User reviews

It's not a bad show, but simply they picked a wrong time. They should have set a time when Blockbuster stores were flourishing. It would tell a lot of fun stories like the time when VHS is going obsolete, and DVD is coming out for the first time. It would give a lot of fun and nostalgia for movie fans and collectors. I know it's lame but Blockbuster stores were once one of young couples' dating courses too. People would think, "It was a fun time" while watching the show. However, I'm not quite sure what to make of the show featuring a dying video store. There's nothing to gun for. I've seen a news saying Netflix is having a financial problem recently. Approving a script like this would be one of the reasons.

Ok, I admit the low score is partly because I had much higher expectations, given the cast, but...

The characters are boring and generic, and without quirky characters you can't have a good workplace sitcom. The leads' chemistry can only be described as "people who have known each other for a while", and the banter sounds like it was written by an AI trained on unaired pilots.

I've just watched three episodes, and I can barely recall what was happening in them, except that one of them is about Halloween. It wasn't interesting or engaging enough, and I think I've smiled exactly once. Unlike Brooklyn 99 or Superstore, which manage to combine funny and absurd shenanigans with a social commentary, this show manages neither.

Knowing that the actors are good, I'd definitively say the problem is the writing, both the dialogue and the plot. It might get good by episode 10, but I don't have patience for that.

I'm a millennial born in the late eighties, so Blockbuster was a huge cornerstone of my childhood and teenage years. The people there knew my brother and I by name, and even gave us some free copies of things over the years because we would rent them so often. I have a huge nostalgia for the people and place as a result, so I thought I would really love this show, especially since I loved Superstore, which has some related producers/writers.

It's sadly nowhere near as good as Superstore. I don't think it's self-aware or clever enough to be airing on a place like Netflix, given that Netflix is the biggest reason why Blockbuster went out of business in the first place. The actors all do a pretty decent job, but the jokes just don't land as well as they could or should, often leaving me just smiling rather than laughing out loud.

Having said that, it's also nowhere near as bad as a 1, 2, or 3-star show, which is the majority of the ratings on here. That's shockingly low for what's actually here, so I'm not quite sure where those numbers are coming from since it's a very inoffensive comedy. The worst you could call it is mediocre.

It may be worth a watch if you're an elder millennial or Gen X and have that nostalgia, but I wouldn't expect it to be as good as Superstore.

Yeap, the irony on this is gigantic.

I made a HUGE effort to like this, since I really enjoy Park and Fumero. Also, the main purpose of the show was very intriguing for me.

The pilot episode wasn't funny at all, but i thought that's ok, because many many shows kind of fails on the pilot, since the characters are not comfortable yet, but from the next ones on, get better (Friends and Big Bang Theory are two good examples of this).

The thing is, I saw the second, then the third, and no single laughs were given at all. By the middle of the fourth episode (see, I was REALLY trying), I just couldn't bare this anymore. I felt really bad for the actors, because they seemed like that stand comedy that the host didn't managed to get the audience, but anyway has to stay on stage till the end of the show.

Anyway, it's really ironic how the company that ended Blockbuster's business, had the ability to do it one more time.

I haven't been on IMDB for three years apparently. It took this show to get me to login and do the password reset etc just so I could post here and say how truly awful I thought this show was. The writing rates a zero, there's a couple good lead actors but they are just coasting in this and the rest of the cast is just plain awful. The jokes are predictable and lame. No wonder this show got canceled pretty much as soon as it started streaming.

It's a shame because it's actually a really promising premise for a comedy series, they just didn't do anything good with it. Like, anything good at all. It's really, really awful. Rates a rare lowest score of "1" from me.

So...Objectively this sucks. BUT. But. It's obvious the cast also know it sucks and are totally phoning it in, which makes for quite the happy accident: Melissa Fumero is full on playing B99's Amy Santiago. She's slipped her on like a broken-in pair of shoes and she's totally unapologetic about it. That has lead me to go meta with my viewing experience and watch it as a piece of so bad it's good B99 AU fanfiction, and honestly I'm loving it. How did Amy end up in this universe? Is it a multiverse situation? Is she in a coma? She's found another cute but immature manboy to have a will-they-won't-they situation with, does that mean every Amy in the multiverse has a type or is it her subconscious trying desperately to remember Jake but unable to picture his face? What's the connection to Blockbuster? Jake still has his membership, could this be the key? Why is Rosa's mom there? The plot is predictable, the dialogue is generic, the characters are bland, but I can totally buy that as just being down to the creative limitations of Amy's subconscious which pushes me further towards the coma theory. If it is all taking part in her subconscious that raises the question of what happened to her? Did it happen on the job? Was it a perp? What's happening at the 99, how crazy is everyone going trying to catch the guy? Is Jake holding it together? It's Jake, he's totally not holding it together. And what does it say about her that she's imagining herself as a Harvard dropout working in a dying franchise video store? She was always super competitive, does she feel like she's settled with Jake and the kid? Or is it just her subconscious screaming at her to wake up before her lack of consciousness destroys her roadmap to becoming the youngest Captain in the NYPD? Seriously. So. Much. *100% headcanon* intrigue going on, get on board, you won't be disappointed.

