Remember the days of actually getting in your car and driving to a Blockbuster while crossing your fingers a new DVD release you’ve been dying to see is available? And then when it’s not, trying to figure out what you haven’t already watched a million times before so you don’t leave empty-handed? Netflix’s Blockbuster dives into those good old days when streaming didn’t exist and everyone owned a DVD player.
The 10-episode series is set in the last remaining Blockbuster Video and stars Randall Park as the store’s manager, Timmy Yoon. The cast also includes Melissa Fumero as Eliza Walker, Tyler Alvarez as Carlos Herrera, and Madeleine Arthur as Hannah Hadman. Olga Merediz plays Connie Serrano, JB Smoove is Percy Scott, and Kamaia Fairburn stars as Kayla Scott.
Blockbuster‘s the brainchild of Vanessa Ramos (Superstore, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), with Ramos guiding the series as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Additional executive producers include writer David Caspe, writer Jackie Clarke, John Davis, and John Fox.
Netflix just released a batch of photos and confirmed Blockbuster will be available to check out on Thursday, November 3, 2022.
The Plot and Character Details:
Timmy Yoon (Park) is an analog dreamer living in a 5G world. And after learning he is operating the last Blockbuster Video in America, Timmy and his staff employees (including his long-time crush, Eliza (Fumero) fight to stay relevant. The only way to succeed is to remind their community that they provide something big corporations can’t: human connection.
- Randall Park as TIMMY: He’s a big dreamer whose love of movies makes it easy for him to recommend exactly what his regulars need, even when they don’t know they need it. He’s worked at Blockbuster since he was a teen and honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
- Melissa Fumero as ELIZA: 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 (Randall Park) as his trusty number two…and maybe more.
- Olga Merediz as CONNIE: She works at Blockbuster to make friends, not money. She’s the unintentionally blunt mother figure to not just the employees, but many of the Blockbuster regulars.
- Tyler Alvarez as CARLOS: As a first-generation son of immigrants, he learned English by watching movies, and they quickly became his love language. He dreams of being a filmmaker, but can’t help but feel like he owes it to his parents to live the American life they planned for him.
- Madeleine Arthur as HANNAH: She’s genuinely sweet, a little naive, yet undeniably charming. She lost her mom at a young age but is surrounded by family at Blockbuster. Financially savvy to a fault, the staff is helping her learn the importance of self-care.
Recurring Guest Stars:
- Kamaia Fairburn as KAYLA: Kayla is Percy’s smart and sometimes scary teen daughter. She’s not super open to the idea of taking orders from anyone, which can make her working at Blockbuster complicated for Timmy.
- JB Smoove as PERCY: As the strip mall and party store owner, Percy sees himself as “the man with the plan.” He’s the fast-talking, stylish, over-confident other half of the best friend duo of Timmy and Percy, who can’t seem to stay away from Blockbuster, especially with his daughter working there.
