Anyone who’s ever slaved away in the service industry has undoubtedly entertained a passing thought along the lines of, “Wow, this would really be a great sitcom!” The working-class camaraderie, the unending cast of bizarre and eccentric characters, the wage exploitation, and the unfettered pursuit of profit over people; it all just screams “NBC Primetime.” Okay, it may not be realistic to expect the last two from network television, but with workplace comedies like The Office and Parks and Recreation tackling white-collar paper pushing and small town government bureaucracy, it’s about time the service industry got its weekly half hour in the limelight.
https://youtu.be/qaolReAcXIA
Created and Executive Produced by The Office veteran Justin Spitzer, Superstore will star America Ferrera and Ben Feldman, along with a diverse supporting cast including Nico Santos and Colton Dunne. Clearly based on the US’s premiere blue-themed, one-stop hypermarket Walmart, Superstore takes place at a presumably middle-American branch of the fictional Cloud 9 megastore. As expected, there will be plenty of working class camaraderie, eccentric characters, and situational gags based on the goofy vicissitudes of life in a giant, fluorescent-lit concrete box.
Whether or not the series will delve into the difficulty of life on $7.25 an hour with minimal benefits, or lavish profits enjoyed by big box dynasties like Walmart’s Walton family, at the very least we’ll get the chance to fall in love with America Ferrera all over again. The first three episodes are available to watch online here.
Superstore premieres January 4, 2016 at 8 p.m. on NBC.