Hiatus has come early for some of the biggest shows on television due to production halts across the industry, and viewers may soon be in need of some TV options to binge-watch and pass the time while staying at home and social distancing. Although NBC's Superstore was one of the shows that ended earlier than intended in the 2019-2020 TV season, showrunners Gabe Miller and Jonathan Green explained why it can be a rewarding show for binge-watching.
Speaking with CinemaBlend ahead of the Season 5 finale that delivered some big twists, the Superstore showrunners explained why this comedy is a great fit for this unusual quarantine hiatus:
Gabe Miller: It feels like people are discovering it more and more during this time. I think it's definitely very relatable so people can get invested in the characters. [It’s] funny enough that you can get lost in it, binge it for a little while and sort of block out the outside world for a little while.Jonathan Green: And it also has enough of a serialized element that it rewards binging to see where those story arcs take the show.
The full series of Superstore is currently available streaming on Hulu, so it's no wonder that people are discovering the show more and more! Since it follows an ensemble of very different characters, takes place in a store that could easily pass for Walmart or Target (if Target was the home of more raccoons), and is funny. Honestly, the characters spend so much time in the store blocked out from the world that following their stories really can work as an escape.
Superstore also isn't a show that resets after every single episode and characters never develop or are eternally stuck in will-they/won't-they relationships. Jonathan Green's mention of Superstore's "serialized element" raises the question of how much binge-watching can be rewarding for fans. Gabe Miller provided an answer:
Gabe Miller: One of our favorite things to do is also bring back recurring characters almost like Easter eggs of seeing a customer who had appeared three seasons ago comes back and is looking for the same item that they were looking at. Stuff like that we feel like definitely rewards the binge-viewer. We definitely feel like it's a show that can take you out of the real world for a little while but also is relatable and addresses real world topics in ideally a smart way.
Superstore's background is always moving even if the A and B plots take up the majority of the screen time, and I don't just mean because of the occasional raccoon. Episodes are packed with visual gags that can recur as much as customers, some of whom really help explain why the retail workers are the way they are. The boring jobs of these fictional retail workers in St. Louis, Missouri resulted in some hilarious characters getting creative to beat the boredom.
While America Ferrera was undeniably the star of Superstore throughout the first five seasons and Ben Feldman has been reliably funny, the show is much more than Amy and Jonah. Gabe Miller explained another aspect of what makes the show so binge-worthy:
Gabe Miller: And we feel like we've got the best ensemble cast on television. There's not a weak spot in the cast. And we keep finding more and more characters. More of our sort of people who started out as maybe second tier employees are now coming to the forefront and having their own stories and capable of holding down their own stories. Yeah, we've got a very deep bench on this show.
While it may be a while before that deep bench gets to return to their Superstore roles in Season 6, the first five seasons are a fitting way to pass the time in quarantine. All the episodes so far are streaming on Hulu (among many funny options), and Season 5 does end on some promises for Season 6 that shouldn't make for too painful of a cliffhanger for binge-watchers. For a show that is relatable, hilarious, serialized, and stacked with strong actors, be sure to check out Superstore!
If you're still in the market for some broadcast TV options, be sure to check out our 2020 spring premiere schedule and our 2020 summer premiere guide.