If you can't get on board though, ok yeah it's just straight up trash, don't waste your time.

This show is trash.

A better idea for a show set around Blockbuster would have been to set it during the 90s and make it a sitcom, and have a stream of 90s movie and TV show stars walk in as background characters.

Or just write a funny show.

This feels like beating the dead corpse of somebody you murdered in cold blood years ago.

Was Blockbuster a little slow to adapt? Sure, but they aren't the first company to fall from the top due to a rival adopting emerging technology.

There are moments that are cringe, there are moments that are uncomfortable, but there was a never a moment that I actually enjoyed myself.

My first thought coming into this was that it was going to be like a similar to the vibe of The Office or Brooklyn 99, light hearted, sarcastic and chaotic but still endearing but what I got was boring. Still light hearted I guess but it was overall dull.

I am rating it a 6 because there's no 5.5. I didn't hate it anyway, perhaps I am feeling generous. I actually liked some of the skit but it was too few within the span of 10 episodes. Episode 2 and 10 were the skits that had my attention. The rest of the humor just wasn't hitting right for me... there was just not much happening? You'd have your side a plot which is fine but the side b's didn't have enough spark to hold its own. I had no problems with the actors. It's the script that is holding it back.

I recon if you liked episode 1 and 2 then you're likely to have a good time for the rest of it, if not then it's a good enough background noise show.

2 stars for effort. Dont waste your time

Im an 80's kid and when i saw the trailer i was pretty excited. The idea of an nostalgic experience being produced by the very company that destroyed Blockbuster was hilarious.

Exactly who is your target audience here?

People that know what blockbuster is. Mixing that up with present day jokes, if you call them jokes, to make it more familiar to the younger audience kind of defeats the purpose of nostalgia.

Jokes on Netflix as this was absolutely horrendous comedic writing. Zero substance. I cant imagine how executives over at Netflix green lit this after hearing crazy stories of Jo Koy and a few others being turned down. Are they deaf? The comedy is so dry its worse than Space Force.

I can only see this as adding to Netflix's downfall.

Whilst dipping into melodrama often its still mostly a comedy which i find rare and appreciate. Hard to find a sitcom that stays in the lane of comedy. This one is goofy and light hearted enough to be worthy of watching. You see influences of the talented creators and their past projects; superstore, happy endings Brooklyn Nine Nine, which is good if you miss those shows. I did find myself missing Andy Samberg across from Melissa Fumero. Randall Park isnt very funny. Its a 6/10 if not for being in a video store. 7/10 cuz it is. JB Smoove is hilarious and much needed here to carry Parks lack of funny. Hope to see a Season 2 but from the looks of it we wont.

I love Melissa Fumero.

I love Brooklyn 99 I love Superstore

This looked like a winner with vibes of B99 and Superstore and other similar comedies.

It's not good. I really wish it was. It's just not funny or interesting at all. The characters are bland, the jokes try too hard. Every episode has a million pop culture references squeezed in for the sake of it and they don't work. It will age badly.

Melissa's character is a carbon copy of America Ferrera's Amy in Superstore so we've seen it before.

We made it through 5 episodes because we really wanted it to get better. Can't watch anymore.

I just don't think I like Randall Park. He and Fumero have zero chemistry, it's painful to watch. Sorry.

I've watched all 10 episodes and like most shows it takes time to get going. This needs a second series at least, as the premise is great and characters are now gelling! Is it Superstore or Brooklyn Nine Nine - no it's becoming its own show.

The last ever Blockbuster trying to survive I the streaming world is great and something we all secretly want, its like finding that shop with the vinyls we love. Watch all the episodes is my advice, the dynamics between the characters gets better and the core storylines improve.

At the end of the 10th Episode I found myself wanting to watch more and see what happens next with characters.

Good cast and this series only have to last maybe 2 or 3 seasons. It has potential and random things happen on the show that makes you laugh. Maybe the creator can have more guest stars to pick up the pace. Spice it up? 10 episodes each season is enough. Just finished binging the season and hope this won't be the last of blockbuster. I could watch again. The finale was more funny and this show needs more outrageous scenarios. It does get serious and that's great to make our characters human. Like real. Giving this show a chance hopefully Netflix and producers will too. Show has The office feel.

