Netflix has made a comedy series about the last remaining Blockbuster store in America.
Talk about twisting the knife, given Netflix is considered the reason Blockbuster – once the number one video rental company in America with around 9,000 stores – failed.
(It’s not entirely true though. Blockbuster actually had the option to buy Netflix back in 2000 for $50 million but reportedly laughed at the idea. They missed the digital revolution, and today Netflix is worth more than US$107 billion.)
The 10-part comedy series stars Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Randall Park (Wanda Vision, Always Be My Maybe) and Madeleine Arthur (All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) and explores what it takes and who it takes for a small business to succeed, and is set in the company’s last remaining store.
Timmy Yoon Is an analog dreamer living in a 5G world. And after learning he is operating the last Blockbuster Video in America, Timmy and his staff employees (including his long time crush, Eliza) fight to stay relevant. The only way to succeed is to remind their community that they provide something big corporations can’t: human connection.
Vanessa Ramos created the show and is in familiar territory here with the setting and comedy aspect. She previously worked on Superstore (a comedy series set in a box box store eerily similar to Wal-Mart) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
The real last Blockbuster store
The human connection element of the series is actually the reason there’s still one real-life lone Blockbuster left in the world, in Bend, Oregon in the US.
A nostalgic documentary was even made about it, revealing the real story of Blockbuster’s demise, and how this last location has been keeping the spirit of a bygone era alive.
Blockbuster closed most of its stores in America in 2014, and then closed its final 50 franchises in 2018. Here in Australia, our last Blockbuster shut its doors in 2019 (it was in Western Australia, in case you get asked at Trivia Night).
Yes, Netflix sure has had the last laugh, and we reckon you’ll have some good laughs with the series too.
Blockbuster drops on November 3 and all 10 episodes will be available to binge watch. Ah, the joys of streaming!
