Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Season 1 – Avenue 5

Play trailer 1:41 Poster for Season 1 – Avenue 5 Jan 2020 Comedy Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
67% Tomatometer 52 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A confident, controlled and personable space cruise ship captain tries to get along with everyone.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Avenue 5 — Season 1

Avenue 5 — Season 1

What to Know

Critics Consensus

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.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Maura Johnston Boston Globe 08/06/2020
Proved to be funny enough, a half-hour-ish distraction from the Sunday scaries with snort-worthy one-liners, ominous asides about the future, and a sterling cast topped by Laurie and Gad. Go to Full Review
Liz Shannon Miller AV Club 03/17/2020
B
These aren't just bad choices, but frustrating ones-because on balance, it is so much more fun to watch a TV show where the majority of the characters are as smart, if not smarter, than the average viewer. Go to Full Review
Deborah Ross The Mail on Sunday (UK) 01/27/2020
1/5
I still don't know what it is or what it wants to be. I can only say it has the feel of something [Armando Ianucci] scribbled on a napkin in breaks from working on a project he actually cared about. Go to Full Review
Christopher Hooton NME (New Musical Express) 07/13/2021
3/5
Packed to the titanium rafters with gags, Avenue 5 falls somewhere between The Good Place and Veep, but with a shiny Black Mirror skin... Go to Full Review
Kylie Klein-Nixon The Post NZ 04/13/2020
A biting social satire. Go to Full Review
Dana Aklilu Film Inquiry 03/25/2020
Avenue 5 is adrift, not exactly voicing a perspective that feels fresh or relevant. It doesn't know what it wants to be, and it doesn't know where it wants to go, leaving it stuck in an unsatisfactory middle. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Locus P @Locus 3h What got us watching was the promise of an absurdist comedy with the setting of passengers stuck for years on a spaceship cruise. The problem was that nothing landed. No pun intended. Jokes are repeated ad nauseam, such as the "delay" in transmission. Not funny whatsoever. Felt like highschool students wrote the dialogue - all so forced, as if read off a cue. Dead boring to watch. The owner (Herman Judd) is like a pale version of the IT Crowd's Douglas Reynholm, with none of Reynholm's scene-stealing charisma. Sight gags are the only thing that worked. Rotating coffins in space. Gravity flip slamming passengers from one end of the ship to the other. But these too fell flat. What's sad is that what would have worked is if ALL the crew had been fakers picked by Judd because his eogotistical self was so sure the spaceship's auto was faultless. Not just the captain. Every character should be like Zach Wood - 100% wrong for their roles on the ship. Woods stood out far above the rest. See more Ed L @ed65love May 16 I love scifi, but prefer comedy. i.e. something funny. Oh, well, it held my attention for nearly 5 minutes. See more Brian M @Brian488307 Jul 2 We couldn't take it for very long. One episode killed it for us. We really like Hugh Laurie, he is a brilliant actor and loved himmin many things, including House. It attracted us to it, but he didn't seem to have the spark he displayed in his other work. He wasn't very convincing but we might have forgiven that, but for the story that tried too hard to be funny, and s cast of characters that we couldn't really connect to. It's a no from us. See more Joseph C @JoeC. 04/22/2025 "Avenue 5" premiered in February 2020, and initially, I found its characters annoying and unreasonable. The concept of incompetent people managing a disaster while the public either panicked or went into denial seemed far-fetched. However, by the end of the season, which coincided with the early days of March 2020, I was proven wrong. The show became unexpectedly prophetic, brilliantly capturing how self-involved and unprepared society had become in the face of a crisis, highlighting our struggles to approach disaster with any semblance of measured intelligence. See more mickeydeecat T @RT59149320 01/24/2025 I watched this when it first aired. The show is hilarious. Very panicked, whacky humor with ridiculous situations and characters. It had me sitting at the edge of my seat for most of it. It deserved a better send off. See more Emmanuel V @RT69545192 01/02/2025 I like the show enough even if the Karen character is close to ruining the enjoyment of it completely See more Read all reviews
Avenue 5 — Season 1

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Jan 19, 2020 I Was Flying When a malfunction occurs aboard the luxury space cruise ship Avenue 5, it's up to engineer Billie McEvoy to warn Capt. Ryan Clark, owner Herman Judd and his right-hand woman Iris Kimura that the incident may have a cataclysmic knock-on effect. Details Episode 2 Aired Jan 26, 2020 And Then He's Gonna Shoot Off... Rav and her team meet with a NASA representative to plot a potential rescue mission; an engineer working in a hidden part of the ship has a surprisingly optimistic theory about the ship's future; Karen becomes a vocal advocate for passengers. Details Episode 3 Aired Feb 2, 2020 I'm a Hand Model Judd outlines the plan for a rescue mission and tasks Iris with organizing a vigil on Earth to raise the money to fund it; Rav endures a barrage of messages from the ship and handles an unruly press conference. Details Episode 4 Aired Feb 9, 2020 Wait a Minute, Then Who Was That on the Ladder? With Judd worried about his reputation, Iris arranges a meet-and-greet with several passengers in his luxury suite; frustrated by a bridge crew with no answers, Ryan and Billie bond with the engineers below deck. Details Episode 5 Aired Feb 16, 2020 He's Only There to Stop His Skeleton From Falling Over Billie seeks her moment in the limelight after stepping in to help Ryan during the ship's newest crisis; Iris vets comic Jordan Hatwal's material for the Halfway Home Party; Doug tries to get in the way of Mia's newfound sexual freedom. Details Episode 6 Aired Feb 23, 2020 Was It Your Ears? As Avenue 5 celebrates the birth of a space baby, Ryan and Billie try to identify the source of an incessant beeping; Judd shares his latest grand idea; Rav appeals to the president for rescue funds but faces an ethical dilemma. Details Episode 7 Aired Mar 1, 2020 Are You a Spider, Matt? Judd enlists Ryan to help charm Harrison Aimes, a wealthy passenger who has a strange effect on Judd; the passengers become transfixed by a divine image circling the ship; Rav deals with the fallout when the ship's moral quandary hits the media. Details Episode 8 Aired Mar 8, 2020 This Is Physically Hurting Me While Karen oversees an effort to jettison non-essential passenger items, Billie tries to teach an inattentive Ryan how to dock the ship; Matt learns of Judd's plan to return to Earth; the passengers suspect all is not as it seems with the journey. Details Episode 9 Aired Mar 15, 2020 Eight Arms but No Hands A search party commences for Matt who's in hiding with the airlock codes; Iris questions Karen about her rumored affair with Ryan; Rav seeks an apology from Judd, as chaos ensues when a seat on a rescue shuttle suddenly becomes available. Details
Future Man 91% 82% Future Man Watchlist TRAILER for Future Man Living With Yourself 79% 81% Living With Yourself Watchlist TRAILER for Living With Yourself Daybreak 68% 66% Daybreak Watchlist TRAILER for Daybreak Upload 87% 72% Upload Watchlist TRAILER for Upload Barry 98% 89% Barry Watchlist TRAILER for Barry Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Season Info

Director
Annie Griffin, Natalie Bailey, David Schneider, Armando Iannucci, Will Stefan Smith
Creator
Armando Iannucci
Executive Producer
Kevin Loader, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche, Will Smith, Armando Iannucci
Screenwriter
Charlie Cooper, Daisy May Cooper, Ian Martin, Georgia Pritchett, Peter Baynham, Armando Iannucci, Peter Fellows, Will Smith, Tony Roche
Network
HBO
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
Comedy, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date
Jan 19, 2020