I couldn't even make it through the first episode. It just really wasn't funny to me at all. It didn't bring back any nostalgic feelings of renting videos. But then again, blockbuster in my opinion is the least nostalgic of any place that I rented videos. Once blockbuster became big, it felt more corporate. Video update, AV Video, and others are much more nostalgic, as someone who grew up in the late 80s, 90s and early 2000s. I was very disappointed because I love shows like superstore, parks and rec, the office, Brooklyn 99 (aside from the newest season which I couldn't stand), etc. This just felt poorly written. The lead actor is not a good fit for the role at all and I couldn't relate with the teenagers at all. Melissa fumero is also one of my least favorite Brooklyn 99 actresses. I had high hopes, but sadly, I cannot continue with this show.

This is so poorly written and honestly has NOT ONE actually funny moment. Not. One. I'm not joking either, I kept it on in the background while working to see if it ever got redeemable; it doesn't. How they had Fumero in this and still messed it up is beyond me. Fail. This could've been the next superstore or something and instead it's nothing worth remembering. Who does Netflix pay to write this trite nonsense ? I don't know how the actors managed to get through this one but I'm sure they won't be coming back for a season two and that's really all anyone can hope for- this shows swift cancellation.

The 2022 Vanessa Ramos-created Netflix series "Blockbuster" is tinged with both nostalgia and irony.

The nostalgia is heartfelt - if, a number of times, forced. Having been born in 1985 and come of age during the 1990s and early 2000s, I lived at Blockbuster Video pretty much every weekend and would often come home with my late mother with two bagsful of rented movies. And it was a crying shame that the three Blockbuster Video retail stores in my hometown all shuttered their doors by the end of the decade.

The irony of all this is that Netflix, the digital video service that practically KILLED much-loved video-store chains like Blockbuster Video, has produced a 10-episode TV series righteously enough called "Blockbuster," a workplace comedy depicting a fictionalized version of the real-life "world's last remaining Blockbuster Video retail video store" that's located in Bend, Oregon.

This series has a simple enough premise that follows Timmy Yoon (Randall Park, "Fresh off the Boat") as the owner and general manager of the last remaining Blockbuster Video store in the world in Grandville, Michigan, and his enthusiastic attempts to keep his business open. He has a loyal and colorful team supporting him including his long-time crush Eliza (Melissa Fumero); the much-older Connie Serrano (Olga Merediz); Carlos (Tyler Alvarez), a college-age film geek and aspiring filmmaker who wants to be like his hero Quentin Tarantino; the friendly but inexperienced Hannah (Madeleine Arthur); and Kayla (Kamaia Fairburn), the youngest employee on Timmy's staff and who is also the 16-year-old daughter of his landlord and best friend Percy (J. B. Smoove).

Much of the series' humor arises from the typical workplace situational comedy, but it would be better served if that same humor was reserved for some more of the nostalgic references to our favorite films - and by extension - the much-better days of pre-online streaming services. It could have also worked even better as a pointed satirical commentary on how online streaming giants, like Netflix, have strongly affected retail stores (and small businesses, in general) and forced many of them to close up shop forever.

(In a sense, the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the best things to ever happen for online streaming services since because so many people were in lockdown with nothing to do all day and couldn't leave their homes, they just simply binged on all their favorite TV shows and movies - which they were more than happy to provide. The impact felt by a lot of retail stores was harsh.)

But these are just observations and criticisms. The series appears to be too light-hearted for any of that - though regrettably it seems that "Blockbuster" could work much better as something MORE than just a workplace comedy.

6/10.

I felt like this series was "off" for multiple reasons, including just plain bad writing, but then I found out something that all made it make sense.

The show runner, Vanessa Ramos. Recently stated in an interview that "if there is a season 2, she'll take a trip to the real last Blockbuster in Oregon" to scout it out, I guess? Hmm...don't you think you should have done that before season 1?!

I read about the painstaking work directors and producers do before a project, and she can't even be bothered to visit the real last Blockbuster when she's literally making a series about the last one. Lazy!

Why didn't they set this series in 2009, when the last blockbuster actually became it? Or in the actual town (Bend)? At least mid-2000's nostalgia would've given this series some character. Instead? We get by-the-numbers sitcom standard crap. "Will they or won't they hook up" is a tired and true stable of Vanessa Ramos, just look at her last project, Superstore.

No originality, always the same themes. Here's to hoping there's no season 2, it frankly doesn't deserve it.

