A sitcom about characters trying to save a video store sounds like a great idea, and it was easy to anticipate Netflix's Blockbuster. Based on the trailer, it looked funny and sweet, which is always the perfect combination for a charming and bingeworthy sitcom. The cast is great and there is a nostalgia factor for the video rental chain, but it's hard not to feel like there's something missing from the show. The majority of the reviews saw critics wishing that the show was as good as the premise.
Blockbuster has become the 2022 TV series with the worst reviews, and viewers felt that it was lacking a lot as well. There are a few problems with the sitcom and a few things that it could have done better.
Ratings and rankings aren't everything and art is subjective. Polaroid is a horror movie with a 0% Rotten Tomatoes rating that is actually a pretty good story and a fun film to be entertained by. But in the case of Blockbuster, fans and critics agree that the sitcom is lacking. Blockbuster's Rotten Tomatoes ratings are really low. The show has a 22% rating on the Tomatometer and a 44% Audience Score. Reading the critics' reviews that are on the sitcom's Rotten Tomatoes page sheds light on its problems. Kristen Baldwin from Entertainment Weekly gave it a C and said that it's "ultimately hindered by dusty sitcom tropes and flat writing." Ross McIndoe wrote for Slant Magazine, "If you fed the jokes from early-2000s sitcoms into an AI generator, it would probably spit out" the show.
The trailer for Blockbuster looked funny, but unfortunately, the few jokes that are in the trailer don't translate to a hilarious season 1. There are two main problems with the show: there are no real stakes and the show shouldn't be set in 2022. When the show opens, Timmy Yoon (Randall Park) is told that he's the manager of the final Blockbuster store. He's shocked but determined to use his good-humored personality to make the store a success. But it's confusing that this is the store that is kept open since it doesn't seem to make money easily and there aren't many customers.
The second problem is that it's hard to buy that this kind of store could be expected to thrive in this day and age. The premise fails right away because how can anyone really expect a brick and mortar video store to stay in business in 2022? People remember renting movies at Blockbuster years ago. They feel nostalgic for a time that is now gone. They don't wish that they could rent movies from the store now because they know that isn't a thing anymore. The reason why people love streaming services like Netflix is the ease and convenience and options available. The new Netflix shows and movies in December 2022 alone prove the amount of content that people are thrilled to have access to.
Blockbuster isn't a hit with critics or fans because it isn't as funny as it could be and it also doesn't even feel like what people remember about the franchise. Everyone recalls being frustrated because it was a Friday or Saturday night and their local store was out of new releases, or at least the one that they really wanted. That is mainly what people think of when they remember the experience of renting movies from a physical store. After the first episode, the sitcom could be about literally any store and feels generic and flat.
Blockbuster is often compared to Superstore, but while Superstore has great character development, the employees on Blockbuster are pretty flat. While Timmy is sweet, his love interest Eliza Walker (Melissa Fumero) is awkward. She isn't particularly funny and doesn't add a lot to the show. This is in contrast to Fumero's Brooklyn Nine-Nine character Amy Santiago who is dorky and hilarious. The other characters seem to love movies well enough but don't seem to have a real reason to work at the store. There is the token aspiring filmmaker in Carlos Herrera (Tyler Alvarez), but he says all the things that are expected from this type of character.
The best sitcoms on Netflix have characters who stand out and episodes that live up to the premise. It's hard to know why the employees of this video store are even still working there. It's hard not to watch season 1 and want to ask them why they get another job. By the season 1 finale, there hasn't been enough character development or even enough plot to feel like it's been a satisfying journey. And it's hard to wish for a season 2 of a show that doesn't have much of a voice.