Netflix is bringing back Blockbuster, and everyone involved knows how that sounds.
The streaming giant on Thursday unveiled its new comedy series blockbuster , starring Randall Park , Melissa Fumero and JB Smoff . The show centers on Timmy (The Park), the manager of the last surviving store of this once famous video rental chain 
because He’s trying to keep the brand alive while competing with streaming culture. Blockbuster , set in Michigan, a fictionalized last surviving franchise of the company in Bend, Oregon Location, this is 2022 Documentary The final blockbuster .
Series creator Vanessa Ramos told The Hollywood Reporter , which currently owns Blockbuster’s Dish Network rights, visited the show’s sets to verify its authenticity, including making sure the recreated store used accurate shades of blue and yellow. She also stressed that Netflix was more than happy to make fun of its own brand while buying Netflix for $ from a former competitor who actually rejected the opportunity million2020.
“I’m glad they’re on our side,” Lamo, writing for Big Mouth
, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Supermarket , speaking of Netflix. “They had us put the algorithm to the test and we were surprised how many times we called it out.”
In an interview with
THR, Ramos explains how Netflix ended the show after NBC let it go, why she gets more script notes from broadcast networks than streaming services, and how she today Feel the pilot’s Yeezy joke.
Melissa Fumero, Randall Parker and Vanessa Ramos on Netflix blockbuster premiere On the screen Araya Doheny/Getty Images 2022
1437166224 The series was originally an NBC project before Log onto Netflix. How did it get there? 2022
Davis Entertainment’s John Fox came to David Caspe and I said, “I own the rights to Blockbuster.” He was like, “Do you want to develop a workplace?” I was like, “I’m going in right now.” Not so confident – I thought, “Okay, I’ll figure it out.” It was fall 2020, I sat at the dinner table and attacked it from “What kind of person would work on what type of person, let alone run, in 1000?” That’s where the character Timmy came from. After that, it was pitched to Universal, and then to NBC, who bought the script for the pilot, and then they ultimately decided not to go ahead. By some kind of magic — I consider myself the luckiest person in the world — a week after their passing, Netflix said they were interested.
Did the pilot change to Netflix much? 2022
They have some notes to rewrite The pilot is kind of, but honestly just clarifying — like, “Can we get a better idea of what the Timmy-Percy relationship is?” So it’s just because they’ve known each other since high school. We were kind of kidding, just beefed up what was there and provided more context.
Nostalgic elements of the Blockbuster era and this What are the still fascinating companies? 2022
We will have guest appearances Celebrities come to shoot and they’ll walk in and feel like they’re in a time capsule. It’s just a sensory thing. See yellow and blue, just layout. Someone said, “You have the old cash register!” And it takes you back — you remember to pick the perfect movie down every aisle.
1437166224 Production design, has anyone participated in Blockbuster Da shares details on how to recreate the store? 2022
Ricardo, our production designer Spinacé is amazing. The copyright for Blockbuster goes to Dish, but someone basically represents Blockbuster and has to approve the series, has to sign off to confirm that we used the right blue and the right yellow. They zoomed in on it and saw a bunch of pictures. One of the things they have there is, “Well, Timmy’s office is right here, we’re not going to do that. I know it’s TV, so you have my blessing.”
2022 This show compares to other workplace ensemble series you’ve been involved in how does it work? 2022
I am here Three years at Superstore and two years at Brooklyn Nine-Nine
. It’s kind of like living somewhere for a while and then you start learning a little accent. This is what happens, whether I realize it or not, because when we write some group scenes, we’re like, “Oh, it feels a bit like a supermarket The lounge scene.” Taking a step back, I thought, “The Carlos-Hannah relationship is kind of like [Superstore’s] Cheyenne and Mateo.” It’s kind of in me now, it’s finding its little place to come out. However, Timmy is not with [Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s] Jake or [Superstore’s] Jonah or any of those main characters.
This pilot episode contains a Joke, which mentions Yeezy. Given the recent Kanye West headlines, do you think that’s weird right now? 1437166224
This was written and filmed before . But that’s also just a reference to the comparison: “It’s like Taco Bell’s Doritos shells.” It’s just a word that might have been replaced by something else if we’d known it at the time. I never really forgot about it until you mentioned it just now. I was like, “Oh yeah, I think we do have that word.”
As comedies seem to be getting fewer and fewer opportunities to air, how have you shifted with streaming, and what are your thoughts on the state of TV comedy? 1437166224
Streaming is fun because in my head everything is like, “Okay, you have minutes to tell your story – that’s all.” Some of our episodes were a bit too long – I think the ending was almost minutes, the pilot gets closer . So the freedom to be able to do that is lovely. And I don’t know if it’s because Netflix doesn’t have a ton of sitcom-type shows, but they don’t give a ton of notes. There are things where if they have issues, we can fight back, and our team is very supportive, “Okay, we’re sure you know what’s interesting.” For the web, they think, “We’ve been doing this for X years. It’s proven We know that’s the way.” They have their own stats, so it’s hard to fight back.
1437166224 Are Netflix execs having an irony Launch a show that celebrates a former competitor they helped make irrelevant? 1437166224
They definitely have. I’m glad they are on our side. It’s even weirder not to admit it. Throughout the show, we have several references to it. In the pilot, the client, played by Carl Tart, is looking for a movie because the algorithm keeps recommending The Great British Bake Off and his daughter Friends left him for a pastry chef in Manchester. A bit of a downside. They let us take a shot at the algorithm and we were amazed at how many times we called it.
1437166224 Have you ever been to the last Blockbuster store ?
I do not have. I needed to do this because someone asked me this question and I thought, “I need to go to Bend.” If we had a second season, I was going to go there.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
Blockbuster is now live.
