Ben Feldman Critiques Fashion Sense Of ‘Superstore’ Cast

Ask Ben Feldman what he thinks about the wardrobe of his Superstore castmates, and he’ll probably use one word: “adorable.” In a new post for Entertainment Weekly, the dapper young man show fans know as Jonah recapped the latest episode, “Wellness Fair,” with a basic plotline summary and an overview of each character’s outfit. Apparently Nichole Bloom looks “wildly adorable” in pink, America Ferrera was wearing an “adorable” black blouse while covering for her time playing hooky from work, and Colton Dunn was spotted in an “adorable” green t-shirt.

Far from passing over the stylist behind his own character’s image, Feldman noted Jonah’s “absolutely adorable red plaid shirt.” Even the guest star, Artemis Pebdani, looked “adorable” in a nurse’s uniform and an — wait for it — “elegant” bit of purple. The episode ended with Feldman and Mark McKinney contemplating the day’s events “looking adorable in matching winter scarves.” Feldman took a break from his textile observations to make a comment on “fake news,” using that phrase to describe the untrue rumor that Sandra was pregnant.

If an old interview with Feldman is to be believed, he’ll be retiring those winter scarves and “adorable red plaid shirt” in his real life, since he doesn’t want his personal style to reflect his on-screen personas too much. Back in 2013, when Feldman was on Mad Men, he told GQ he tried to stay away from any outfits that might connect him to his character Michael Ginsberg. That character, Mad Men fans will recall, went insane near the end of his tenure.

“I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like it’s really embarrassing if you look too much like your character in real life. So in a sense, yeah. I’ve had to retire plaids.”

Feldman recently joked that his character on Superstore has become so much like himself he’s not sure where Jonah ends and he begins — and perhaps that the show writers are playing a big joke on him. He told Harper’s Bazaar last fall it’s just gotten worse as the show has gone on.

“[Jonah] was this bumbling elitist in a fish-out-of-water thing. But the more the writers find similarities and parallels between my personality and this character, it’s just turning into a roast of me.”

“It is [strange] because when you realize the writers start writing to who you are, you’re basically reading reviews of yourself. And then it becomes this cyclical nightmare where I feel like I need to play into it, then I find myself acting like the character in real life. Every single day [I’m] reconfirming my dual identity as Ben and Jonah.”

If roasting Feldman is an inside joke for the Superstore writers, it’s working for the network — and the fans. The show was recently picked up for a third season. Variety reported the show has increased ratings for the Thursday night, 8 p.m. timeslot on NBC by 29 percent when delayed viewing is taken into account. Superstore is the network’s top show on Hulu, NBC.com and on-demand.

Feldman told AOL Build in September he was reluctant to celebrate the success of Superstore, having had promising projects canceled in the past. But the show has steadily built a loyal following and the network has allowed its creator, Justin Spitzer, who was an important force behind the U.S. version of The Office, to follow his vision.

Superstore airs Thursday nights at 8 pm on NBC.

[Featured Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]