{"id":201414,"date":"2021-03-13T17:16:40","date_gmt":"2021-03-13T14:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/superstore-is-the-show-we-needed-but-didnt-deserve\/"},"modified":"2021-03-13T17:16:40","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T14:16:40","slug":"superstore-is-the-show-we-needed-but-didnt-deserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/superstore-is-the-show-we-needed-but-didnt-deserve\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;Superstore&#8217; is the Show We Needed But Didn\u2019t Deserve"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a30520b41c50\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a30520b41c50\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/superstore-is-the-show-we-needed-but-didnt-deserve\/#Season_1_Episode_11_%E2%80%9CLabor%E2%80%9D\" >Season 1, Episode 11: \u201cLabor\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/superstore-is-the-show-we-needed-but-didnt-deserve\/#Season_2_Episode_10_%E2%80%9CBlack_Friday%E2%80%9D\" >Season 2, Episode 10: \u201cBlack Friday\u201d<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#&#8217;Superstore&#8217; is the Show We Needed But Didn\u2019t Deserve<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.9-->Workplace comedies have been a treasured genre of television nearly as long as television has been around. We\u2019ve entered the day-to-day lives of cops (<i>Brooklyn Nine-Nine<\/i>,<em> Reno 911<\/em>), lawyers (<i>Night Court<\/i>, <i>Ally McBeal<\/i>), doctors and nurses (<i>Scrubs<\/i>, <em>Dr. Ken<\/em>), government workers (<i>Parks and Recreation<\/i>, <i>Veep<\/i>), and journalists (<i>The Mary Tyler Moore Show<\/i>, <i><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> Radio<\/i>, <i>Murphy Brown<\/i>).<\/p>\n<p>At times there\u2019s an ebb and flow in interest, but, like crime procedurals, workplace comedies are the workhorses of American television and have only gained momentum since the American remake of <i>The Office<\/i> made them cool again in the mid-2000s. But, despite all the varieties of office settings and characters, there\u2019s never been a show like NBC\u2019s <strong><i>Superstore<\/i><\/strong>, which is ending its six-season run this month.<\/p>\n<p>For fans who know what the show is capable of, it is ending far too soon.<\/p>\n<p><i>Superstore<\/i>, which was created by <i>The Office<\/i>-alum <strong>Justin Spitzer<\/strong>, is set in St. Louis, Missouri, at a fictional Walmart-like big-box store called Cloud 9. The show debuted in 2015 with <strong>America Ferrera<\/strong> as its lead and big-name celebrity draw, assisted by an unusually diverse ensemble of lesser-known comedic actors.<\/p>\n<p>The focus on diverse working-class characters (Black, Asian, Latinx, disabled, elderly, queer) made <i>Superstore <\/i>im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely stand apart from the usual workplace comedy. On top of that, its retail-set plots stealthily use storylines to comment on prickly topics such as immigration, healthcare and insurance, racial discrimination, and labor rights while somehow maintaining the joke-on-top-of-a-joke pace of beloved sitcoms like <i>30 Rock<\/i>.<i>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Interstitials \u2014 cutaways unrelated to the plot of the episode \u2014 of customers behaving disgustingly and\/or disturbingly with store merchandise (using deodorant and putting it back on the shelf, sniffing and biting candles, using cookware as a back scratcher and returning it) occur often. They last less than a minute, but they are compact comedy bites that could be <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xIPPTsON-n8\">compiled into one long episode<\/a> as a Dadaist artist statement for <i>Superstore<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a show about ordinary people and their ordinary struggles that renders them meaningful by focusing on them. On <em>Superstore<\/em>, the people re-stocking groceries and electronics in the aisle aren\u2019t set dressing for a better-off white lead to traipse through. They are the main characters.<\/p>\n<p>Over six seasons, <i>Superstore<\/i> has managed to portray the plight of minimum-wage workers with an all-star comedic ensemble, imbue it with the charmingly nihilistic chaos of <i>Party Down, <\/i>and still have room to make a substantial statement about the horrors of life under capitalism.<\/p>\n<p>It currently has a ninety-one-percent rating <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/tv\/superstore\">on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> and has been widely praised by critics. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/2018\/12\/superstore-women-amy-dina-pregnant-season-four.html\">Vulture <\/a>called it \u201cone of network television\u2019s most consistently and quietly revolutionary sitcoms.\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/culture\/2017\/5\/5\/15552236\/superstore-finale-recap-tornado\">Vox dubbed it<\/a> both \u201cTV\u2019s best workplace comedy\u201d and \u201cone of TV\u2019s most sadly overlooked shows.\u201d Six seasons in, it still feels like a secret you\u2019re pleading your friends to discover: \u201cDrop what you\u2019re doing and watch because you won\u2019t regret it!\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>As we get ready to say goodbye to\u00a0<em>Superstore<\/em>, let\u2019s look back at six key episodes that certify it as one of the sharpest and funniest shows on television:<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Season_1_Episode_11_%E2%80%9CLabor%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Season 1, Episode 11: \u201cLabor\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-363804\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Superstore-Labor.jpeg\" alt=\"Superstore Labor\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Superstore-Labor.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Superstore-Labor-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>In the Season 1 finale, teen employee Cheyenne (<strong>Nichole Sakura<\/strong>) seemingly goes into active labor while working her shift at the store, and the employees all rally \u2014 each in their own way \u2014 to help deliver the baby. Amy (Ferrera), the mother of the group, steps in to comfort Cheyenne while fielding inane questions from the growing crowd around them, including a customer asking her to explain the difference between sunblock and sunscreen while Cheyenne shrieks in pain.<\/p>\n<p>Store manager Glenn (<strong>Mark McKinney<\/strong>) steps in because no real doctors are present and he \u201cplayed the abortion doctor in a Hell House once.