“Avenue 5” has crash-landed. The Armando Iannucci science fiction comedy series has been canceled at HBO after two seasons, IndieWire has confirmed.
The news comes almost three months after the show wrapped its second season in November. The series, led by Hugh Laurie, originally premiered in January 2020.
“Going to space with Armando Iannucci has been an incredible journey,” an HBO spokesperson said in a statement to IndieWire. “While we will not be moving forward with a third season of ‘Avenue 5,’ we look forward to many more adventures together.”
“Avenue 5” starred Laurie and Josh Gad as the captain and owner of the titular interplanetary cruise ship. Set in 2060, the show also featured Zach Woods, Rebecca Front, Suzy Nakamura, Lenora Crichlow, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Ethan Phillips as the various employees and passengers onboard Avenue 5. The ship gets tilted off course after a mishap, forcing the group to work together in order to survive a three year voyage back to Earth.
The show scored a Season 2 order in February 2020, in the middle of its first season. The pandemic delayed production until August 2021, and the show ultimately premiered its second season in October 2022, almost three years after its initial premiere.
The series was Iannucci’s second for HBO, after the acclaimed Julia Louis-Dreyfus-led political satire “Veep,” which aired on the network from 2012 to 2019 and picked up three Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series. The “Thick of It” and “In the Loop” creator remains in business at HBO with his Sam Mendes collaboration “The Franchise.” That series, which stars Billy Magnussen, will focus on the production of a new superhero film, and has been ordered to pilot at the premium cable channel.
Laurie also already has a new project lined up; the “House” star has joined the cast of Apple TV+’s Israeli series “Tehran” for its third season, which is currently filming.
“Avenue 5” received mixed reviews when it originally premiered, with IndieWire critic Ben Travers writing that the series had a “rocky start.” Season 2 was better received, and Travers wrote that series “really took off” in its sophomore outing.
Iannucci executive produced “Avenue 5” with Kevin Loader, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche, and Will Smith, with Peter Fellows and Becky Martin co-executive producing and Steve Clark-Hall producing. The series was a co-production between HBO and Britain’s Sky UK.
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