Ryan Reynolds remembers BlackBerry and Blockbuster in new series

Remember spending Friday night at Blockbuster, hoping to score the latest Jean Claude Van Damme movie? Maybe you pinged a friend on your BlackBerry to come over. Good times.

Ryan Reynolds remembers. The Vancouver-born movie megastar is the executive producer of a new series that explores the downfall of once-heralded brands such as Blockbuster and BlackBerry.

The new series, called “Discontinued” will run on something called “The Maximum Effort Channel”.

Finding this program, which will run on hinterland platforms such as LF Channel, Plex and Vizio Watchfree, might be enough to make you pine for the days when you simply pulled up to Blockbuster in your Geo tracker, which incidentally was discontinued in 1997.

The series, which will be narrated by Bruce Campbell, is directed by Brian Volk-Weiss, who worked on the Netflix series “The Movies that Made Us”.

Reynolds has various business interests, in addition to being one of the most recognizable stars in Hollywood. In 2020, he sold his ownership stake in Aviation Gin for $610-million. He is also the co-owner of Welsh football team Wrexham A.F.C, famously featured in the TV series Welcome to Wrexham.

For the record, some people do still use a BlackBerry and there is a single Blockbuster remaining that does brisk business in hipper-than-hip Bend, Oregon.

“Discontinued” debuts on the Maximum Effort Channel on Thursday, November 30 at 8 p.m. EST