Avenue 5’s second voyage may indeed be the last for HBO’s space-faring comedy. An exclusive report fromDeadlinereveals the show may be ending after Season 2 airs, which is reportedly coming sometime this fall. Additionally, the cast ofArmando Iannucci’s series has been released from their contracts to pursue other jobs around the industry, leaving this vessel without a crew.
The end ofAvenue 5is likely the result of a long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Season 1 had the unfortunate luck of airing in January 2020 which, in turn, saw the series picked up for a second season a month later - right before the pandemic hit. The unfortunate timing pushed production all the way back to August 2021 and the massive gap in between seasons did not bode well for the cast whose options were coming up. With some of those actors now signing on to new roles, it’s highly unlikely that the series will continue.
Avenue 5bears many similarities to another doomed space comedy, Netflix’sSpace Force; both shows had big-name creatives at the helm,Veep’s Iannucci forAvenue 5andThe office’sGreg DanielsforSpace Force.The two shows also had a loaded cast led by a fan favorite, in this case,Hugh Laurie, while the Netflix show hadSteve Carrell.However,Avenue 5leaned far more into sci-fi territory than theDaniels' workplace sitcom ever did. The HBO comedy saw Laurie and company aboard an intergalactic space cruise which goes off course after a freak accident kills the chief engineer. Laurie played the ship’s captain Ryan Clark, who tries to get everything under control and help get the ship back to Earth before supplies run out, a task made all the more difficult by the fact that he was merely an actor hired to portray the captain in order to reassure passengers while the ship’s automated control system did the all the work.
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The second season will see conditions onAvenue 5much worse than ever before. While the real crew and the fake employees work together to find a solution that will get everyone home in six months instead of the original three years, their plan backfires due to total incompetence. Their big plan to readjust their course by launching cargo out of the back of the ship instead adds a whopping five years to their three-year delay after they accidentally launch it out of the portside. With the passengers now aware that the captain and much of the crew are frauds, tension is at an all-time high heading into the new season.
Joining Laurie is a star-studded cast that includes the likes ofJosh Gad,Zach Woods,Rebecca Front,Suzy Nakamura,Lenora Crichlow,Nikki Amuka-Bird, andEthan Phillips. Iannucci executive produced the series withKevin Loader,Simon Blackwell,Tony Roche, andWill Smithalongside co-executive producersPeter FellowsandBecky Martin.Steve Clark-Hallproduces the series which is co-produced by Sky UK and HBO.
Season 1 ofAvenue 5can currently be streamed on HBO Max. There’s no confirmed release date yet for its second and likely final season.
