Blockbuster – Picture: Netflix
Netflix’s new comedy series Blockbuster deliberately set up a second season but after poor reviews and very little viewership, the show will not return for season 2. Here’s what we expected from season 2 of Blockbuster plus why it got the axe.
Created by Vanessa Ramos (known for Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore), this new workplace comedy features the talents of Randall Park, Melissa Fumero, Olga Merediz, and Tyler Alvarez.
It premiered on Netflix on November 3rd, 2022, with 10 episodes to mixed reviews, currently sitting at a 5.1 on IMDb and 23% on RottenTomatoes.
The series did receive a thumbs-up recommendation from Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings in a Tweet to the co-founder of Netflix, Marc Randolph.
Has Netflix Renewed or Canceled Blockbuster?
Official Renewal Status: Canceled
Deadline revealed the show had been canceled after a month and a half of the show being on Netflix.
As we’ve discussed previously, Netflix will use multiple factors to decide on whether to renew, and an important number for a show of this size will be how many people go on to finish the series.
Picture: Netflix
The cancelation comes after a dyer year for Netflix Comedy. The service has failed to renew any fledgling comedy shows since May 2021.
Titles like Hard Cell, The Pentaverate, God’s Favorite Idiot, Uncoupled, Mo, Chad, and JT Go Deep are awaiting renewals, while Pretty Smart has been officially canceled.
In an interview with THR, Vanessa Ramos signaled she hoped for more episodes adding that she’s even planning on taking a trip out to the last Blockbuster store in Bend should they get renewed.
Ramos told DigitalSpy shortly after its debut that they’re “waiting to hear back from Netflix,” adding that she doesn’t want to get too excited about anything.
How well is Blockbuster performing on Netflix?
Blockbuster was not a top performer for Netflix and all available metrics suggest it had a mediocre start before dropping off entirely.
The show has yet to feature in the official Netflix top 10 site missing the title in Blockbuster’s first week, meaning that the new show was watched for less than 20.30M global hours in week 1.
According to FlixPatrol data, the show featured in the Netflix top 10s in 13 of the 90 total countries that they track.
The show only featured in the top 10s for eight days in Netflix Canada and less in all other regions.
After debuting on November 3rd, the series had left the Netflix top 10s globally just 7 days later on the 11th.
In the US, where performance should be the strongest, the title peaked at number 8 in the Netflix top 10s and dropped out after 6 days.
FlixPatrol data for Netflix’s Blockbuster series
What about external stats? Things don’t look particularly strong on that front, either.
TelevisionStats.com states that the show peaked on November 4th when looking at data from the likes of Google, Wikipedia, Torrents, and IMDb. As of November 10th, the show is the 13th most popular series using external data and the 55th most popular title overall.
According to British SVOD analytics company Digital i, completion data was not strong, although is yet to publish official data.
What We Expected from Blockbuster Season 2 on Netflix
Should the show have gotten renewed? What could we expected? Let’s dive in.
To recap, episode 10 ends as a holiday special, with the team beginning the episode by decorating the store. Disaster strikes, however, with customers ransacking the store and Timmy on the verge of giving up.
The series concludes with Hannah watching the video of Aaron’s failed proposal and discovering that Eliza does have feelings for Timmy.
Speaking to SlashFilm on the “bittersweet” finale, Vanessa Ramos told them:
“For the finale, as a room, we were happy with it and we had our fun stuff. Some characters, Connie and Patrice, had their win, which we also considered the other love story of the show. I don’t know that it came across after editing, but the Patrice character, her whole deal is her nail salon is Paris-themed, but she’s only been to the Paris Hotel in Vegas. So, there’s a slot machine. You see it in there on occasion, like, “Why is there a slot machine?” It’s because her reference of Paris is Vegas, and she thinks that’s the same thing.”
Picture: Netflix
Should we have gotten a second season, we’d have expected to have similar story beats from the first season, with the gang desperately trying to keep the lights on, taking stabs at Netflix, and relationships developing between all the main cast members.
If you need more Blockbuster in your life, those in the United States can still watch the documentary called The Last Blockbuster which was added to the service in March 2021.
Netflix Synopsis: "At the last remaining Blockbuster, a hardworking manager fights to keep his video store open and staff happy amid competition and complicated feelings."
