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Kim's Convenience
Kim's Convenience is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television from October 2016 to April 2021. It depicts the Korean Canadian Kim family that runs a convenience store in the Moss Park neighbourhood of Toronto: parents "Appa" (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and "Umma" (Jean Yoon) – Korean for dad and mom, respectively – along with their daughter Janet (Andrea Bang) and estranged son Jung (Simu Liu). Other characters include Jung's friend and coworker Kimchee (Andrew Phung) and his manager Shannon (Nicole Power). 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, since January 2020, it is no longer available in all markets (e.g., the Netherlands), 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 initially announced that the show had been renewed for two more seasons, and on March 8, 2021, it was revealed that the show would end after the fifth season, due to the departure of the show's two co-creators. Since the show's cancellation, three of the show's lead actors have publicly discussed production issues, particularly criticising a lack of diversity among behind-the-scenes staff. This has been disputed by others, including a television critic who was not involved in the production of the show but pointed out that the writers included women. In an April 2026 interview on Q with Tom Power, Yoon confirmed problems with workplace culture and diversity on set. She stated that she wishes in hindsight that she had seen the simmering problems more clearly at the time to allow her to take more active action against them.
A spin-off series, Strays, began production in February 2021 after a one-year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Interior scenes at the store, Handy Car Rental and home are shot at Studio City Toronto (formerly Showline Studios) at 915 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 as the original sign. All other sections, such as the "7 DAYS A WEEK" element, are the original signage of Mimi Variety. The owners of the Mimi Variety store have retained the new signage, even though the business has not officially changed its name. 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.
Episodes for season 5 were filmed in 2020 under strict protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Simu Liu had planned to return to Toronto for the start of production once he was finished shooting Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Australia. Since filming for both projects overlapped due to delays caused by the pandemic, he was only able to return to Toronto toward the end of production, where he continued shooting for nine days until he had completed "all the stuff that he missed out on".
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Kim's Convenience
Kim's Convenience is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television from October 2016 to April 2021. It depicts the Korean Canadian Kim family that runs a convenience store in the Moss Park neighbourhood of Toronto: parents "Appa" (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and "Umma" (Jean Yoon) – Korean for dad and mom, respectively – along with their daughter Janet (Andrea Bang) and estranged son Jung (Simu Liu). Other characters include Jung's friend and coworker Kimchee (Andrew Phung) and his manager Shannon (Nicole Power). 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, since January 2020, it is no longer available in all markets (e.g., the Netherlands), 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 initially announced that the show had been renewed for two more seasons, and on March 8, 2021, it was revealed that the show would end after the fifth season, due to the departure of the show's two co-creators. Since the show's cancellation, three of the show's lead actors have publicly discussed production issues, particularly criticising a lack of diversity among behind-the-scenes staff. This has been disputed by others, including a television critic who was not involved in the production of the show but pointed out that the writers included women. In an April 2026 interview on Q with Tom Power, Yoon confirmed problems with workplace culture and diversity on set. She stated that she wishes in hindsight that she had seen the simmering problems more clearly at the time to allow her to take more active action against them.
A spin-off series, Strays, began production in February 2021 after a one-year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Interior scenes at the store, Handy Car Rental and home are shot at Studio City Toronto (formerly Showline Studios) at 915 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 as the original sign. All other sections, such as the "7 DAYS A WEEK" element, are the original signage of Mimi Variety. The owners of the Mimi Variety store have retained the new signage, even though the business has not officially changed its name. 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.
Episodes for season 5 were filmed in 2020 under strict protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Simu Liu had planned to return to Toronto for the start of production once he was finished shooting Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Australia. Since filming for both projects overlapped due to delays caused by the pandemic, he was only able to return to Toronto toward the end of production, where he continued shooting for nine days until he had completed "all the stuff that he missed out on".