Avenue 5: HBO sets premiere date for Hugh Laurie led space comedy

HBO has set the premeire date for its new space tourism comedy from writer/creator Armando Iannucci, Avenue 5. We’ve got the details!

Per a report from Deadline, Avenue 5 will premiere on HBO at 10:00 PM EDT on Sunday, January 19. HBO released a trailer a couple of days ago. It straight up plays like the worst nightmare for people interested in the future of space tourism. You can watch that trailer here.

In the not too distant future, space tourism is the final frontier for that friend who loves to travel, but only takes cruises. They can say they went somewhere while never leaving the creature comforts of a luxury liner or experiencing another culture. In other words, it’s a bustling center of commerce for rich people, I mean entrepreneurs, who want to prey on the vanity of other rich people. Enter Herman Judd (Josh Gad). He’s the owner of Avenue 5, a luxury spaceliner that encounters some issues on its trip through exotic Saturn.

Judd is less occupied with concerned passengers as he is with convincing those passengers that the problems are not his fault. That’s not reassuring at all. There a lot of people on Avenue 5 who just want to get back home to their families. That’s where Captain Ryan Clark (Hugh Laurie) comes in. It seems like space travel in the future is a lot like it is today: breathtaking, but often lethal. Clark seems to be primarily occupied with keeping everyone calm as conditions continue to get worse around him.

Avenue 5 is created and co-written by Armando Iannucci of The Thick of It and Veep fame. Initially, Ryan Clark seems to have a little lower blood pressure than Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) or Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). I’m sure the character’s temper will come out as keeping the passengers and Judd reassured gets to be more than he bargained for.

The cast also includes Suzy Nakamura as Iris Kimura (Tacoma FD) and Zach Woods (Silicon Valley) as Matt Spencer. Both seem to be in public relations type roles on the ship. The cast is rounded out by Nikki Amuka-Bird (Gold Digger), Lenora Crichlow (Deception), and Rebecca Front (The Thick of It).

Avenue 5 looks like it will be a wild, funny ride through space. Will you be tuning in on January 19? Let’s discuss in the comments!