TWISTER ENDING

‘Superstore’ season finale: tornado warning ahead

THURSDAY’S season finale of “Superstore” mixes offbeat humor with a touch of pathos — a combination that’s quietly carried the quirky NBC sitcom through its first two seasons.

“I’m the most pessimistic, negative person in this cast and from the very day I showed up, I was...always the one saying ‘I wouldn’t put a down payment on that yacht anytime soon,’ ” says co-star Ben Feldman (Jonah) about the series, set in a Costco-type store called Cloud 9. “But every single person, going back to the pilot, had a feeling there was something kind of special about the show and, to NBC’s credit — which is not something I ever thought I would begin a sentence with — they let the writers take chances and gave the show a shot.”

“Superstore,” which is renewed for next season, ends Season 2 with a tornado bearing down on Cloud 9, threatening to destroy the building (and the lives therein). The inclement weather also tests the underlying romantic vibes between Jonah and his married coworker Amy (America Ferrera) — a chemistry that’s been present since the series premiere.

“The original title of the show, and I think it was still called this when we shot the pilot, was ‘The Greatest Love Story Ever Told,’ ” says “Superstore” executive producer Justin Spitzer. “Amy and Jonah are obviously part of that, but then we changed course and took away a lot of that conceit [over the first two seasons].” Feldman says he likes the way in which the Amy-Jonah relationship has played out.

“Justin and the writers are super-skilled at walking a fine line between what the audience wants to see and what they really should see,” he says. “It keeps the tension going — in that sort of ‘will they or won’t they?’ excitement — and there’s far more drama than if they just got together right away or went straight to a friendship. “Superstore”

“It’s a very complicated relationship, and you’ve got that massive obstacle of [Amy’s] husband,” Feldman adds. “Hopefully they’ll stay in that gray area for a while.”

What “Superstore” has been able to do — rather deftly — is balance humor with topical workplace issues, including transgender bathroom use, gun rights, immigration, abortion, sexual harassment and drug testing.

“We’re not afraid to go toward an issue when it presents itself in the story, as long as we don’t get full of ourselves,” Spitzer says. “We’re not hitting anyone over the head with anything.”

Feldman says he has “a lot of opinions” about businessschool dropout Jonah’s back story going forward — “What is he doing in the store? Is it sort of a sick hobby?” — and admits there’s a lot of himself in the character.

“The longer we keep doing this, the writers are basically writing all the things that are ridiculous or obnoxious about me into the script,” he says. “I feel like it’s a 30-page roast. But none of them will ‘fess up to it.” 8:30 p.m. Thursday on NBC