Update February 16, 2022: Netflix has announced that Melissa Fumero will join Randall Park in the video store workcom Blockbuster. She plays “Eliza, a dedicated mother whose marriage to her high school sweetheart is on the rocks,” the streamer said in a statement. Eliza went to Harvard for one semester, but came home to start a family. And Netflix is hinting at some will-they-won’t-they tension between Fumero and Park, something both actors have experience in. Fumero was one half of Brooklyn Nine Nine’s show-defining romance. As for Park, remember when he was Jim on The Office?
Original story follows.
Video stores, remember them? Randall Park will soon join that other famous Randal (from Clerks) in that most celebrated profession: fictional video store clerks. Produced by Universal Television for Netflix, Blockbuster will focus on the workers of the last remaining Blockbuster video store. The single camera comedy “explores what it takes – and more specifically who it takes – for a small business to succeed against all odds,” per the press release. The show was created by Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Vanessa Ramos, with David Caspe and Jackie Clarke serving as executive producers. The irony shouldn’t be lost on anyone that Netflix is making streaming content about an entire business model they demolished. As Deadline points out, Netflix’s co-founders “vowed to take Blockbuster down” after the video store chain turned down their offer to sell Netflix. Not only did they succeed in killing Blockbuster, the streamer has now decided to monetize its former rival’s grave. Well played, Netflix. Well played.
