Avenue 5

Hi all,
I have just suffered through the second episode of "Avenue 5" by HBO, starring Hough Laurie. In my humble opinion, this show is a waste of airtime, so far. The plot is as follows- A luxury space liner doing an 8-week tour of Saturn has a disaster and will be coming home the long way, which will take 3 years, fair enough. But, what sort of a spaceship name is "Avenue 5" ??? The costumes and interior sets are good and the spacecraft looks cool.
It seems to me that the scriptwriters would not notice a good gag if it bit them in the leg. I have seen the first two shows and both have been unmitigated disasters. My first reaction when the first show ended was "Is that it ?" If you have read some of my previous articles, you know I like my sci-fi nice and crunchy. .Individual plot bits held promise, like the fake captain who is as useful as a chocolate teapot and the old grizzled astronaut.

I hope the show improves, for the cast's sake, but so far, it is nowhere near "The Orville" standards, let alone Space 1999 or "Firefly / Serenity", so another six chances to redeem themselves, fingers crossed.

Rating 1-10. That's being generous.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. I will update this as the show goes along.

Update - 4th March 2020.

It's now about show 5 or 6 and it's not getting any better. There has been the odd smile along the way, but nothing to shout about. Certainly, a failed space shot that deserves to just drift into the blackness and be forgotten.

Update - 8th April 2020.

This is very strange to say, even in these strange times, I did quite like the last couple of episodes that I watched of the show. I was not expecting that at all. I suppose all the madness had finally come together and gelled.
Revised 3-10.

Ivor Cogdell