The fifth season of Superstore, the American television series, was ordered on March 4, 2019[1] and filming began in August 2019.[2] The season premiered on September 26, 2019 on NBC. The series continues to air on its Thursday at 8:00 PM timeslot.[3] The season was set to contain 22 episodes,[4] but production was shut down after the completion of the 21st episode due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Superstore follows a group of employees working at Cloud 9, a fictional big-box store in St. Louis, Missouri. The ensemble and supporting cast feature America Ferrera, Ben Feldman, Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Nichole Bloom, Mark McKinney, and Kaliko Kauahi. Kauahi joins the regular cast after being credited as a recurring character in seasons 1–4.
In season 5, Kaliko Kauahi, who had portrayed Sandra Kaluiokalani since the first season, was promoted to series regular.[30] Justina Machado joined the cast as a recurring character, playing the new district manager Maya. Heidi Gardner was cast as Dina's nemesis Colleen.[7]
After NBC had initially announced the sixth season renewal of the series, the network revealed on February 28, 2020, that series star America Ferrera would be departing at the end of the fifth season, citing she has new projects and wants to spend more time with her family.[31] However, due to season 5 production being halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ferrera returned to finish the story of Amy's departure in season 6.[32]
Episode 17 contained promotional consideration which was furnished by Microsoft.