Superstore (TV series)

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Superstore
File:Superstore (TV series) Title.png
Genre Sitcom
Created by Justin Spitzer
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Composer(s) Mateo Messina
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 11 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Justin Spitzer
Ruben Fleischer
David Bernad
Gabe Miller
Jonathan Green
Producer(s) America Ferrera
Harry J. Lange Jr.
Eric Ledgin
Sierra Teller Ornelas
Cinematography Damián Acevedo (pilot)
Jay Hunter
Editor(s) Mark Sadlek (pilot)
Steven Lang
James Renfroe
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 22 minutes
Production company(s) Spitzer Holding Company
The District
Universal Television
Distributor NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network NBC
Picture format 1080i (16:9 HDTV)
Original release November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30) –
present
External links
Website

Superstore is an American single-camera sitcom television series that premiered on NBC on November 30, 2015.[1] The series was created by Justin Spitzer, who also serves as an executive producer.[2] Starring America Ferrera (who also serves as a producer) and Ben Feldman, Superstore follows a group of employees working at a fictional big-box store called "Cloud 9" set 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.[3] On May 15, 2016, NBC announced that Superstore is expected to lead off its Thursday night primetime programming in the 2016–17 season, and that a second season preview episode will air sometime in August during the network's coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.[4]

Cast and characters

Main

  • America Ferrera as Amy Dubanowski, a Cloud 9 employee of ten years who worked as an associate, then floor supervisor, then assistant manager, and very briefly store manager before being fired in the season one finale. At age 19, she married her high school sweetheart, Adam, with whom she has a daughter, Emma. Amy immediately clashes with new associate Jonah, as he strives for change and has a sometimes pretentious attitude that annoys her. In order to keep strangers from calling her by her name, Amy wears a new name on her name tag in each episode (though she wears her real name on the 11th episode of season 1). She is promoted to assistant manager in the episode "Demotion".
  • Ben Feldman as Jonah, Cloud 9's newest associate. Jonah makes a terrible impression on his first day and immediately clashes with Amy, but their relationship has since improved somewhat. As revealed in "Secret Shopper", Jonah is from a well-to-do background and came to Cloud 9 because he flunked out of business school in Chicago and ran up debt. He was driving aimlessly until he stopped at a Cloud 9 in St. Louis and saw the "help wanted" sign.
  • Lauren Ash as Dina, Cloud 9's assistant store manager, who is extremely connected to her pet birds, but out of touch with other people. Her by-the-book management style often clashes with employees, and even her boss Glenn when he espouses his religious beliefs in the workplace. In "Demotion", Dina takes a voluntary demotion to associate to pursue Jonah romantically, after Jonah claims the reason he resists her romantic advances is because she is his supervisor. After her coworkers stage a walkout in the episode "Labor", Dina becomes store manager.
  • Colton Dunn as Garrett, a Cloud 9 associate who is paralyzed from the waist down. He is often heard making announcements over the store PA system. He enjoys pulling pranks on his fellow coworkers and even customers, usually out of boredom.
  • Nico Santos as Mateo Fernando Aquino Liwanag, a Cloud 9 associate. He is an ambitious new hire who wants to climb the ladder at Cloud 9 as quickly as possible. He immediately begins a rivalry with fellow new hire Jonah by pointing out his mistakes. He came out as gay to Glenn in the episode "Wedding Day Sale."
  • Nichole Bloom as Cheyenne Tyler Lee, a Cloud 9 associate who is pregnant at the start of the series. Cheyenne is 17 years old, a high school student, and engaged to her boyfriend, Bo. She delivers a baby girl named Harmonica in the episode "Labor".
  • Mark McKinney as Glenn Sturgis, Cloud 9's store manager. Glenn is socially awkward and constantly positive, and he clashes with Dina when he brings his religious beliefs into the workplace. Glenn and his wife have no children of their own, but they are foster parents. It is revealed that his family owned a hardware store before Cloud 9 took their business.

Recurring

  • Johnny Pemberton as Bo Derek Thompson, Cheyenne's immature, wannabe-rapper fiancee and her baby's father.
  • Kaliko Kauahi as Sandra, a Cloud 9 employee who brings up legitimate concerns during staff meetings but is often ignored. In "Labor," she revealed that she is a midwife.
  • Sean Whalen as Sal, a creepy, older Cloud 9 employee. It is implied that he harasses Sandra sexually, making comments about her breasts both at work and at her home.
  • Josh Lawson as Tate, a Cloud 9 pharmacist who is often rude, panicky, sarcastic and brags about himself. He often passes his job onto other employees whenever he can.
  • Linda Porter as Myrtle, an old Cloud 9 employee who is often quite confused and forgetful.

