That means that Deadline’s recent report that the series has been cancelled and 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.
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 by Blockbuster throwing shade at the streamer for making the series in the first place. The series, created by former Brooklyn 99 writer Vanessa Ramos, was about the employees of the last Blockbuster in existence based on the actual last 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 from Brooklyn 99, Fresh Off the Boat, and Curb 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 under people just continually rewatching The 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 include The Getdown, Girlboss, and Everything 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. Blockbuster isn’t the only series that Netflix unceremoniously put back on the shelf—just the most ironic.
More: Blockbuster Cast Shares Favorite Memories About The Video Chain
Source: Deadline
