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TV review: Netflix has last laugh with comedy about video shop chain it helped kill off

The cast of the aggressively unfunny Blockbuster
The cast of the aggressively unfunny Blockbuster

The fact that Netflix is now showing a sitcom about the company it helped destroy is the sole interesting thing about the aggressively unfunny Blockbuster.

As an unabashed nostalgia junkie who still laments the passing of video stores – not to mention the fact my first job was at Blockbuster – this series should hit me squarely between the eyes.

But it’s all so hopelessly lazy and bland that I struggle to see why it was ever given the green light in the first place.

My uncharitable theory is that Netflix enjoys dancing on the grave of its former competitor.”

My uncharitable theory is that Netflix enjoys dancing on the grave of its former competitor …

The decision to set the show in the present day at the last Blockbuster store in America is a curious choice for starters.

Blockbuster stores were ubiquitous in the 1990s. Image: AP Photo/Ron Heflin

Much of the show’s comedy – I use that word advisedly – comes from the store staff’s vain attempts to cling on to the ever-dwindling customers in the age of Netflix. You’d think this would be an area ripe for satire, however the few jibes that are thrown are toothless at best.

Workplace comedies like The Office and Cheers are clear inspirations for Blockbuster, but those are big shoes to fill and things aren’t helped with a cast of bland supporting characters.

Back in the 90s, Blockbuster stores were pulsating with customers from all walks of life.”

I wonder if the programme-makers could have improved things by setting the series during Blockbuster’s heyday.

Back in the 90s, Blockbuster stores were pulsating with customers from all walks of life. Why not tap into that energy? By setting it during the chain’s death spiral just makes things a bit of a bummer.

The only people I can think of who will get a chuckle out of Blockbuster are its overlords.

Netflix were prime movers in the killing of Blockbuster and now they get to profit off its demise. Again.


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