Avenue 5

It is an understatement to say I was pretty much disappointed after the third episode. Everything was there - well, in theory: my favorite genre, a good plot, a great cast, the famous British humor. But something was just off and I even tried watching the first three episodes again after the season finale, but no. I simply don't and can't like them, not sure why. The fourth episode was the game changer. I though it was the first decent one, even had a few laughs ("meh" was my default reaction to any attempt at humor in the previous eps), so I decided to at least try and finish the season. The next three offered a definitive upward momentum in terms of storytelling and humor. There was literally no dialogue, no sentence without at least a dash of perfectly dosed humor. I watched the season finale alone, and it was so funny at moments it made me spew random comments and laugh out loud all by myself. It is a great show, it is a unique show - please, PLEASE don't give up on it! Watch till the end, you won't regret your choice.

Ignore the haters. S1 was great. Hugh Laurie & cast were all very good, even annoying characters Karen , who played that part to MAX bc she's supposed to annoying!!.

Sadly S2 became more tame & mainstream. I wanted S3 but it was cancelled bc of overhyped hate reviews. So many formula, NOT funny, Unoriginal "comedy" shows that get YRS of new seasons. The Simpson's is one of them- I never thought that cartoon was remotely funny but I know many who love it. It's not for me but I don't write "hate reviews" of Simpsons.

Sadly, Ave 5 was cancelled. It reminded of when old creative HBO had most creative producers & good writing- thus GOT. Even the tiny but strong Korean aide of billionaire ship owner was spot on. Do u think billionaires retain those who refuse to do their every bidding? & she was HIS rock too, flipping the "meek timid non speaking" Asian stereotype Hollywood populates everywhere.

As many who truly like the quirkiness & satire of this show have already commented, if U don't like it , THIS show is NOT for you. Leave those who DO WANT NEW FLAVORS, writing, original witty shows alone. U can have ALL boring dull formula shows spewed everywhere for YRS. We don't complain about those to remove them off the air.

There seem to be some reviews here panning this show for not being true sci-fi. It's not sci-fi, it was never sci-fi, it's social satire. A terrific cast working well together from scene one, although it is true there isn't a lot of warmth or likeable characters. Life has very few of those, either. A couple, maybe. I might know one of them. Not me, but I know one.

The target here is the incompetence of so-called leaders and their inane systems running society and how society seems just fine with that. In real life, people are apparently are not bothered when politicians and captains of industry without skills or knowledge or empathy or investment in the future of humanity send the world crashing sideways into oblivion. But in this show the public are immediately upset that their holiday has gone dangerously wrong. In this sense, Avenue 5 is taking an artistic liberty.

The writing is not as sharp as it could be. Time has been spent instead setting up a much more involved scenario than, say Veep or In The Thick Of It. All we need to know for those shows was that manipulative jerks run the show in London and Washington. For this, the creators are trying to set up a larger theme. Will it work, will it not, I don't know. But the bones are there for better things, and I trust the cast and writers to know where they are going. Based on their track record of past shows I trust them more than I trust us, the viewers.

{Initial Impression} Completely and utterly ridiculous and entertaining. Bizarre concept. Great comedic timing. The absurdity is matched by a keen understanding of human behaviour and social constructs, so much so, as to be a commentary on both. Hugh Laurie is the anchor of the show but is surrounded by some brilliant work by the support cast. I give this HBO series an 8 (oddly clever) out of 10. {SciFi Comedy}

People need to stop being so obnoxiously negative. This show is extremely entertaining. Maybe not always funny, in a sense, but certainly always entertaining. Entertaining isn't as subjective as funny. And if you don't find it to be entertaining, at the very least, you're doing something wrong. Lower your negativity, lingering expectations, and I bet you'll begin to find it entertaining, a little bit, at first.

Anyway, all that aside, I enjoyed watching this show very, very much. The fictional history of the in-show world and the subtle references to little bits and pieces of it came out of nowhere and was probably one of the most shocking aspects of it if not the most. But it was super interesting from the start, and then began to be entertaining and a very wonderful running gag, so to speak. The gradual descent into anguish and madness made for a compelling theme and didn't disappoint.

The VFX (or CGI?) of outer space, and maybe the space ship itself as well, something that I think I've seen a person or two complain about and call bad, or at least comparing it to a much older show that had "bad" VFX/CGI that also didn't age very well, didn't look remotely bad to me. In actuality, it looked quite good and...crisp or whatever, I don't know.

Each significant character was entertaining. Yes, even Karen. Sure, if you're more passionate and generally immersive in what you watch than I am, you probably hate her and don't particularly like any of the other characters. That's fine.

Moving on, the main issue which a lot of people have with the show that I've seen is that it isn't funny, and I think that's a load of bollocks. While the show is advertised as a comedy or considered to be a comedy, first and foremost, you're supposed to be entertained. Not to mention, this is, without a doubt, and very obviously, a much different version of the comedy genre than usual. That alone should've been obvious before going off and complaining about how much the show sucks, and how remarkably unfunny it is.

That being said, feel free to freely act negatively towards the show, most of you probably already have. I liked it and I'm looking forward to the second season, and it's a good thing for the show that those of you who I've mentioned, you know who you are, have been weeded out and won't be returning. Goodbye.