Avenue 5

I think that a lot of the bad reviews here are from people that are... well, slow.

The humor here is dry and quick. It's easy to miss if you're used to being hand-fed comedy or need a laugh track to tell you when something's funny. Think Hitchhikers Guide mixed with some Monty Python.

It's not often I actually laugh out loud at a show. This one has me doing that every episode. HBO has already renewed it for a 2nd season. Can't wait!!

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.

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.

{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}

Reading a lot of the 1 to 4 star reviews and its nice to see we're all human. And I respectfully disagree. I LOVED the dry humor and absurdity in the show. I grew up watching Black Adder and its funny to see how Hughs character in Avenue is slowely becoming Rowan Atkinsons character in Ba. If you like sarcarsm, absurdity (ba is and old example. Something comparable these days would be the movie Dont Look Up) and dry humor. You're going to love the show.

Gave it an 8 because the eps should be longer. Almost seems rushed. Should have taken more time for some character development. Maybe something cheesy like (very short) flashbacks of their lives. Would have matched the setting. IMO.