Superstore can’t deny its roots. Created by Justin Spitzer, who wrote 11 episodes of The Office (2005 – 2013, my review here), this show came on the tail end of the “let’s put a camera into ‘normal’ workplace” comedy genre. Except here, it’s not a mockumentary, the actors actually act and don’t pretend they work there, and the camera crew is not following them. But since Superstore is one of the last ones of that “genre”, it was hard for it to stand out in any way. And yet, due to the great ensemble cast and witty writing, this show is 100% worth watching, even if it never reaches the level of The Office or Parks and Recreation (2009 – 2015).
As with all of these shows, you feel “safe” straightaway because of its setting. No matter where you grew up or how old you are, we all have been in some big store like Cloud 9. And, if you are like me, you might have even worked for one big store for a bit. That’s right; I used to work as a warehouse worker in my youth for a couple of months. But even if I didn’t, I think I would still find this show so relatable. The best running gag this show had were the “in-between scenes” of random customers doing very random things, leaving their children behind or, in most cases, doing really questionable stuff. The best thing about these tiny moments was when I started to question some of them for being “too random”, or I might even say: “Nah, nobody would do THAT in a public store!” I remembered the pandemic we have been through (and, to an extent, we still are in) and realised that people are weird.
That could be this show’s tagline, “people are weird”, because it does not apply to the customers only. The cast here is comprised of many not as known actors playing the ultimate weirdos. The biggest star by far is America Ferrera, who I have known mainly as one of the girls from The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants movies. Well, that “girl” grew up and became a great actress and excellent comedian. I loved the style of humour, her character and how each episode; she had a different name tag. If nothing else, this show was a vehicle for America, and she killed it.
But as I have mentioned before, this is an ensemble piece, so there were many others who helped to make the show what it was. From Ben Feldman (his well-meaning but often too much rambling activist Jonah), Lauren Ash (her Dina might have started as “Dwight Schrute but make him a woman”, but she managed to make the character her own very quickly) to many others (Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Mark McKinney, Nichole Sakura). They each are given something unique and have managed to make their characters stand out. That is something I have to mention – this show finds its footing really soon. Even The Office and Parks and Rec had weaker first seasons, but this show felt like it knew what it was from the pilot episode.
The area where Superstore differs the most from the “giants” of the genre would be the political side. They don’t discuss “politics” per se, but the show was never afraid to tackle all kinds of issues, from class and race to big corporations in the USA and how they treat their workers alongside their anti-union approach. It was fascinating watching this show talk about unions and seeing everything happening now in the USA, where more and more places are shutting down because their employees have unionised. I think that’s one aspect of this show that will age well… Or, unfortunately, won’t age at all because there doesn’t seem to be any change coming. Let’s hope it ages badly as fuck, and if somebody stumbles upon Superstore 20/30 years from now, they will marvel at the stuff these characters had to go through, fight for and still not always get.
My biggest issue with Superstore and the only reason I can’t give it the highest rating is the character work. Especially in seasons four and five, some of my favourite characters (like Cheyenne or Mateo) get downright mean to unbearable where it’s not even funny. What’s more frustrating is you can see their growth through the series, so, at times, it felt like we had gone back several times with mainly these two characters being so back and forth. There is a fine line between your characters being mean where it stops being funny (something even The Office managed to balance most of the time), and mainly in those two seasons, it seemed despite all the growth these two have been through, it didn’t matter. I don’t blame the actors;a I think sometimes the writers have struggled with balancing character growth and comedy. Especially when (without spoiling the show too much) one of the characters gets promoted. I get that it might bread some animosity even among friends but come on.
But that would be my only gripe with this show. Everything else was terrific. I particularly enjoyed the last season because it might have been the first (?) TV show to implement the COVID pandemic into its story. Yes, the final season not only deals with its natural conclusion but also manages to (quite faithfully) showcase the struggles the actual workers have faced during the pandemic. We go from how there were zero to no rules to masks, 6 feet rule etc. In most shows and films, it might be a painful (or even unpleasant) reminder of this pandemic; but in the true Superstore fashion, they kept it real. The creators were not afraid to comment on the pandemic, how workers of these big shops were treated, and the consequences this pandemic had on shopping in general. For that, I applaud the writers.
Overall, Superstore was a delightful and funny show to watch. Sure, at times, you might get frustrated with some characters, and even though it’s the shortest show (out of The Office and Parks and Rec), there were some episodes (around seasons four and five) you could argue weren’t needed. But I would still recommend watching this show, especially, if you have ever worked in any retail or customer-facing job, you might find some much-needed catharsis, or it might give you some PTSD. Also, America Ferrera rules and she should get cast way more.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke
