Blockbuster

Actually, every performer in Blockbuster elevates the weak writing, transforming the show from passable to pleasant enough. ... However, Blockbuster truly struggles with the laughs, in that there are barely any.

The show isn’t bad, but it’s definitely familiar, with a cast of quirky characters who constitute a likable, if occasionally kooky workplace family. ... But these first 10 half-hour episodes are less interesting than “The Last Blockbuster,” Taylor Morden and Zeke Kamm’s documentary about how the Bend outlet came to be the last Blockbuster in America.

There’s a lot of squandered potential here. The lack of focus on the customers is an easy win missed. And while the lack of a “big bad” may be refreshing but means the show lacks any sense of real peril or urgency. By the halfway mark we lose sight of the driving force of the show and slip into soapy silliness.

The ubiquitous JB Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm) earns his keep as Timmy’s blustery buddy and strip-mall landlord, but otherwise, this seems less a blockbuster than, sadly, a relic. [7 - 20 Nov 2022, p.5]

Though there are a few promising Brooklyn-style running jokes, Blockbuster is a well-meaning disappointment that can't quite justify its own existence.

It’s a wonderful mix of skilled veterans and relative newcomers, but “Blockbuster” is an exercise in tiresome premises. ... Ironic, maybe. Funny? Eh.

“Blockbuster’s” bouncy energy, one of the show’s defining elements is its fascination with the work of work — how people with incompatible personalities figure out ways to problem solve and exist side-by-side and maybe, just maybe, not be miserable while doing it. There is real comedy and drama in that, and yet too often “Blockbuster” struggles to land on either.

“Blockbuster” is likeable enough thanks to a game cast, but in early episodes made available for review, it’s not all that funny.

A cute, affable, and fairly forgettable workplace comedy that takes place inside the last remaining of the stores, and uses it mostly for general shenanigans that would work any other place.

Without much idea of how to capitalize on its uniquely compelling premise, Blockbuster winds up a fairly standard-issue workplace sitcom dressed up in blue-and-yellow logos that might strike a chord with viewers of a certain age.

Blockbuster is a series that is safe to a fault and never creates enough laughs over its 10 episodes to carve out a comedic identity of its own. It may tickle the fancy of those looking for a more straightforward sitcom, but it is hard to see it having much to offer those looking for something more clever.

Blockbuster features some inspired supporting performances, with Madeleine Arthur, Olga Merediz, and Tyler Alvarez standing out as cast MVPs. But the extremely forced will-they-won’t-they dynamic between Park and Fumero never comes together, due to a fundamental lack of chemistry between the two. In addition, character dynamics, exposition, and thematic messages are all delivered with blunt-force dialogue.

Maybe if Blockbuster leaned further into that meta self-awareness, there would be more about it to recommend. But the thing that makes it special, the connection to Blockbuster, is essentially ignored, resulting in a workplace comedy that isn’t particularly unique or memorable. Instead, there’s commentary about the differences between millennials and Gen Z that isn’t novel or clever.

It could have just leaned all the way in and set this show in 1993, bringing the viewer back to a time when America’s future felt prosperous and safe. Now, Blockbuster is just another organization collapsing around us. Watching an ostensible comedy set inside it just isn’t funny.

It feels as if it has taken the timid approach, rather than be bold. ... It feels like a sitcom from long ago, where gentle quips and mild slapstick were enough to fill half an hour of pre-watershed television.