‘Blockbuster’ is selling nostalgia, but people aren’t buying it

The latest situational comedy from Netflix comes with a dash of irony, considering it’s based on the once-juggernaut video rental chain that the streaming service rendered obsolete, Blockbuster.

That’s capitalism for you, but the TV series aims to drum up nostalgia for the bygone era of brick and mortar video rental stores. Unfortunately for Netflix, there are many on social media which aren’t quite taken by the concept, specifically because it’s the Blockbuster franchise which is being celebrated.

As numerous Twitter users are pointing out, Blockbuster wasn’t exactly the plucky little corner shop that the sitcom makes it out to be. Much like the streaming service that would serve up its death sentence, it was a giant franchise which swallowed any small business that dared to compete with it. 

Numerous accounts of how Blockbuster took down other, smaller neighborhood video stores are circulating on Twitter at the moment.

Perhaps Netflix’s attempt at transporting us back to a different era of media consumption would’ve panned out better had it gone for a non-descript video store as its setting rather than the chain it put out of business. Then again, Netflix’s bigwigs probably wouldn’t have felt as vindicated by that route.

Blockbuster stars Randall Park as the manager of the titular Blockbuster store alongside Melissa Fumero of Brooklyn Nine Nine fame as his love interest. In case you think it’s still 1999, you don’t need to leave your house to pick this up, nor is it an option – it’s streaming on Netflix. That said, the show isn’t being received all that well critically.