Superstore (TV series)

Updated on Nov 25, 2024

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Superstore is an American single-camera sitcom television series that premiered on NBC on November 30, 2015. The series was created by Justin Spitzer, who also serves as an executive producer. Starring America Ferrera (who also serves as a producer) and Ben Feldman, Superstore follows a group of employees working at "Cloud 9", store number 1217, a fictional big-box store in St. Louis, Missouri. The ensemble and supporting cast features Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Nichole Bloom, and Mark McKinney.

On February 23, 2016, the series was renewed for a second season by NBC. On May 15, 2016, NBC announced that Superstore is expected to lead off its Thursday night primetime programming in the 2016–17 season. The second season premiered on September 22, 2016, with a 22-episode order that was announced on September 23, 2016. A special Olympics-themed episode aired on August 19, 2016 during the network's coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

On February 14, 2017, NBC renewed the series for a 22-episode third season.

America ferrera in superstore tv review

Main

America Ferrera as Amelia "Amy" Dubanowski, a Honduran-American Cloud 9 employee of eleven years who worked as an associate, then floor supervisor, then assistant manager, and very briefly store manager. Amy always wears a different name tag because she doesn't like strangers using her real name.

Ben Feldman as Jonah Simms, Cloud 9 sales associate. He and Mateo were both hired in the "Pilot" episode.

Lauren Ash as Dina Fox, Cloud 9's assistant store manager.

Colton Dunn as Garrett McNeill, a Cloud 9 associate who is paralyzed from the waist down.

Nico Santos as Mateo Fernando Aquino Liwanag, a gay Filipino Cloud 9 associate who was hired at the same time as Jonah. In the second season, Mateo learns that he is undocumented because his grandmother had bought counterfeit green cards.

Nichole Bloom as Cheyenne Tyler Lee, a Cloud 9 associate. She is a pregnant 17-year old high school student at the start of the series. She gave birth to her daughter, Harmonica, in the store in the first season finale.

Mark McKinney as Glenn Sturgis, Cloud 9's store manager. Glenn is a devout Christian.

Recurring

Johnny Pemberton as Bo Derek Thompson, Cheyenne's immature, wannabe-rapper fiancé and her baby's father.

Kaliko Kauahi as Sandra, a Cloud 9 employee who has trouble bringing up legitimate concerns and being heard. She will often attempt to make her voice heard only to shoot herself down shortly after, or during. She also has superior autobiographical memory in which she can remember every single day of her life.

Josh Lawson as Tate Stasklewicz, a Cloud 9 pharmacist who is often rude, panicky, sarcastic and full of himself.

Linda Porter as Myrtle, an elderly Cloud 9 employee who is often quite confused and forgetful.

Jon Barinholtz as Marcus, a dim-witted Cloud 9 employee who briefly dates Dina after Jonah rejects her. Marcus was briefly sent to jail after his mother sold him out.

Ryan Gaul as Adam Dubanowski, Amy's husband and Emma's father. Adam and Amy were high school sweethearts, got married at 19, and had Emma thereafter. In the episode "Color Wars" it is revealed that he's a YouTube personality who makes grilling videos.

Jon Miyahara as Brett, a Cloud 9 employee who is always stated to break every sales and competition record, despite never actually moving on camera.

Michael Bunin as Jeff Sutin (season two), District Manager who oversees the St. Louis Cloud 9, among others. He is revealed to be gay, and has a romantic interest in Mateo.

Development and filming

The series was one of three pilots picked up by NBC on January 14, 2015, along with the sitcom Crowded; both were green lighted to series status the same day (May 7, 2015). The series was the first project for Ruben Fleischer's newly formed company The District as part of a two-year deal with Universal, as he directed the pilot episode. Superstore was officially picked up as a series on May 7, 2015, by NBC. The first season consisted of eleven episodes, after the episode order was reduced from thirteen on October 19, 2015. It was announced on November 2, 2015, that the show would air the premiere on January 4, 2016, but would be airing two back-to-back episodes on November 30, 2015, following The Voice.

Casting

It was announced on February 20, 2015, that Lauren Ash had been cast as a series regular, and would be playing Dina, the store’s assistant manager. On March 2, 2015, Deadline reported that Superstore had added three other cast members, which was Colton Dunn, Mark McKinney and Nico Santos. The website reported that Dunn would be playing Garret, the often-sarcastic narrator of the piece, McKinney would be playing Glenn, the intense store manager, and Santos would be playing Mateo, another new employee and a brown-noser from an impoverished background. On March 12, 2015, Nichole Bloom was announced to have joined the show as Cheyenne, a very pregnant teenage employee.

Deadline announced on March 13, 2015, that Ben Feldman had landed the male lead in Superstore, as Jonah, a new employee in the superstore Cloud 9. Three days later, TVLine announced on March 16, 2015, that America Ferrera had landed the female lead as the floor supervisor Amy in the Cloud 9 store. It was also reported that Ferrera was also a producer for the show.

The Mindy Project crossover

The series is implied to take place in the same fictional universe as Hulu's The Mindy Project, another series also produced by NBCUniversal Television. The episode "Under the Texan Sun" has Mindy Lahiri and Peter Prentice shopping at an Austin, Texas Cloud 9 location.

Cloud 9 Superstore

The Cloud 9 Superstore is a hypermarket discount store, set in the fictional world of the TV show Superstore. In addition to typical hypermarket products, Cloud 9 also sells guns and liquor, and has a pharmacy. Additionally Cloud 9 has their own credit union for their employees. The former spokesman for Cloud 9 was Daniel Hertzler (as Kyle the Cloud 9 Cloud), until he was arrested and charged with cannibalism.

The corporation does not offer paid maternity leave, health insurance or pay overtime to its employees. Under Cloud 9 policy employees may take one bathroom break per shift, and are allotted 15 minutes for lunch.

In an effort to control whats happening in the individual stores, all locks and lights, as well as temperature control, are controlled from the corporate office. In 2017, Cloud 9 changed their store brand from Halo to Super Cloud.

The main store for the show is store 1217, which is located in St. Louis, Missouri, on Ozark Highlands Road. The store falls under district manager Jeff Sutin. During the pilot the store was set inside a Kmart in Burbank, California, however the set was later moved to two sound stages. Other area locations include Kirkwood, and Easton. Additionally there is a location in Austin, Texas.

Ratings

The series debuted as a "preview" on November 30, 2015 following an episode of The Voice with 7 million viewers making it the second highest new comedy behind Life in Pieces. The series then moved to its regular Monday at 8:00 pm timeslot on January 4, 2016 with more than 6 million viewers making the highest rated comedy that did not have The Voice as a lead-in since The Michael J. Fox Show back in September 2013.

Critical reception

Early reviews for the series were mixed. According to Metacritic, the first season of Superstore holds a score of 58 out of 100, indicating "mixed to average reviews" based on 21 critics. On another review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 54% with a "Rotten" rating, based on 24 critics, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The general consensus is: "Superstore's talented cast and obvious potential are slightly overshadowed by a tonally jumbled presentation and thin, formulaic writing." As the first season went along, however, reviews started to become more positive. Following the finale "Labor", the Los Angeles Times called it one of TV's best new comedies." Pilot Viruet of The A.V. Club wrote that the "first season ... got better and more confident as it moved on", and that the first season finale "is a nice little cap to a nice little sitcom that could’ve used a little more attention." After the series aired its Olympics special, Variety wrote that the show was "a funny, pointed and essential workplace comedy", and that "there are no weak links in [the] ensemble".

References

Superstore (TV series) Wikipedia

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