Superstore, the under-heralded workplace comedy from NBC is one of the most important sitcoms of our time. Since 2015, the show has placed the lives of low-wage retail workers at the forefront in a way that no other media ever has.
Through its now 6 seasons, the employees of the fictional Cloud 9 retail empire have battled hour cuts, healthcare inequality, union-busting, undocumented workers, and every social issue that exists within the United States in an effective, yet subtle way.
The way that Superstore ultimately creates its comedy is by displaying the real day-to-day activities of workers in their true-to-life circumstances.
What makes Superstore so funny is the mass, unfiltered chaos that stems from exposing the injustices that retail workers have always dealt with. This has become even more true now that the economy has come to a crash in the middle of a global pandemic.
The sixth season of Superstore premiered in the final week of October after the show had been shut down in season 5 prematurely due to COVID-19. The season’s opener, appropriately titled “Essential” managed to cram everything that has happened in the past 7 months into one episode in a way that only Superstore could.
The episode follows the employees in real-time as they find out about the virus and begin to take the safety measures to tackle it. The fact in itself that this episode is premiering months into the pandemic, with all of the useful knowledge that we have now, is evident of the neglect of Cloud 9’s parent company Zephra, who refuses to send their employees PPE. They are willing to put everyone’s lives in danger in favor of consistent good sales.
As an audience, we see the employees not wearing masks and tearing apart merchandise to supply themselves with any kind of face covering for protection. When Zephra finally does send safety equipment, it is supplies meant to protect the store from the “threat” of Black Lives Matter protestors, rather than the virus.
This theme of merchandise over people has been consistent for Superstore, and with one of the most diverse casts on television to reflect the real demographics of low-wage work, it is telling the audience of a major television network that if there is one thing a million-dollar corporation does not care about, it’s their workers.
So when creator Justin Spitzer set out to tell the stories of working-class people on this huge platform, he sent a message to retail workers specifically that their lives matter and deserve a platform. These are the stories that they relate to and struggles that the upper class has no concern for.
Though the majority of these characters are rooted in absurdist comedy, for example, we know Marcus poops in the shower, Dina owned at least 20 birds, and Cheyenne wants to host an illegal musical festival birthday party, their serious moments carry weight to consistently remind us that these people are human and are forced to cope with the issues in their lives by laughing them away. This goes for the audience as well.
Superstore takes us on a hilarious ride of outright chaos where each ensemble scene builds up to utmost tension out of their impossible, yet very real situations. The pandemic plotline is no exception. In a series of scenes, an anti-mask customer causes a commotion when Glenn, the Floor Supervisor, asks her to put one on, or she will be asked to leave the store. This culminates in her telling Glenn that he must work for Satan, something he finds offensive, as he is a devout Christian.
They yell at each other while store manager Amy deals with issues over Zoom for corporate until the ceiling collapses from employees hiding the essential items customers keep buying up before their shift ends. This deep feeling of panic radiates throughout the season opener, and the rest of the show as well. The stakes for these workers are consistently at a high, as they risk everything for a corporation that will not pay them enough to live.
Superstore is a triumph of television, validating the lives of some of the most marginalized groups in this country. It is a testament to the value of every life outside the expectations of labor. Cloud 9 employees are exploited, overworked, and underpaid, and this is our new world.
The days where the majority of people working in an office are gone, and what’s left is this brilliant opportunity to showcase the lives of real Americans and their real struggles. Working retail is just as Superstore manages to present it: essential, yet complete chaos.