Netflix Canceling 'Blockbuster' Sparks Debate: 'Second Time in History'

People on the internet are discussing the apparent savagery of Netflix, who have seemingly put Blockbuster out of business for "the second time."

The entertainment company has changed the landscape of movie rentals over the past few decades, and has been partly blamed for causing Blockbuster LLC to go out of business. In 2022, an original sitcom called Blockbuster launched on Netflix, based on the last remaining Blockbuster store in America. But the comedy, starring Melissa Fumero and Randall Park, has been canceled after one season.

Some viewers are seeing this as a brutal move by Netflix, who not only contributed to the downfall of Blockbuster's business model but then referenced it before scrapping it all over again.

Movie journalist Richard Newby generated interest on Twitter with his take on the situation. "Can't believe this is the second time in history that Netflix put Blockbuster out of business," Newby said, garnering over 50,000 likes, retweets and comments.

Launched on November 3, 2022, Blockbuster aired just 10 episodes on Netflix before the streaming giant decided not to renew it for a second season.

Fresh Off the Boat actor Park played Timmy and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Fumero starred as Eliza, but their sitcom pedigree failed to help Blockbuster become a success. The show holds a 5.1/10 audience rating on IMDb, while the critics have given it a lowly 22% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Responding to Newby's tweet online, fans piled in on the problems they had with Blockbuster.

"This show definitely wanted to be Superstore but just never hit its stride... unfortunate," one user wrote, while another said it "had a weak storyline."

Even the official Blockbuster business account weighed in on the debate.

"Oh God not again," they wrote in reference to Netflix's decision.

In fact, a number of people made a similar joke on social media, including one of Netflix's co-founders, Marc Randolph. "Not the first time that Netflix has had to cancel Blockbuster," he wrote.

Rapper Father, owner of Awful Records, concurred and called Netflix "diabolical" for "killing Blockbuster, making a show out of it, then killing it again." Video game journalist Brian Kibler called the move "a little too on the nose."

Writer and political campaigner Ben Ritz thinks he can see Netflix's true intentions. "I bet they greenlit the show just so they could rub it in one more time with a series of 'Blockbuster canceled by Netflix' headlines," he wrote.

The sitcom is based on a true story of the last remaining Blockbuster store, which is located in Bend, Oregon. It was the subject of the 2020 documentary movie The Last Blockbuster.

Season 1 of Blockbuster is still available to watch on Netflix now.