Your Guide to ‘Superstore’: The Best TV Sitcom of the 2010s

Don’t know what lighthearted sitcom to watch this weekend? Look no further than the greatest workplace comedy streaming on Prime Video right now: Superstore. Full of comedic moments, witty characters, and just the right amount of social commentary, this NBC sitcom is the next hot thing you should be adding on your Watch List.

Whether or not you already knew about Superstore before, or just need that extra push to get you started, we have all the answers you need in our spoiler-free guide!

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What is Superstore about?

Superstore is a sitcom set in Cloud 9, a fictional big-box store. We follow the story of the store’s floor supervisor Amy (played by Ugly Betty star America Ferrera) and the team of oddball employees as they go through the day-to-day challenges in the workplace. Don’t get me wrong lumping all of them into one team: everyone in the show is a strongly-written character.

We have Jonah (played by Ben Feldman), the new kid on the block and main love interest, who embodies a “typical millennial” in the workplace. Dina (played by Lauren Ash) is the take-no-bullshit Iron Fist of the group with a bird obsession. Teen mom Cheyenne (played by Nichole Sakura) and ultra-competitive-slash-overachiever Mateo (played by Nico Santos) are the wholesome duo who always end up in sticky situations together.

And finally, we have the polar opposites between the unwaveringly optimistic manager Glenn (played by Mark McKinney) and too-cool-for-school customer service worker, Garrett (played by Colton Dunn).

Like other workplace sitcoms, the fun in Superstore is in the crazy things that the characters cause themselves. But the backdrop of a superstore lends itself to a lot of unique shenanigans that other sitcoms before it can’t replicate.

Where to watch Superstore (2021)

Thankfully, no matter where you are in the world, you’ll probably be able to access this comedy whenever you want to! In the US, you can catch new episodes as they air on NBC. But if you have some subscriptions to these streaming services, then you can dive into the older episodes ASAP: Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Sling TV & fuboTV.

In Canada, Superstore airs on Global and can be streamed on Netflix. And we have some great news if you’re from the UK: they also just rolled out the first five seasons of Superstore in Netflix last month!

If you’re wondering where to watch Superstore in the Philippines, you can do so through Amazon Prime Video where you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. Unlike our northern neighbors though, Superstore is currently not available in Netflix Philippines.

For Indian viewers, you can also watch Superstore in Prime Video.

How many seasons does Superstore have?

As announced by NBC, the sixth season of Superstore which is currently on-air, will be its last. Most streaming platforms like Netflix and Prime Video have the first five seasons of Superstore, so international viewers can catch up before it’s too late!

Plus, each episode runs for only 20 to 22 minutes which makes it an easy binge. By the end of the series this year, the episode count will total to just above 100.

Should I watch Superstore?

If somehow you didn’t get our message earlier, then here it is in big bold letters: yes, you should totally watch Superstore! Fans of yesteryear’s sitcoms will enjoy how much it relies on witty dialogue among the characters rather than trying too hard to be different from all other sitcoms.

It’s just good ol’ fun that doesn’t take itself too seriously which you might be looking for in your comedies. But somehow, most 2010s sitcoms can’t help but sprinkle too much melodrama or come up with crazy concepts that disrupt a show’s potential.

No matter how unique their story is, sitcoms are only as good as how much they make the audience laugh. And in that department, Superstore doesn’t fail.

Don’t get us wrong: there is some drama here, but they are basically footnotes or are just a means to a feel-good resolution. The rarity of dramatic moments just makes them a little more special.

And we do believe that all the best shows have to address the real world, too.

What I love a bout Superstore is they do have some commentary on many political and social issues, but it doesn’t come off preachy at all. They’ve gone over worker exploitation, unionization, immigration, and climate change just to name a few. Hell, they even address the atrocities committed in the Philippines.

As we all know, frontliners which include grocery workers have been the heroes of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. The sixth season of Superstore has not shied away from tackling this (and honestly, they couldn’t afford to) as we see how the pandemic takes a toll on the characters.

While it hasn’t really been the best in showcasing proper mask etiquette, the message to its viewers is pretty clear. What does actor Ben Feldman have to say to anti-maskers? “Fuck ’em.”

Comedies nowadays run into trouble of becoming “too PG” and evangelical like Brooklyn Nine-Nine when mirroring the difficulties of real life, but Superstore shows you how you do it without being so in your face.

All of the characters whom we follow in the show are well-developed and unique from each other. While they may not be the nicest of people, it is in their individuality and lovability where Superstore thrives. Seriously, they are a goldmine!