Episodes

Season 1 (2015–16)

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date U.S. viewers
(millions)
1 "Pilot" Ruben Fleischer Justin Spitzer November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30) 7.21[5]
New Cloud 9 superstore employee Jonah makes a terrible impression to ten-year floor supervisor Amy when he knocks a display over, reprices expensive electronics to 25 cents, and rides shopping carts through the parking lot. Meanwhile, assistant store manager Dina develops a crush on Jonah, and the pregnant Cheyenne's boyfriend proposes to her in front of the whole store.
2 "Magazine Profile" Michael Patrick Jann Matt Hubbard November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30) 5.35[5]
A reporter (Eliza Coupe) comes to Cloud 9 to do an article on that store location for the inter-company magazine. Glenn makes an awkward impression, and later the reporter seems to be more interested in Jonah and the two start to make out. Dina catches the two on a store security camera and, angered and heartbroken, forces the employees to attend a meeting on inappropriate sexual contact in the workplace. Meanwhile, Cheyenne and her fiancé come up with a jingle for the store, and Garrett tries to avoid being photographed for the article.
3 "Shots and Salsa" Ruben Fleischer Justin Spitzer November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30) (Online)
December 28, 2015 (NBC)		 2.62[6]
Glenn asks Amy and Mateo to work the salsa sample booth, and when they refuse, he asks Carmen, the only other employee of Hispanic descent, which angers Amy. Meanwhile, Jonah is tasked with giving out flu shots in the pharmacy, and allows an old white woman to go to the front of the line. This leads to all the employees having to watch a racial sensitivity video, but Jonah insists he helped the woman because she was old, not because she was white.
4 "Mannequin" Victor Nelli, Jr. Jonathan Green & Gabe Miller January 4, 2016 (2016-01-04) 6.04[7]
Amy and Garrett make fun of Jonah when they find a mannequin that looks like him, as Jonah struggles to fit in with the rest of the employees. Cheyenne considers putting her baby up for adoption, causing Glenn and Dina to argue over who would be a better adoptive parent. Meanwhile, Amy delegates the shift chart to Mateo as she is busy pranking Jonah, and Mateo uses the newly acquired power to get revenge on employees who have crossed him.
5 "Shoplifter" Ruben Fleischer Jackie Clarke January 11, 2016 (2016-01-11) 5.38[8]
Amy dodges store rules by taking her daughter Emma to work, and asks Jonah for help hiding her. Dina tracks down a shoplifter (Natasha Leggero) with help from Amy. The security video ultimately shows the shoplifter is innocent, putting Dina's job in jeopardy, but Glenn plants a DVD in the shoplifter's purse to set off the exit alarm and both parties agree to forget the whole thing. Meanwhile, Cheyenne and Mateo fight over a fancy couch that became half price because an elderly customer died on it.
6 "Secret Shopper" Alex Hardcastle Lon Zimmet January 18, 2016 (2016-01-18) 5.66[9]
Amy is upset and becomes competitive with Jonah after he gets a perfect score on a company policies test. At the same time, the Cloud 9 employees are scrambling to seek out a secret shopper sent by the Chicago corporate office, leading to chaos and confusion. Mateo and Glenn suspect that the corporate "plant" may be posing as an employee, and they believe it's Jonah because his car is too nice for an associate to have and also has Illinois license plates. Amy reveals her reaction to Jonah's perfect score was caused by fear, because she has just enrolled in college classes. Jonah then reveals a secret of his own.
7 "Color Wars" Andy Ackerman Jack Kukoda January 25, 2016 (2016-01-25) 4.93[10]
Cloud 9's annual "Color Wars" contest pits two halves of the store against each other as the red team and the gold team in a sales battle. Glenn's promise of a pizza party for the winning side does little to interest the staff, until cash-strapped Amy discovers each member of the winning team will also get a $100 bonus. Her attempt to hide this fact from the opposing team proves ineffective. Jonah succeeds in making a big sale worth over $2,000, not realizing the customer is Amy's husband, Adam. Meanwhile, Dina mourns the loss of her pet bird.
8 "Wedding Day Sale" Victor Nelli, Jr. Sierra Teller Ornelas February 1, 2016 (2016-02-01) 4.89[11]
Cloud 9 holds their annual Wedding Day Sale and Cheyenne and Bo shop for their upcoming wedding, but Amy warns them how hard it'll be to raise their child, which prompts Bo to flee. Amy and Dina go on a road trip to find Bo and retrieve a price scanner he took with him, and the two end up bonding when Dina says being in the store during the Wedding Day sale depresses her. Meanwhile, Jonah and Garrett fight over what Cheyenne should buy for her wedding. Also, Glenn tries to prove his tolerance by helping Mateo prepare an area of the bridal department that appeals to same sex couples.
9 "All-Nighter" Christine Gernon Eric Ledgin February 8, 2016 (2016-02-08) 5.19[12]
A late night of hanging signs becomes an all-nighter when the doors are locked and the lights are turned off via corporate computers, causing the trapped Cloud 9 employees to come out of their shells. Amy gets drunk and complains about not going to college when she was younger, Glenn rebels against his regional bosses, Cheyenne demonstrates her dancing skills, and Dina lures Jonah to the photo dark room to seduce him. Trying to let her down easy, Jonah says he feels uncomfortable making out with his supervisor. The episode ends in a cliffhanger when Dina asks Glenn for a demotion the next morning.
10 "Demotion" Linda Mendoza Matt Hubbard & Lon Zimmet February 15, 2016 (2016-02-15) 3.89[13]
Amy helps Glenn search for a new assistant manager after Dina steps down to pursue Jonah. Amy does not want the job because it is more work and she has her school commitments. Jonah seeks help from Garrett about breaking the news to Dina that he is not interested in dating her. Garrett also helps Mateo prepare an over-the-top presentation for the assistant manager position. Meanwhile, Dina adjusts to her new position as associate by working with Cheyenne in cosmetics. In the end, Amy accepts the assistant manager job after exhausting all the candidates, and is happy to learn the position provides tuition assistance.
11 "Labor" Beth McCarthy-Miller Owen Ellickson February 22, 2016 (2016-02-22) 4.68[14]
Cheyenne goes into labor while working and it is revealed that Cloud 9 does not offer paid maternity leave, which prompts Jonah and Amy to call corporate and accidentally get a union buster (Dan Bucatinsky) sent to the store. Meanwhile, Dina regrets giving up her assistant manager position, especially after learning that Jonah doesn't want to date her. Later on, Glenn gets fired for "suspending" Cheyenne for six weeks with pay so she can be with her child, which prompts everyone to walk out of the store in protest. This leads to Dina – the only employee who didn't walk out – getting promoted to Glenn's store manager job, with everyone else's jobs hanging in the balance.

