Every vacation has its end. HBO has announced they have canceled the comedy series Avenue 5 after two seasons. The series was created by Veep’s Armando Iannucci and starred Hugh Laurie (House), Josh Gad (Frozen), Lenora Crichlow (Black Mirror), Zach Woods (Silicon Valley), Rebecca Front (The Thick Of It), Suzy Nakamura (Dr. Ken) and more, as the crew and passengers of Avenue 5, a space cruise ship that finds itself stranded when they are knocked off course and the head engineer dies. Leaving their not-so-qualified captain (Laurie) in charge of the ship in crisis.
With its cancelation, Avenue 5 joins the now growing list of live action sci-fi comedies to have their lifespan cut short. Netflix opted not to pick up additional seasons the comedy Space Force, which starred Steve Carrell, while Hulu has yet to renew Seth McFarlane’s The Orville following Season 3.
Season 1 of Avenue 5 premiered in early 2020 and was quickly renewed before Covid-19 delayed season two until October 2022, potentially playing a factor into why HBO declined to move forward. The series' future became even more 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 Tehran. When speaking on the series, an HBO spokesperson stated the below.
“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.”
Could Avenue 5 Find a Home Somewhere Else?
While it is possible Avenue 5’s producers could shop the series to other networks and streaming services for a third season renewal, it's unlikely since series creator is already in production on HBO’s upcoming comedy The Franchise alongside Sam Mendes. The upcoming series is set to debut later this year and stars Billy Magnussen, Jessica Hynes, Darren Goldstein, Lolly Adefope, and Isaac Powell. While few details have been revealed, it looks to poke fun at the political ins-and-outs of an MCU-esque blockbuster franchise by following “a hopeful crew trapped inside the dysfunctional, nonsensical, joyous hellscape of franchise superhero moviemaking”.
Along with Iannucci, Avenue 5 was produced by Kevin Loader, Will Smith, Simon Blackwell and Tony Roche. Check out the trailer for season 2 below, as well as Collider’s interview with Iannucci and Nikki Amuka-Bird on how to make a catastrophe in space funny.