\u201d Sandra (<strong>Kaliko Kauahi<\/strong>), the quiet one, whispers she\u2019s a trained midwife to no one in particular. And Garrett (<strong>Colton Dunn<\/strong>) films the whole thing for Cheyenne\u2019s absent partner but mistakenly broadcasts it on the store\u2019s for-sale television screens. This plotline is full of sitcom hijinks that in any other show could easily be the meat of the episode. But for <em>Superstore<\/em>, that\u2019s just the pre-title sequence.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, still-pregnant Cheyenne is struggling again but says she can\u2019t leave work because she needs the money\/hours to help raise her newborn daughter. Her coworkers try to come up with ways to help her. While on a call with Amy to corporate, pushy idealist Jonah (<strong>Ben Feldman<\/strong>) suggests that paid maternity leave \u2014 a policy Cloud 9 corporate refuses to back \u2014 is a feature at other box stores that have unions, and the use of the word \u201cunion\u201d immediately sets off alarm bells and triggers an uber-capitalist response: the home office sends in a \u201clabor relations consultant,\u201d a.k.a. a union buster, to speak to the store.<\/p>\n<p>Cheyenne eventually does give birth in the store and immediately tells Glenn that she may be a little late to work the next day, which is the breaking point for him. The union buster overhears Glenn mock-sternly telling a beaming Cheyenne that she essentially gets paid maternity leave: \u201cCheyenne, this is unacceptable. You\u2019ve left your insides all over the floor, and now you\u2019ve brought your child to work. You\u2019re suspended. For four weeks. With pay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The other employees stage a walkout after hearing Glenn has been unjustly fired for his good deed. It\u2019s a gutsy topic for any show let alone a first season sitcom. It\u2019s also a sharp turn tonally that announces what <i>Superstore<\/i> is all about moving forward \u2014 unionization storylines bubble over into future seasons. The image of a dejected Glenn by his car, looking up and seeing a sea of his employees walking out in solidarity with him (to the tune of The Who\u2019s \u201cBaba O\u2019Riley\u201d) is so triumphant you\u2019ll want to do a Bender-style fist pump while watching it play out.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Season_2_Episode_10_%E2%80%9CBlack_Friday%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Season 2, Episode 10: \u201cBlack Friday\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-363805 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Superstore-Black-Friday.jpg\" alt=\"Black Friday\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Superstore-Black-Friday.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Superstore-Black-Friday-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Holiday-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theme<\/a>d episodes are standard sitcom fare. <i>Brooklyn Nine-Nine<\/i> has <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/screenrant.com\/every-brooklyn-nine-nine-halloween-heist-episode-ranked\/\">turned its Halloween episodes into an event<\/a> and <i>Bob\u2019s Burgers<\/i> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bustle.com\/entertainment\/best-thanksgiving-tv-episodes-bobs-burgers\">consistently nails Thanksgiving<\/a>. But on <i>Superstore<\/i>, the equivalent isn\u2019t a feel-good episode about the spirit of any holiday; it\u2019s a real look at the cost of supporting that fantasy.<\/p>\n<p>Season 2\u2019s \u201cBlack Friday\u201d flips the script so that we experience holiday chaos from the perspective of retail workers. This perspective shift allows us to see why the biggest shopping day of the year is also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2012\/11\/14\/pf\/black-friday-work\/index.html\">the worst day of the year for retail workers<\/a>. It opens with eerie horror movie violin music and a shot of Amy and Garrett looking at a growing line of Black Friday shoppers. A title appears on the screen that simply reads \u201c3:00 am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone is feeling glum but battle-ready, and the store is frenzied. Five minutes in, aisle twelve is covered in blood, and a worker is down. Amid the melee, Amy is dealing with a pregnancy scare, and other employees are just trying not to be injured while doing their jobs.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, to avoid register duty, Garrett comically prolongs his PA announcement and Jonah attempts to document the night via video camera (\u201cThis is the dark night of our souls; a portrait of hopelessness\u201d), but a frustrated Brett (<strong>Jon Miyahara<\/strong>) throws it away mid-recording. Mateo and Cheyenne run a side hustle encouraging customers to bribe them to get in-demand items. While interacting with the lunacy of deal-seeking customers, the employees learn that they are all sick from the community potluck they had before the shift started.<\/p>\n<p>At around 11 pm, they learn that corporate is unavailable to field their calls for help because they consider Black Friday a holiday and are therefore closed (ha!). At the darkest hour, Garrett, the group slacker, becomes an unlikely motivator and gets everyone to commit to finishing the shift by doing the bare minimum (\u201cI\u2019mma get out there, and I\u2019mma finish my shift. And <i>yeah<\/i> I\u2019mma cut corners, and I\u2019mma phone it in, but it\u2019ll never be said that Garrett McNeill did not do just enough to not get fired\u201d) \u2014 and they do.<\/p>\n<p>This episode is the kind of bittersweet take on the \u201choliday\u201d that forces us as viewers to reflect on our behavior and engenders compassion for laborers whose labor is largely unheralded.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-361222 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/next-page.jpg\" alt=\"Next Page\" width=\"364\" height=\"99\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/superstore\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=superstore\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#&#8217;Superstore&#8217; is the Show We Needed But Didn\u2019t Deserve&#8221; Workplace comedies have been a treasured genre of television nearly as long as television has been around. We\u2019ve entered the day-to-day lives of cops (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Reno 911), lawyers (Night Court, Ally McBeal), doctors and nurses (Scrubs, Dr. Ken), government workers (Parks and Recreation, Veep), and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":201415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Superstore-Depositions-1.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[86,71367,19890,1389],"class_list":["post-201414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-comedy","tag-sitcoms","tag-superstore","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}