On its face, Superstore is a show about the rights of retail workers, laborers people sometimes overlook or abuse. A disgruntled cast of employees struggle with daily events in a Walmart-style box store named Cloud9, with plenty of interstitial weird scenes from customers (think, a melting carton of ice cream in an aisle of kitchen appliances, which the show revisits throughout the episode as it slowly melts).
Created by Justin Spitzer, whose pedigree includes Scrubs and The Office, Superstore has a comedy pedigree to be proud of. The writing walks a line between heartfelt and funny, mean and realistic. The cast is stacked, with America Ferrera both starring and producing, and Ben Feldman (who you might remember as the guy who cut his nipple off on Mad Men) acting alongside her as co-star. Other notable cast members are Lauren Ash (playing the weird, gruff Dina), Colton Dunn (Garret), Nico Santos (Mateo), Nicole Bloom (Cheyenne), and Mark Mckinney (as the overtly religious Glenn). Mark Mckinney, a true comedy treasure, is a particular gem among the cast, as he balances the role of store-father and boss well. With this ensemble, the show is bound to be funny, but it’s also full of such heart that it deserves a more critical eye.
(Spoilers for seasons 1-4 of Superstore to follow)
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