Netflix, the streaming giant that once started out as a DVD-by-mail rental service ended up eating Blockbuster’s lunch and all but destroying their entire business, so it was always strange to think that they would greenlight a workplace sitcom about the employees working at the last Blockbuster in existence titled, simply,Blockbuster.
That means thatDeadline’s recent report that the series has been cancelledand consigned to the one-season-wonders dustbin that makes up much of Netflix’s back catalogue should be no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention. Poor critical reception (along with a lack of interest from audiences) plagued the show,making it the worst-reviewed show of the year.
Related:What Was it Like Renting Anime from Blockbuster Video?
The move by Netflix—which in essence means they not only canceled the real-life Blockbuster but their fictional take on it as well—came after the series, which had all the potential of a possible lowkey hit behind it, a one-two punch of an insult, coarsened byBlockbuster throwing shade at the streamerfor making the series in the first place. The series, created by formerBrooklyn 99writer Vanessa Ramos, was about the employees of the last Blockbuster in existence based on the actuallast Blockbuster in existence, the independently owned franchise located in Bend, Oregon.
Theoretically, a show with Melissa Fumero, Randall Park, and J.B. Smoove (comedy-ex-pats fromBrooklyn 99,Fresh Off the Boat, andCurb Your Enthusiasm), should’ve helped a freshman series leap to a bigger start. That said, things conspired—things like poor writing, poor reviews, and poor storytelling potential—as well as a glut of workplace sitcoms that still can’t dig out from underpeople just continually rewatchingThe Office, that led to the show’s starvation and eventual demise at the hands of the streaming giant that first commissioned it.
The series will be forever consigned to the other one-hit wonders of the streaming service’s massive back catalogue of ideas that they tossed away either ahead of their potential or that shouldn’t have been made in the first place. These includeThe Getdown,Girlboss, andEverything Sucks!, a 1990s-set series that took place in Boring, Oregon, making the state the place that can’t win in terms of being a setting for anything that wants to continue into a sophomore year on Netflix.Blockbusterisn’t the only series that Netflix unceremoniously put back on the shelf—just the most ironic.
