Netflix released season 1 of its sitcom Blockbuster, and in our review roundup, it seems critics are not into the workplace comedy. While some were into it, most found it “frustrating,” and its reliance on nostalgia could not keep it standing through its ten episodes. The series is currently holding a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.
The series follows workers at the last standing store of the video rental company. It was created by Vanessa Ramos (Brooklyn Nine-Nine). It stars Randall Park (WandaVision), Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), J.B. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Madeleine Arthur (Snowpiercer), Olga Merediz (In the Heights), Tyler Alvarez (Orange Is the New Black), and Kamaia Fairburn (Holly Hobbie).
Blockbuster review roundup of what critics said about the Netflix sitcom
Netflix was one of the biggest players in killing Blockbuster, and in a review from IndieWire, Ben Travers was not lost on the irony of this. Travers called it an “awkward” “marriage of studio and subject matter.” There were other factors in the company’s demise; with one store remaining in Oregon, it does raise eyebrows at the streamer making a series about the video rental store. SlashFilm’s Valerie Ettenhofer weighed in on this by calling it “frustratingly contradictory.”
The series is a feel-good workplace comedy that one can relate to others like Ted Lasso. The premise is enticing to many, but most found it faltering at what it aimed to land. Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han is one of the higher critics, with her Blockbuster review saying that “more of its jokes land than not. She did note that it “yields few belly laughs.” Meanwhile, Collider’s Chase Hutchinson found it “generic” with its “workplace bits.”
What people did enjoy was the cast. CBR’s Josh Bell praised Park and Fumero for their chemistry and called their romance “unobjectionable.” In a positive review of Blockbuster, Cassondra Feltus at Black Girl Nerds said that its “cast of characters is one of the best parts of the series.” Feltus wrote that Park put on his “usual charming, hilarious self” into his character as manager Timmy Yoon.
You can watch Blockbuster on Netflix.