Take for example, how the show heavily subverts the typical “hard boss” role with the manager Glenn. He is actually a goody-two-shoes Christian with an extremely high voice, and the biggest pushover in sitcom history. And when you see him be (metaphorically) whipped by assistant manager Dina or how no one takes his morning meetings seriously, it’s always a laugh.

Speaking of “morning meetings”, the highlight of many Superstore episodes is when everyone in the store huddles up to discuss something important, only for it to branch out to multiple mini-conversations that make no sense. It is also in these scenes where we see how well the cast plays off each other, and is a testament to how well their chemistry is.

While the main cast gives justice to the strong writing of their characters, we also have to give major props to the supporting cast who round out the show beautifully. As the seasons progress, they start to take more of the limelight without feeling intrusive to the natural state of things.

They may not all like each other nor do they like to express it, but the employees of Cloud 9 do feel like one big loving family!

Shows similar to Superstore

The Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine are the most similar shows to Superstore. Neither choices should be a surprise because the creator of Superstore is Justin Spitzer, who was a writer for The Office for seven years. And who created The Office? Michael Schur, who is also the creator of B99. Mind. Blown!

 The Office and Superstore similarities 

The Office is the standard when it comes to American workplace comedies. Many of its laugh-out-loud moments arise from mundane events in the workplace that snowball into pure insanity because of its goofy, offbeat employees. While we don’t think the characters of the two shows are alike at all, it wouldn’t be hard to picture either cast getting themselves into the situations from the other show.

The Office struggles in its last few seasons, but it is held up because of the shift in focus from the core cast to the entire staff. The group dynamic is thankfully highlighted in Superstore as early as the second season to the point where the supporting cast has felt like part of “the family” since the very beginning.

And like we said earlier, the meetings in Superstore get pretty wild… just like in The Office!

 Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore similarities 

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a procedural comedy that follows a team of police officers in their (surprise!) day-to-day life in the workplace. I would say that if you’re into shows that place characters front-and-center like B99, then you’re going to love Superstore as well. They benefit from having a lovable cast who play with each other well no matter who’s paired up with whom.

The shows both pack a similar brand of humor which is to be expected from creators who are cut from the same cloth. It helps that both of them were only released two years apart, so fans of one show will have an easier time jumping to the other seamlessly.

They are also both great in addressing real life issues, although their attack on it is a bit different as we mentioned before.

Unlike The Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine though, Superstore has been great all throughout its run so far, and never suffered from a terrible first season.

What is the best season of Superstore?

We’ll try to answer this without giving away too much, but Season 3 is the best season of Superstore. Just like all great shows, it peaks around this time as viewers become used to the characters, and the writers have built up the main plot enough to finally give it a big bang of a resolution by the end of the third season. In this case, it’s the conclusion of the longstanding will-they-or-won’t-they storyline.

This is also the season where we truly start to see the supporting cast shine and take on bigger roles. Some of the more memorable storylines throughout the series are in this season, which includes a failure of a Golden Globes party, the introduction of Kelly, employees getting poached by Target, the district manager drama, and an employee video going viral on the internet.

While all seasons are packed with their own big moments, Superstore season 3 is where we get to see the series on a hot streak, coming out with banger after banger. On the other hand, I would say the “worst season” of Superstore doesn’t exist since all five seasons have been fairly consistent in quality.

It’s either that, or our standard in comedy has always been low. Take your pick 🤷‍♂️

Mateo Liwanag: the Filipino character in Superstore

You may have seen some clips of Superstore‘s Mateo making rounds in the internet, and thought is he Filipino? Well you assumed correctly: the undocumented citizen from the Philippines is played by Filipino-American Nico Santos, whom you might know as Oliver T’sien in Crazy Rich Asians.

Filipino characters in American TV shows and movies are already scarce in the first place — much more in sitcoms. Thankfully, Superstore does not only feature a Fil-Am in its main cast, but his being Filipino is always referenced in the show in a neutral or positive light.

One of the realest storylines that the show touches on is Mateo’s undocumented status, fear of being deported, and how his daily life is crippled by this situation. If you’re a young and active Filipino user in the Twitterverse, you have probably seen this clip make the rounds where Mateo realizes his green card was fake.

While we won’t spoil how things turn out, it is written in such a way that sheds light to the realities of many Filipino immigrants in the US. Superstore does not use the Filipino culture solely for humor or to attract a certain demographic, but to “give back” to it too.

You can tell how there is a Filipino influencing the show behind the scenes, because I have personally not seen any Western mainstream media pay tribute to our culture in an inoffensive, non-pandering way. So if you’re curious how international TV shows should be portraying Filipino characters, then by all means, give Superstore a shot.

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That covers everything you need to know about Superstore before watching! If you have any questions about the show, leave a comment down below and I will get to you as soon as I can.

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