‘Blockbuster’: Nostalgic Series Arrives Just as Netflix Launches Old-Fashioned Cable-Like Subscriptions
Just as Netflix’s new series, Blockbuster, arrives on the streaming service to fill us with nostalgia, so too does Netflix’s new ad tier debut. Reminiscent of the old-fashioned cable-like subscriptions Netflix subscribers thought they had left behind for good, the new commercial-riddled tier likely has many recalling the syrupy tune “after these messages, we’ll be right back.”
Netflix’s ‘Blockbuster’ goes old school
A long time ago, right here and there and wherever you are, there were stores where one went to select their movies for the weekend: Blockbuster.
Journeying through long rows of movies with colorful covers wrapped in silky, protective plastic, cinephiles would walk the aisles, looking for their treasure, and sometimes (often) wail when it was already checked out.
Enter a crew-neck-shirted employee who would eagerly step in to recommend another jewel or locate the film at another, nearby, store. This is the setting for Netflix’s new sitcom Blockbuster, except, the crew-necked-crew in Blockbuster is the very last.
Gone are the chain’s sister stores that proliferated during the company’s heyday in the 1990s and early 2000s and were, at one point, as ubiquitous as Starbucks. With no other locations to send customers to and a dwindling number of customers, the characters in Netflix’s Blockbuster battle for the store’s survival amidst drama in their personal lives.
Timmy, the store’s manager (played by Fresh Off The Boat’s Randall Park) takes this quest very seriously, like The Office’s Michael Scott. He treats his employees kindly and is in love with Eliza (played by Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Melissa Fumero).
Other co-workers are played by Olga Merediz, Tyler Alvarez, Kamaia Fairburn, and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’s Madeleine Arthur.
And while lackluster writing and far-fetched plots keep Blockbuster from rising above a mediocre viewing experience, AV Club points out, the cast does a superb job with what they have to work with, saying, “their group dynamic is tender and effective, which is a benefit for any workplace sitcom.”
Netflix’s new ‘basic with ads’ tier
Along with their new nostalgic series Blockbuster, Netflix has also gone retro and recently debuted their new payment option: “basic with ads.” The new tier makes most of the streamer’s catalog available to subscribers for $6.99 per month — its most affordable option yet. However, Netflix’s “basic with ads” has some serious drawbacks.
Firstly, “basic with ads” viewers will be watching content on 720HD resolution, not the 1080 HD of the “standard” plan or the 4k of the “premium” viewers.
But, secondly, in another huge drawback, SF Gate reveals that “basic with ads” viewers will not have access to some of Netflix’s biggest series like Grey’s Anatomy, The Crown, Cobra Kai, Breaking Bad, New Girl, and The Good Place. Furthermore, some films will be blocked on the payment plan like Skyfall, The Imitation Game, The Bad Guys, and 28 Days.
All this and “basic with ads” will also have viewers losing 10% of their viewing time to ads for a measly $3 worth of monthly savings.
Where’s a Blockbuster store when you need one?
As many have noted, like Twitter user @koralinadean, the new plan is an ironic turn for the streamer.
In a fascinating in-depth study of the history between Netflix and Blockbuster, Forbes contributor Greg Satell details how Netflix originally pursued a team-up with Blockbuster only to be turned down. Netflix soon destroyed the rental company.
However, the streaming giant seems to be bowing down to cable-like subscriptions.
After conquering the market for in-home entertainment and making streaming a worldwide phenomenon, Netflix needs a way to compete amidst a host of new, incredible streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, and more.
Their response is a step back in time, it seems, to a world where viewers had to suffer through incessant ads constantly breaking into their content, blasting them with forays into the needy world of consumerism.
Where is a Blockbuster store when you need one?
