The space comedy Avenue 5 has been given a series order at HBO, TVLine has confirmed. The show comes from Armando Iannucci, the creator of HBO’s Veep.
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Avenue 5 is described as a space tourism comedy set 40 years in the future when the solar system is everyone’s oystery. With Hugh Laurie as the Captain, nothing can go wrong.
The series stars Golden Globe-winning actor Hugh Laurie (House) as Ryan Clark, the captain of the titular Avenue 5, Zach Woods (Silicon Valley) as Matt Spencer, Avenue 5’s Head of Customer Relations described as a nihilist who is also a nice guy who can’t wait to get to the end of his final cruise before promotion to a more senior role on earth, and Josh Gad as Herman Judd, the face and name behind Avenue 5 and the whole Judd brand, including hotels, fitness clubs, and space tourism.
BAFTA winner Rebecca Front (The Thick of It) plays Karen Kelly, a born leader who illicitly boarded Avenue 5 using her sister’s non-transferable ticket. Nikki Amuka-Bird (Luther), Lenora Crichlow (Deception) is Billie McEvoy, the second engineer. Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) plays Spike Martin, an elderly space enthusiast and former astronaut who is a grizzled womanizer and heavy drinker, and Suzy Nakamura (Dr. Ken) portrays Iris Kimura, Judd’s right-hand woman.
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Iannucci serves as creator, writer and executive producer for the series. The Game of Thrones prequel starring Naomi Watts is the cable networks only remaining pilot following the series order of Avenue 5.
