The Brainerd Dispatch - Today's Entertainment Magazine
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Brainerd Dispatch • November 1 - 7, 2020 •20 By Rachel Jones TV Media N BC's hit comedy "Superstore" has already put five successful seasons on the shelf and has now entered its sixth. This popular show has proven that it's not afraid to address real-world is - sues, including politics, unions and, now, the novel coronavirus pandemic. A new episode airs Thursday, Nov. 5, on NBC. The show, now one episode into its sixth season, takes place in a fictional Walmart-esque super- store called Cloud 9, located in St. Louis. The show's storyline follows and addresses the trials and tribu- lations of working in such a big- box store. It holds a microscope over the problems employees face when dealing with the store's cus - tomers in the day-to-day grind. The sixth season has picked up where last season's cliffhanger left off, with the COVID-19 pan- demic delaying Amy (America Fer- rera, "Ugly Betty") and Jonah's (Ben Feldman, "Drop Dead Diva") move to California. The second episode in the new season airs on Nov. 5 and is significant not only for that echo of reality but also be - cause Amy's character is leaving the series at the end of the episode — she's accepted a corporate job in California. Other series regulars, including Dina (Lauren Ash, "Lars and the Real Girl," 2007), Garrett (Colton Dunn, "Blockers," 2018), Chey- enne (Nichole Sakura, "Shame- less"), Mateo (Nico Santos, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," 2015) and Glenn (Mark McKinney, "The Kids in the Hall") are all still expected to continue as a part of the show this season. Although it's fairly common for TV characters to disappear quickly or get written off without tying up the storyline's loose ends, fortunately that's not the case here. Refreshingly, "Super - store's" producers and writers have taken the time to give fans closure to Amy's storyline. The results of those efforts will finally air in this, the show's 100th epi - sode. Ferrera, who plays Amy, was originally scheduled to leave the show at the end of Season 5, but the unexpected appearance of the coronavirus pandemic cut NBC's expected filming schedule short and, as a result, her departure had to be delayed to the beginning of Season 6. Commenting on her time in "Superstore," Ferrera said, "The last five years on 'Superstore' have been some of the most rewarding, enriching and enjoyable years of my career." The show's fans might even be surprised to learn that she not only directed several episodes but also served as one of the show's producers. When Ferrera was asked why she was leaving such a successful series, having spent 98 episodes developing her character, she said it was partly because she was expecting her second child but added she also wanted the chance to work on other projects. Although Jonah was planning to make the move with Amy to California, Feldman's character is currently scheduled to continue on with the series even though Ferre- ra is leaving; we're interested to see how that breakup plays out. Very few details have been made public about the rest of this season's storylines, but the show is well known for reflecting con- troversial topics such as immigra- tion and job loss through automa- tion. Showrunners Jonathan Green and Gabe Miller (co-execu- tive producers on "The Office" and "The Mindy Project") have said they're very interested in explor- ing just how the COVID-19 pan- demic could impact the big-box world of the Cloud 9 store and all of its employees. And between physical distancing regulations, mandatory mask policies and all the many setbacks that the world is currently experiencing, there will be no shortage of problems that Cloud 9 is likely to face. Green and Miller went on to say that not only did they want to ad- dress how the ongoing pandemic could result in new pressures and challenges for the store's staff and managers, but they also wanted to address the very real fears that the store's customers would have and how those fears could, in turn, af- fect the store and the staff. Workplace sitcoms have be- come increasingly popular in re- cent years, as is made evident by NBC's previous hits "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation." The majority of these shows, however, are set in a white-collar environ- ment. While "Superstore" is a workplace comedy, it sets out in a very different direction by featur- ing a working-class group instead. From mind-numbingly boring training sessions to the fallout caused by bargain hunters from hell during seasonal sales, each of Cloud 9's stories is a part of the challenges its employees have to deal with day after day. The em- ployees themselves range from the straight-out-of-school rookies to the been-there-done-that type of veterans. Anyone who's ever held down a retail or service job can identify with these absurd realities. In fact, you can't get far into an episode without seeing a character you rec- ognize from real life. But it's not just the many fans that have recog- nized the show's outstanding co- medic success, the TV industry has also recognized the show's quality cast and high production values. "Superstore" has been nomi- nated for many different awards and has achieved special recogni- tion as the 2020 Gracie Allen Award winner for Outstanding En- semble Cast. Ferrera also won for Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy or Mu- sical in 2017. If you haven't caught the sea- son premiere, it's not too late to jump into the hilarious ride that's bound to be Season 6. You can catch Episode 2 on Thursday, Nov. 5, on NBC. More essential than ever 'Superstore' covers the coronavirus Feature Story this week America Ferrera as seen in "Superstore"