It's got a likeable cast with some great defined comedy types, though already there's a cliche will they/won't they which I kinda wish writers could move on from. I'm not bored watching it, and I never feel like they are trying too hard or the episode plots aren't holding my interest. It's just not funny. Laugh out loud or chuckle worthy. Nothing. But it's warm and positive and makes you feel cozy like a Superstore or Parks and Rec, but not laugh out loud funny like them. This is simply easy to watch if you wanna put something on in the background while playing Candy Crush on your phone, but this show doesn't come out of the gate as a winner like Brooklyn 99 or The Good Place did. Maybe the writing staff will step it up with the jokes and the wit if it gets another season, plenty of these comedies have had extremely weak season ones and went on to greatness (The Office and Parks and Rec)

Also the irony of Netflix making this show is appealing enough to make it a 6/10 instead of a perfectly mediocre 5/10.

We were hoping for Big Bang Theory, Superstore, Brooklyn Nine Nine-type comedy... we actually had pretty high hopes.... We got about 10 minutes into the Pilot and I'm sitting there thinking "this isn't very funny or entertaining and it's poorly written" so I hopped on IMBD and sure enough... pretty bad reviews so we aren't even going to bother. Stop making this crap. It's painful. I would rather re watch Superstore for the 100,000 time... was really looking forward to something new. This comedy style is lame, boring and cringy. I was instantly annoyed with the acting, lines and overall vibe. The premise is a good idea but they butchered it.

I saw the rotten tomatoes and IMDb ratings going in so I had really low expectations, and although I agree with most people saying the comedy doesn't really hit most of the time, the story is interesting enough to finish the whole way through and less cringeworthy than I expected. Dont get me wrong, there were cringe moments (like most sitcoms tbh), but what the show lacked in traditional comedy (there weren't many moments that were laugh out loud funny), it made up for in heartfelt human moments that didnt seem cheap. The tone was established correctly here, even if some of the story arcs seemed a bit repetitive at times. Most of these reviewers didn't watch past the first episode which is dumb since most shows dont hit the ground running right away and need time to establish themselves, and is definitely the biggest contributor to the bad reviews online. But seriously Netflix, there's a reason why your reputation for sitcoms sucks, and this didn't do enough to change that. Also I never thought I would be asking for this, but Netflix if you want your sitcoms to work and be relevant you can't release all the episodes all at once, or else they won't be relevant for long, no matter how good they are.

Once I saw the ad, I immediately binged season one of Blockbuster. I loved Melissa in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Randall in Fresh Off the Boat. It is such a good replacement for Superstore, which I loved when it was on. If you loved Superstore, I know you'll enjoy Blockbuster. The writing is good and the actors are wonderful. The story is relatable, even if you didn't grow up with a Blockbuster store. This show entered the world just in time.

Melissa sheds her uptight Amy Santiago character and jumps into Eliza, a single mom and Harvard drop-out. J. B. Smoove is always delightful. I love seeing Olga outside of Brooklyn Nine-Nine as well.

Don't get put off by the obnoxious pilot. Sure, it's ripping off Superstore in more than one way and the writing is quite predictable. But when you manage to get through the first 2-3 episodes, it's a reasonably entertaining comedy with enough funny moments throughout.

JB Smoove was pretty funny in this, and I think the overall acting got better as the season progressed. The characters aren't top notch, but relatable/quirky enough to keep them interesting.

If you're looking for some lighthearted entertainment on a rainy day off, this is perfect for that. You can easily watch the whole season in one sitting.

If you liked Superstore, you'll probably like this. Just don't set your expectations too high.

Nothing about this show is realistic to working in a video store at all.

A show set in a Blockbuster say in the 90s sounds like the perfect set up for a show.

There's so many negatives to this it would be like reading a chapter from a book to list them all, but worst of all the writing is so, so bad. Nothing is funny. Nothing is original. Nothing is nostalgic.

It feels just like those sitcoms made 20 years ago that only lasted 6 months that no one remembers. Quick quips followed by quick cuts to other actors and repeat. These are great actors, but man none of this is funny.

It's weird how such a good idea that so many were excited about could fail spectacularly. I don't get why they even used Blockbuster at all in this.

I do really like the cast though. I'm not sure why they focus so much on the older lady though.

...when I read that there was going to be a comedy show about Blockbuster Video. Ah nuts. What a disappointment.

There's nothing worse than watching 'comedy' that isn't all that funny. I get the weirdest feeling when watching unfunny comedies -like vomit rising in the back of my throat (sorta like the feeling I got when watching the movie 'Beethoven' -about a St. Bernard -in the '90's, after reading a review that said it was "uproarious").

Successful comedy shows have a certain magic about them - the writing, the acting, the cast- that makes them easy to watch -and funny -time and again ('The Office' comes to mind). This, sadly, is not one of those shows.