HBO Has A New Space Show
And it sounds like something out of Wall-E:
A space tourism comedy from Veep creator Armando Iannucci set 40 years in the future when the solar system is everyone’s oyster. Avenue 5 follows the captain and crew of a luxury space cruise ship as they navigate disgruntled passengers and unexpected events after experiencing technical difficulties onboard.
Check it out the trailer:
Cast Of Characters
Laurie, who also did a 20 episode run on Veep, will play Captain Ryan Clark. Suave, outwardly confident, controlled, and personable, Ryan is the man you want in charge of a crisis.
Josh Gad is Herman Judd, the billionaire face and name behind Avenue 5. Arrogant and gleefully ignorant he relies on the experts he employs to give him the answers he wants.
Zach Woods is Matt Spencer, head of customer relations. He has a performance background but gave up trying to make it as an entertainer years ago.
Other characters include:
Nikki Amuka-Bird (A Private War, Jupiter Ascending) as Rav Mulcair, head of Judd Mission Control on Earth. Extremely intelligent, intense, and slightly odd, she is frustrated and exhausted by lack of control. Rav is racked with guilt at having sent her two best friends into space in an attempt to fix their failing marriage.
Rebecca Front (Love, Lies and Records) as Karen Kelly, a born leader who illicitly boarded Avenue 5 using her sister’s non-transferable ticket. Strong-willed, articulate, likable, Karen soon finds herself becoming the voice of the passengers, enjoying her newfound power.
Lenora Crichlow (Deception) as Billie McEvoy, second engineer. Young, outspoken, smart, career-focused, but exhausted by responsibility, Billie loves building and fixing things. She is terrified of dying in space.
Suzy Nakamura (Dr. Ken) as Iris Kimura, Judd’s right-hand-woman and a “fixer”. Straight to the point, sharp and serious, but with a wry sense of humor.
Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) as Spike Martin, elderly space enthusiast and former astronaut. Spike is a grizzled womanizer and heavy drinker who is also surprisingly good with kids. He often boasts of being the first Canadian to land on Mars, which isn’t strictly true.
Kevin Loader, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche and Will Smith are on board as executive producers.
Avenue 5 premieres January 19, 2020.
