More than a decade after The Office ended on NBC, Hulu’s Superstore is finding its rewatch life again—through a Wal-Mart-like Cloud 9 setting, an Office-adjacent cast dynamic, and plenty of workplace comedy with real bite.
The easiest way to describe what Hulu has waiting is this: it feels like turning on a comfort show you already know will make you laugh—then remembering it also knows how to hit when it matters.
Over a decade after The Office ended its run on NBC. Ricky Gervais’ original BBC idea still sits at the top of the modern sitcom conversation. The American reboot quickly became bigger than its predecessor and influenced the genre. Soon. there were other faux documentary-style shows like Parks and Recreation. Modern Family. and Abbott Elementary. along with quirky. laugh-track-free workplace comedies like Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Coming out around the same time was NBC’s Superstore. Despite running for six seasons on the network, Superstore isn’t as well remembered as some of those peers. Now. it’s streaming on Hulu—and it’s the kind of series you can revisit every single time without it wearing you out.
Superstore doesn’t try to chase the fantasy of well-off characters in New York City or Los Angeles. Instead, it takes the traditions of workplace comedy and drops them into a Wal-Mart-like superstore in St. Louis called Cloud 9. The setup gives the series something simple and powerful: a wide variety of working-class people thrown together. and the constant. natural drama that comes from personalities colliding in the same place every day. “Put The Office in a Wal-Mart and you have Superstore” may sound like a pitch. but it lands because series creator Justin Spitzer was a former writer and co-executive producer on The Office.
That background helps explain why the parallels feel easy to spot, even when the show is doing its own thing. Superstore isn’t interested in being “another story” about a certain kind of life—it’s interested in the kind of job many people recognize. If The Office is built around a workplace that becomes a family through shared discomfort and awkward truth. Superstore builds the same sense of closeness from a different kind of pressure.
Mark McKinney’s Glenn Sturgis is the boss of Cloud 9. but he’s not played like a boss who needs to dominate. Glenn is nervous and doesn’t always believe in himself. He hides his fears not with a cocky bravado but with an unending joy for everything around him. his enthusiasm breaking through in a high-pitched voice. Ben Feldman’s Jonah Simms is the Jim-like guy—young and good-looking. the sort who “should be better than this.” Instead. as a business school dropout. Jonah finds himself reduced to retail. Superstore doesn’t go for the documentary format. which matters because there are no moments of Jonah rolling his eyes at the camera.
America Ferrera plays his Pam counterpart, Pam—Amy Dubanowksi. Pam is stuck in this job for way too long while she goes through a bad relationship. The interplay between Jonah and Amy lasts for seasons, and it becomes one of the show’s most satisfying will-they-won’t-they motors.
The ensemble is where Superstore really keeps its grip. Lauren Ash’s Dina is the assistant store manager at Cloud 9: very confident and serious, with clear Dwight Schrute parallels. Dina is socially awkward and a rule follower. but the longer you spend with her. the less off-putting she becomes—and the more she reads as someone you’d actually root for. Mateo. played by Nico Santos. is singled out as easily the funniest and most loyal character. and the series builds him in a way that defies traditional tropes often applied to gay characters.
Cheyenne. played by Nichole Sakura. begins as the dim-witted high schooler who grows into who she’s meant to be because of the confidence her work friends give her. Garrett. portrayed by Colton Dunn. is the smartass who’s above it all—described as a mixture of The Office’s Jim and Darryl (played by Craig Robinson) in one person. Put Dina. Glenn. Jonah. Amy. Mateo. Cheyenne. and Garrett together with the bizarre customers who show up at Cloud 9 every day. and the comedy has built-in friction.
But the show’s real staying power is that it treats the work like work. Superstore captures what it feels like to be stuck in retail—the ugly blue vests. the strange customers. and the coworkers you might never have met otherwise but become your family during long hours and venting sessions. Retail isn’t glamorous, and the series doesn’t pretend it is. Many characters are stuck at Cloud 9 either because of unfortunate circumstances or because they’re too scared to do more. Still, they keep getting up, keep showing up, and keep pushing forward without becoming angry and unlikable. It’s why the show reads like comfort food that never turns sour.
Superstore also goes beyond laughs in a way that lands because it doesn’t feel like a lecture. The series touches serious topics. including struggles with pay and being overworked. and the way corporate greed and the lack of care from those at the top can seep into daily life. There’s even an episode where Cloud 9 gets hit by a tornado. And one of the most heartbreaking storylines—one that hits harder today—comes when Mateo is arrested by ICE. The show does this without being preachy or telling its audience how to feel. It simply shows life as it is. using comedy as the way into the everyday ups and downs of working just to survive.
That human realism is also tied to how the show brings people together. Superstore layers a workplace community of white. Hispanic. Asian. Black. gay. undocumented. and disabled people in a setting that doesn’t value them. Through hardship, they learn to value each other, forming a quirky family along the way. The show’s rhythm is bickering and make-up, relying on each other, becoming best friends, and falling in love.
Superstore ran from 2015 to 2021, with Justin Spitzer as showrunner. For viewers who gave it a chance back when it was on NBC and for anyone discovering it now on Hulu, it remains the kind of series you remember for the laughs—and then stay for the heart.
Superstore Hulu The Office NBC Justin Spitzer Cloud 9 Ricky Gervais workplace comedy Steve Carell America Ferrera Mark McKinney Ben Feldman America Ferrera Pam Mateo Nico Santos Dina Lauren Ash Cheyenne Nichole Sakura Jonah Simms Glenn Sturgis
Superstore on Hulu now? Finally, I guess.
I thought Superstore already was on Hulu though lol. Seems like they’re just making it sound like The Office again, like the “office energy” is just Walmart jokes.
The article keeps saying Office energy but like… Superstore has that fake documentary vibe right? I tried watching once and it was kinda slow and then everyone was acting like HR is a villain? idk maybe I missed something. Also why do they keep bringing up that show ended like 10 years ago, I’m not trying to relive my life.
Honestly I don’t get the hype. If it’s office-like, just watch The Office. Streaming apps always do this thing where they slap “rewatch” on stuff and act like it’s new. Plus the headline says Hulu but the show was NBC right? So is Hulu just taking credit or what. I’m confused but I’ll still probably watch one episode.