Kim's Convenience


Kim's Convenience is a Canadian television sitcom that premiered on CBC Television in October 2016. It depicts the Korean Canadian Kim family that runs a convenience store in the Moss Park neighbourhood of Toronto: parents "Appa" and "Umma" – Korean for dad and mom, respectively – along with their daughter Janet and estranged son Jung. Other characters include Jung's friend and coworker Kimchee and his manager Shannon. The series is based on Ins Choi's 2011 play of the same name.
The first season was filmed from June to August 2016 at Showline Studios in Toronto. It is produced by Thunderbird Films in conjunction with Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company, with Lee and Yoon reprising their roles from the play. Scripts were created by Choi and Kevin White, who previously wrote for Corner Gas.
The second season premiered September 26, 2017. In July 2018, the series became available outside of Canada when it debuted internationally on Netflix. However, it was not available in all markets in January 2020, making the fourth season unavailable to a worldwide audience. The third season premiered January 8, 2019 and the fourth premiered January 7, 2020.
On March 31, 2020, it was announced that the show has been renewed for two more seasons.

Cast and characters

Main

Shooting locations

Interior scenes at the store, Handy Car Rental and home are shot at Showline Studios at 901 Lake Shore Boulevard East, where an exact replica of Mimi Variety, the model for the store, has been recreated. The studio is also used as the exterior of the car rental business. One episode was shot in Koreatown at Bloor and Christie Streets. The long established "Mimi Variety" store at 252 Queen Street East is used for exterior shots and as the model for the interior set built in the studio. While the signage has been adjusted, the "Kim's Convenience" sign uses the same red and green lettering and all other sections, such as the "7 DAYS A WEEK", are the original signage of Mimi Variety. The producers also painted a mural on an exterior wall, mostly seen in the credit sequence and for stock transitional shots as well as for promotional shots. The owners of the store have retained the new signage although the business has not officially changed its name.

Episodes

DVD releases

released the first season of Kim's Convenience on Region 1 DVD on March 7, 2017.
SeasonEpisodesRelease Date
SeasonEpisodesRegion 1
113March 7, 2017
213March 6, 2018

Reception

Critical response

The show was released to mostly positive reception from critics. The first season holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 12 critics' reviews. John Doyle of The Globe and Mail wrote that the show "stays away from the pseudo-seriousness that could easily plague a comedy about immigrants and family dynamics." In conclusion, Doyle called it "a clever, generally engaging screwball comedy with an eye on entertainment". The Toronto Star's Tony Wong wrote that "the show is good. Possibly even great. The dialogue is sharp, on point and borderline subversive. It has the potential to be a future classic. It has bite...It’s funny and true, but not a reality we typically see reflected on television." Reviewing the series following its release for US audiences on Netflix, Bryan Washington of Vulture remarked on the series' treatment of political issues surrounding immigrants, noting the tensions are never truly in the background but also do not take precedence over the comedy, remarking "I haven’t laughed as hard all year, with feeling, as I have alongside the series."
Rick Salutin, also of the Star, was less enthusiastic of the show's portrayal of minorities on television saying "only accents are funny in Kim's Convenience" and that audiences are "laughing at the characters not with them". Salutin concluded by stating "I don't see why supporting Canadian culture means you should be uncritical, as if someone will take it away if you weren't. You should be most critical about what you care most about like public education or the CBC, you want them to be good not just there". Although not directly a response to Salutin's review, actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee has questioned critics' inclination to cite accents as offensive: "They won’t say—but is it because you’re seeing Asians on the screen? Oh, no? Well, then it must be because he sounds different. Well, guess what: Asian people have accents. The accent isn’t about a joke, it’s part of who that character is, but it doesn’t make it intrinsically racist. If you’re uncomfortable with that baggage, then you need to examine it yourself and see where it comes from."
Mark Breslin, founder of the Canadian comedy club chain Yuk Yuk's, was critical of the show's lack of strong humour, saying "As a sitcom, it’s more sit than com. It’s pleasant to watch but just not that funny. The characters aren’t exaggerated enough. They lack big comic flaws. The conflicts are subtle and minor key. You want to give its creators kudos for finally putting Asians on TV in the right way, but the whole enterprise plays like a civics lesson. The characters all behave with dignity, and dignity may be the enemy of laughter."

Ratings

Midway through its first season, Kim's Convenience was estimated by Numeris to have an average audience of 933,000 per episode, with 39% of viewers between the ages of 25 and 54.

Awards

For the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017, Kim's Convenience garnered 11 nominations, including Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series, Best Actress in a Comedy Series, and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Lee won the award for best actor in a continuing leading comedic role for his portrayal of Appa, and Phung won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Kimchee.
Kim's Convenience won two awards at the 2017 Toronto ACTRA Awards, Outstanding Performance - Female for actress Jean Yoon and the Members’ Choice Series Ensemble Award for Best Cast.
The first-season episodes "Ddong Chim" and "Janet’s Photos" are 2017 Writers Guild of Canada's Canadian Screenwriting Awards finalists in the TV comedy category.
At the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018, the series received 12 nominations. It won the awards for Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
As the show's third season aired in the winter of 2019 rather than the fall of 2018, it did not air inside the eligibility period for the 7th Canadian Screen Awards.
YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2017ACTRA AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Female ActressJean Yoon
2017ACTRA AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Comedy Series
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Direction in a Comedy Program or SeriesPeter Wellington
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Writing in a Comedy Program or SeriesIns Choi, Kevin White
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Writing in a Comedy Program or SeriesGarry Campbell
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Comedic RoleJean Yoon
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Comedic RoleAndrea Bang
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Comedic RolePaul Sun-Hyung Lee
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Achievement in CastingDeirdre Bowen, Millie Tom
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role
or Guest Role in a Comedic Series
Andrew Phung
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Photography in a Comedy Program or SeriesFraser Brown
2017Canadian Screen AwardsBest Picture Editing in a Comedy Program or SeriesKye Meechan
2017WGC Screenwriting AwardsTV ComedyGarry Campbell
2017WGC Screenwriting AwardsTV ComedyIns Choi, Kevin White
2018ACTRA AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male ActorPaul Sun-Hyung Lee
2018ACTRA AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Comedy Series
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Direction, ComedyAleysa Young
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Photography, ComedyFraser Brown
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Picture Editing, ComedyAren Hansen
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Writing, ComedyAnita Kapila
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Writing, ComedyMatt Kippen
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Achievement in CastingDeidre Bowen
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Lead Actor, ComedyPaul Sun-Hyung Lee
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Supporting or Guest Actor, ComedyAndrew Phung
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Lead Actress, ComedyAndrea Bang
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Lead Actress, ComedyJean Yoon
2018Canadian Screen AwardsBest Supporting or Guest Actress, ComedyNicole Power
2018WGC Screenwriting AwardsTV ComedyAnita Kapila
2018WGC Screenwriting AwardsTV ComedyMatt Kippen
2019Seoul International Drama AwardsMost Popular Foreign Drama of the Year