Production

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).[15] 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.[16]

The first season consisted of eleven episodes, after the episode order was reduced from thirteen on October 19, 2015.[17]

Casting

Lauren Ash was the first to be cast in February, 2015,[18] followed by Colton Dunn, Mark McKinney, Nico Santos,[19] Nichole Bloom,[20] and Ben Feldman in March.[21]

On March 16, 2015, America Ferrera was added to the cast, and was to add co-production duties as well. Ferrera had garnered multiple offers for the past few pilot seasons and declined everything until then.[22]

The Mindy Project

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See also: The Mindy Project

The series is implied to take place in the same fictional universe as The Mindy Project, another series also produced by NBCUniversal Television, that airs on Hulu. The twenty-first episode of the show's fourth season saw characters from the show visiting a branch of Cloud 9 located in Texas.

Reception

Ratings

The series debuted as a "preview" on November 30, 2015 following an episode of The Voice with 7 million viewers making the second highest new comedy behind Life in Pieces.[5] 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.[1][23]

Season Time slot (ET/PT) Episodes Season premiere Season finale TV season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
Date Viewers
(in millions)		 Date Viewers
(in millions)
1 Monday 10:00 pm (Episode 1)
Monday 10:30 pm (Episode 2)
Monday 9:00 pm (Episode 3)
Monday 8:00 pm (Episodes 4-11)		 11 November 30, 2015 7.21[5] February 22, 2016 4.68[14] 2015–16 #66 6.58[24]
2 Thursday 8:00 pm Fall 2016 2016–17 TBA TBA

Critical reception

Early reviews for the series were mixed. According to Metacritic, Superstore currently holds a score of 58 out of 100, indicating "mixed to average reviews" based on 21 critics.[25] On another review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the series 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."[26] As the first season went along, however, reviews started to get more positive. Following the finale "Labor", the Los Angeles Times called it one of TV's best new comedies."[27] 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."[28]

Home media

Season Episodes DVD release date Bonus Features
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Season 1 (2015–16) 11 August 23, 2016 (2016-08-23)[29] TBA TBA Deleted scenes and a gag reel

References

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External links

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  17. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nbc-reduces-episode-counts-comedies-832985
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