What's In Store

Driving from Burbank to Hollywood, taking Barham, you will get a glimpse of Cloud 9 on land owned by Universal studios.  Cloud 9 is the fictional retailer in the sitcom Superstore.  It looks like a real store, though it's only a façade, along with a (real) parking lot.

I was recently watching another NBC show, Good Girls.  It's set in Detroit.  It doesn't look the slightest bit like Detroit, but they'll occasionally mention things like Lafayette versus American Coney Island to remind you of the setting.  But I was shocked that a recent episode featured a scene where characters were outside a Cloud 9.  There are no Cloud 9 stores in Detroit, or, indeed, anywhere except on the Universal lot.

Crossovers between TV shows are not uncommon.  But to go from a bizarre comedy like Superstore to a drama like Good Girls gives you whiplash.  Good Girls has humor, as did Breaking Bad, but you've got to take the threat of violence and prison time seriously for the show to work.  To see a fake store that signifies comedy takes you out of the action.

I suppose it's cheaper to shoot on a standing set, but couldn't they at least have changed the sign?  I suppose next they'll walk into a bar and Ted Danson will be serving drinks.