Blockbuster (Netflix

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).

Netflix got one of its biggest ha-has (read in Nelson Muntz voice) when it started hosting last year a little-seen documentary called “The Last Blockbuster ...

But there was a moment in which I was watching it that I forgot it was on and just went to do some dishes, only to remember that it was still playing. And then every now and then it’ll batch references in a manner that can best be called impressive, like when a single sentence mentions both “Escape Room 2” and “ But here, the employees are a pseudo dysfunctional family who talk about movies a lot (more on that later), and don’t have to worry too much about their store's relevancy.

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.