member Connie (Olga Merediz), attempt to keep the business open as they face their new harsh reality.
The series is available to stream on Netflix (ironically, the very company that drove Blockbuster out of business), and was added on November 3, 2022. On December 16, 2022, it was announced that the show had been cancelled after one season.
Not to be confused with the game show Blockbusters. A recap page is in progress.
Previews: Trailer
Be kind - rewind these tropes:
- Artistic License – Geography: The real last Blockbuster in America is in Bend, Oregon. This show puts it in a sleepy town in Michigan.
- Artistic License – Physics: A solar storm on the scale that happens in the first season finale would not only take down the internet, but also tv, most radio broadcasts, and the whole power grid. Justified in that the plot requires Blockbuster to become useful again
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: Much of the dialog in the first episode are potshots at Netflix itself, such as the algorithms dictating what people watch. Heck, the first conversation in the show proper is a customer not visiting the store as much due to their addiction to the The Great British Bake Off and Netflix constantly recommending it to them.
- Episode 5 gives us "Trout games", which is an obvious Captain Ersatz of Squid Game, another show on Netflix that has many parallels (people avoiding spoilers as it was really popular online, the English dub being terrible etc.)
- Bland-Name Product: A rather strange example; While the names of real movies can be seen on the cases in the store, the actual covers are mock-up art that looks nothing like the movies they supposedly are. Monsters vs. Aliens, for example, looks like an edutainment tape for toddlers.
- Dramatic Irony: As noted above, this is a show about the "Last video rental store" airing on the very streaming service that killed the entire video rental industry.
- Fictional Province: The Blockbuster is located in a made-up town in Michigan.
- The Last of His Kind: Corporate informs Timmy via a phone call that his Blockbuster franchise is the last one still operating. The first episode is all about processing that information, while the second episode eschews corporate entirely, and Timmy takes on all the burdens of running the store.
- Literal Metaphor: During the block party, Timmy questions Percy about their message of wanting to make the party about the community is getting a bit drowned out by the other activities (such as a pointless DJ battle and a bubble machine always being on). The camera then pans over the bubble machine covering the tarpaulin sign that explains the point of the event with bubbles.
- Nostalgia Filter: Timmy is the head of Blockbuster due to never wanting to grow out of his teen phase, and wanting to stay in the past; part of this causes conflict in the series because of this behaviour.
- Carlos aspires to become a director in the same way Quentin Tarantino did, who famously learned the craft from watching cult movies while working as a video store clerk back in the day.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: A lot of Percy's frustrations in every episode is that his friend Timmy isn't the best friend he grew up with.
- Shout-Out: There's at least five or ten film and/or pop-culture name-drops in each episode (the former makes sense, given where they work). In one episode, Timmy is told to act like the bosses from one of his favorite movies, and the films that come to mind are The Boss Baby and The Devil's Advocate.
- Take That!: At one point, Connie employee recounts the saddest thing he’s ever said, another quips that the saddest thing she’s ever said is “One ticket for Space Jam 2”.
- Title Sequence: One of the shortest in its genre; it's only four seconds long, and consists of someone opening a DVD case, and their Blockbuster subscription card being shown to the camera zooming onto it.
- Will They or Won't They?: A big component of the season is Timmy's crush on Eliza, who possibly may feel the same way.
