Blockbuster (TV series)

Blockbuster is a 2022 live-action sitcom that aired on Netflix. It stars Randall Park as Timmy Yoon, Melissa Fumero as Eliza Walker, Olga Merediz as Connie Serrano, Tyler Alvarez as Carlos Herrera, and Madeleine Arthur as Hannah Hadman.

It's another day in Michigan. Timmy still runs a Blockbuster store in the age of streaming. He holds no grudge against those that have eschewed the physical video store in favor of Netflix, having the perfect recommendations for customers going through a rough time and unable to watch The Great British Bakeoff. It helps that his motley crew of employees have become a family.

Corporate calls and drops the bombshell; they're liquidating everything, except Timmy's store. He is running the last Blockbuster on the planet. Instead of making him close down the franchise, they will cut him loose and let him run Blockbuster as a small business. Timmy is scared about what this means, but decides to make the most of it to keep the store running. It was the only safe place for him as a teenager after his parents divorced, but now he has to grow up to keep it safe for his employees.

The series was cancelled after one season (of ten episodes).


 * Bi the Way: Carlos confirms in the Halloween episode that he is bisexual and out of the closet. His parents
 * Both Sides Have a Point:
 * Eliza and Timmy disagree about the extra bells and whistles that Percy wants to add to their block party idea, namely the foam machine and giant displays. On the one hand, Eliza is correct that it's distracting from the point that they are trying to get more customers and help other small businesses. Timmy suggests that maybe the bells and whistles are a good idea to attract those customers, and besides which Percy is his landlord. Eliza ends up proven right when Percy doing fireworks in the daytime cause panic and knock down a giant gorilla display.
 * Hannah encourages Carlos to apply for film school rather than get an accounting degree. She says that a person should follow their passions before life boxes them in and Connie while high on a 5-hour energy drink says the same thing. Carlos demurs and studies for his accounting exam because he says that his parents have just found out that he's bisexual and they have high expectations for him while working double shifts. Plus, going to film school is not a guarantee that you will become a famous director or creator. Sure enough, the season one finale has.
 * Character Witness: The pilot starts with Timmy advising a customer to rent Under the Tuscan Sun to deal with a breakup. When the news comes to interview Timmy about the failed block party, said customer comes to thank Timmy because he helped mend his broken heart; when he sees that Timmy is on live TV, he grabs the mic and tells everyone that Timmy Yoon is a movie genius.
 * Cool Old Lady: Connie Serrano is this, and the Team Mom for the store. She's not afraid to speak her mind or meddle, such as when she figures out that Timmy has to lay off someone and warns the rest of the team. Later, when Hannah is confused about what Dia de los Muertos involves, Connie offers to make an ofrenda for Hannah's dead mother.
 * Do Wrong Right: Timmy is mortified and embarrassed when his attempt to counterprank the teens that are pranking the store led to him breaking a skylight in their mother's store. He didn't get caught because he also knocked out the twin's mother before she saw him, and Eliza convinced her that the twins broke the skylight instead. She tells Timmy it wasn't stupid that he wanted to get his own back since she and Percy were preparing to hit them with mustard-filled water balloons; she says that he needn't have get involved because he is the boss, while she is the employee. He can't afford to get in trouble.
 * Due to the Dead: While Hannah at first doesn't understand how Dia de los Muertos works, she gets into building an ofrenda for her mother and arranging her favorite food.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When learning that he accidentally inspired Eliza to give her cheating husband Aaron a second chance, Timmy swallows his planned declaration of love and lets her go. He talks with Percy about the fact that it would be inappropriate and hypocritical of him to make a move on her.
 * Interrupted Suicide: Connie says that she was on the verge of running into the road and letting a car hit her when she got the call saying Blockbuster would hire her. After hearing that, Timmy and Percy silently agree they can't lay her off.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kayla is the most apathetic and rudest employee at the Blockbuster, saying she only works there because her dad Percy put her up to it. But when the team confronts Timmy about which member he is laying off, she offers to quit because she hates the job anyway and doesn't care. Percy steps in and offers to cover her salary so he can keep seeing her when she comes to work, on the condition that Timmy doesn't tell her.
 * Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Percy and Timmy had a rivalry with teen pranksters whose mom runs a bait and tackle shop. When the little monsters restart a prank war, Percy wants to retaliate but Timmy knows that are adults they can't get into a fight with children because it wouldn't look good to the law. When they glue a DVD to Eliza's hand, she agrees to take Timmy's place and help Percy with a counterprank, despite Timmy's protests.
 * Protagonist-Centered Morality: One episode has Eliza's plan to keep Connie awake for inventory backfire when Connie loses her filters on a 5-hour Energy Drink. Carlos and Hannah are so entertained that Carlos videotapes Connie's rampage and dance through the store, editing it as a thriller movie trailer. It seems a little unethical given Connie is under the influence and the Team Mom otherwise.
 * Reality Ensues: From what we see, Aaron is sincerely remorseful about cheating on Eliza. They are trying to do date nights and he's getting off work early to spend time with her. As Connie points out while hopped up on five-hour energy drink, however, forgiving a cheater is not that easy. He violated trust and upended Eliza's sense of stability. Aaron is "trying" but he cut a romantic dinner date early to get the "beer with the clouds" that he wanted, and Eliza is stressed when Timmy's parents interrupt her "me" time when she wants to watch Trout Royale before Aaron gets home from guys night. She doesn't know what to think when realizing that Connie is right that she's not happy despite Aaron's best efforts.
 * Sadistic Choice:
 * Why Eliza at least tries to hear out her cheating husband rather than divorce him as initially planned. She mentions that his cheating has robbed her of her dignity, and disrupted the home stability she built for their daughter, but Timmy mentioning that his parents' divorce messed him up made her consider that she needs to consider her daughter's feelings about the situation.
 * Timmy tries to figure out who he can lay off for financial reasons. Percy "assists" by saying that his daughter Kayla is off the table. In the end, they realize that Hannah is the most incompetent employee, but the sweetest. As he prepares to break the news when the team confronts him, as Timmy would have rather waited a day to get her an Edible Bouquet as an apology, Kayla decides to quit and tells off her dad for trying to give her job security that she doesn't want. Turns out Percy will pay her salary, in secret, if Timmy keeps her as an employee, avoiding the choice altogether.
 * Self Deprecating Humor: There's a lot of potshots about Netflix streaming and the shows that it producers. Netflix is also releasing the show on its streaming service, and has a reputation for killing Blockbuster.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Deconstructed with Timmy and Percy. Timmy tends to humor Percy's whims and barbs because they were high school buds, and Percy is his landlord besides who threatens to double or triple the Blockbuster rent for petty reasons. Carlos has to point out that Timmy lets Percy walk all over him and it's not an equal relationship.
 * Your Cheating Heart: Eliza is mad at her husband Aaron for cheating on her with a younger woman named Erin. She does agree, however, to try and reconcile with him for their daughter's sake.