See Blockbuster Brought Back To Life In New Series First Look
If you are in need of a 1990s nostalgia boost, check out this first look at the return of Blockbuster Video.
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If you were a kid in the 1990s, there was no feeling better than heading to your local Blockbuster on a Friday night to pick up some movies. Whether you were watching at home with your family, having a sleepover packed with your best friends, or just grabbing some titles to entertain yourself, Blockbuster was the place to be. But, in the world of streaming and the option to order DVDs directly to your address, sadly the rental store has all but gone out of business – save for one location in Bend, Oregon. A fictionalized version of this store’s story will be the centerpiece for an upcoming Netflix series for which a fresh batch of photos has recently been released. You can check them out below.
Starring Randall Park, Melissa Fumero, Tyler Alvarez, Madeleine Arthur, Olga Merediz, J.B. Smoove, Kamaia Fairburn, Ashley Alexander, and Robyn Bradley, Blockbuster will center around the staff of the franchise’s last store and the customers who’ve helped keep it open. In the series, Park stars as Timmy Yoon, the store’s manager who is just trying to keep the doors open while getting his flirt on with his crush and employee Eliza (Fumero). Reminding you to rewind your VHS tapes, the laugh-out-loud series will hit Netflix on November 3.
The new look at Blockbuster shows us the inner workings of the last standing store and the blue polo and khaki pants-wearing employees who are making it chug along. Adding good writing and comedy to mundane tasks like restocking the shelves and providing superior customer service will prove to make or break the production. While most of the cast will appear as the store’s team members, the photos give us the feeling that Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s Smoove will take on the role of one of the regular customers.
No stranger to the workplace comedy genre, Blockbuster’s creator and showrunner Vanessa Ramos, has a long list of credits in incredibly successful productions of similar varieties. Included on her résumé are writing mentions for projects including Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Crashing, Superstore, Bordertown, and more. Ramos also serves as a writer and executive producer for the series alongside David Caspe and Jackie Clarke with Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox also joining as an executive producer. Universal Television backs the show as its producer.
As for the world’s last Blockbuster store, the Bend location became the final standing reminder of the video rental institution back in 2019. The folks who own the Blockbuster trademark, Dish Network, have done away with opening new franchise locations, but the spot in eastern Oregon regains its trademark status every year. While many businesses floundered during the heaviest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the final Blockbuster location was able to make it through without losing any staff members.
Getting creative with it, the rental spot turned itself into an Airbnb destination back in September 2020, allowing travelers to enjoy all the movies they could watch and snacks they could eat during their stay. While you may have not lucked out in being able to rest your head at the world’s last Blockbuster, you can visually step back inside when the 10-episode Blockbuster hits Netflix on November 3.
