HBO has announced they have cancelled the comedy series Avenue 5 after two seasons.
- Season 3 of the show has recently been cancelled by HBO.
- The show aired its first season from January 19, 2020, to March 15, 2020. The second season aired on HBO from October 10, 2022, to November 28, 2022.
Avenue 5 is a science fiction comedy television series created by Armando Iannucci, the creator of the popular series Veep. The show starred Hugh Laurie (from House), Josh Gad (from Frozen), Lenora Crichlow (from the British series, Black Mirror), Zach Woods (from the popular TV series Silicon Valley), Rebecca Front (from The Thick Of It), Suzy Nakamura (from the series Dr. Ken) and more.
The series is set 40 years into the future, mostly in space where Captain Ryan Clark (played by Hugh Laurie) and his crew on a luxury space cruise ship fall into a state of pandemonium when the chief engineer of the ship accidentally dies and the passenger’s lives are put at risk as they find their way out to return safely to Earth.
The final episode of Season 2, “That’s Why They Call It a Missile,” was aired on November 28, 2022, and after a long silence, HBO spokesperson announced that it was discontinuing the series stating, “Going to space with Armando Iannucci has been an incredible journey,” “While we will not be moving forward with a third season of ‘Avenue 5,’ we look forward to many more adventures together.”
The show premiered on HBO in the United States on January 19, 2020. In February 2020, just days before the COVID-19 pandemic led to worldwide lockdowns, the series was renewed for a second season; filming moved forward in late 2021, with a release date of October 10, 2022.
Iannucci created the series and served as executive producer along with Kevin Loader and Will Smith. Keith Akushie, Jon Brown, and Sean Gray were co-executive producers. Ian Martin and Rose Heiney were supervising producers, while Richard Daldry was a line producer. The series was a co-production between HBO and Sky UK.
Here is all we know about the cancellation of Avenue 5 and what could have been the future of this television series.
Avenue 5: Why was it cancelled?
Avenue 5 received a fair rating when it aired first in 2020. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an approval rating of 67% based on 52 reviews. The average rating was 6.3/10. The critics left the following statement for the show, “If Avenue 5‘s maiden voyage isn’t as smooth as its creative clout implies, it’s still a hilarious step in a completely new—while still enjoyably caustic—direction for creator Armando Iannucci.”
On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating “generally favourable reviews.”
The series’ future became bleak last May when the cast members were released from their contracts and star, Laurie, signed on to be the lead in the third season of another series, Tehran. Right after this, Deadline released an article predicting the cancellation of the show.
Avenue 5: What happened in the show?
Avenue 5 has been described as “set in the future, mostly in space.”
HBO released the official synopsis of the first season which states, “All aboard for a hilarious journey across the universe in this HBO comedy series from Armando Iannucci (HBO’s “Veep”). Set 40 years in the future when travelling the solar system is a booming business, Season 1 follows life on board Avenue 5, a mash-up of a cruise liner and an interplanetary rocket ship packed with luxury amenities.”
As it states, the first season was very promising and delivered really well.
For the second season, the official synopsis stated, “Picking up five months after failing to reroute the vessel, Season 2 follows the crew – including fiery engineer Billie (Lenora Crichlow), unpredictable head of customer relations Matt (Zach Woods), and faithful right-hand Iris (Suzy Nakamura) – as they struggle to lead, calm, control, and, if need be, hide from increasingly unruly passengers. On earth, they’re lauded as heroes, and in space, everyone can hear them scream.”
It is very disappointing to know that we’ll never know what happened later on in the series but it is also interesting that it was left open-ended for the audience for us to speculate what could happen next in the series. Drop your comments below to let us know what you think could have happened next in the series.
Some reports have confirmed that Iannucci is staying in business with HBO as he is executive producing a pilot called “The Franchise” for the premium cabler. That show is about the crew making a blockbuster superhero movie.
Avenue 5: Where to watch?
You can watch all 17 episodes from the two seasons of Avenue 5 on HBO and HBO Max, based on the user’s region. You can also rent the episodes of Avenue 5 on Google Play, Vudu, and iTunes, based on your location, with preferred membership, and plans that the users can choose from.
While we try to excavate more information about the show, in the meantime, we recommend fans stream the episodes to recap the events of the series.
