Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) has been cast to appear opposite Randall Park in Blockbuster, Netflix’s upcoming workplace comedy set in a fictionalized version of the last Blockbuster Video on the planet. Hailing from Universal Television, Blockbuster is being described as a 10-episode, single-camera workplace comedy that “explores what it takes – and, more specifically, who it takes – for a small business to succeed against all odds.” In the context of the series, the last Blockbuster is in “a dying strip mall in a dying town.” This reads a little bit like the idea behind the @LoneBlockbuster Twitter account, a popular parody account that is supposedly run by depressed employees at the last Blockbuster where everything is always awful and the customers are a ragtag group of lunatics.
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There actually is one, single Blockbuster Video still in business, in Bend, Oregon. Like most Blockbuster stores, it’s in a stand-alone building rather than a strip mall, and the staff and customers seem fairly normal, if the 2020 documentary The Last Blockbuster is any indication. That movie was a big hit on Netflix when it arrived there last spring.
According to Deadline, who first reported her casting, Fumero will play Eliza, described as “a dedicated mother whose marriage to her high school sweetheart is on the rocks. She left Harvard after one semester to start a family and now works at Blockbuster alongside Timmy (Park) as his trusty Number 2 – and maybe more.”
The series is created by Vanessa Ramos, with David Caspe and Jackie Clarke on board as writers/executive producers. Payman Benz will direct and co-executive produce four episodes, including the pilot.
The move reunites Fumero with Ramos, who served a sa writer-producer on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Benz also directed some episodes of that series. In addition to Blockbuster and Brookly Nine-Nine, fans may recognize Fumero as the voice of Melissa on Marvel’s animated series M.O.D.O.K. for Hulu.
The management missteps that led to Blockbuster’s demise — the most well-known, but certainly not the only one, was the decision to pass on an opportunity to buy Netflix early in its lifespan — are enumerated not only in The Last Blockbuster but also in Built to Fail: The Inside Story of Blockbuster’s Inevitable Bust, a new book out this week from longtime franchise owner Alan Payne, who appears in The Last Blockbuster. Payne is sharply critical of the parade of executives who followed after the retirement of longtime Blockbuster chief H. Wayne Huizenga, who bought Blockbuster shortly after it was founded and built it up into an entertainment juggernaut, then cashed out when it was at the apex of its power and value.
That mismanagement seems like a great source for humor in a Blockbuster sitcom, although at this point it’s impossible to say what the plans are for the show’s sensibilities.
No word yet on an official release date, but keep your eye on ComicBook for updates.
Is the Blockbuster sitcom something you’re excited to see? Leave a comment below, or hit up @russburlingame on Twitter to talk all things comics, and ask about his collection of Blockbuster Video paraphernalia. There’s a lot of it.
