Home Forums Ganymede & Titan Forum Avenue 5 – Armando Iannucci 'space comedy' gets greenlit at HBO

Viewing 50 replies - 1 through 50 (of 92 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #248093
    si
    Participant

    Hmmmm. Sounds interesting.

    #248094
    John Hoare
    Participant

    The fascinating thing about this is that Iannucci has gone on record before about his distaste for Red Dwarf.

    It’ll be interesting to see what his version of a space sitcom is, and how it differs.

    #248096
    si
    Participant

    There’ll be some patio doors, I imagine.

    #248125
    Dave
    Participant

    The fascinating thing about this is that Iannucci has gone on record before about his distaste for Red Dwarf.

    I don’t think I ever heard about this. What did he say?

    #248175
    Ridley
    Participant

    “If you like Red Dwarf, you’ll love Hyperdrive.”

    #248177
    pfm
    Participant

    Makes no sense why he’d diss Dwarf.

    #248178
    (deleted)
    Participant

    I can’t wait to see the angry middle aged one who swears creatively, the harangued older one who doesn’t do much but gets dragged along, the naive younger one who doesn’t have a personality but usually connects the subplots at the end, and two tutting women with no funny lines to say who are just Dorothy and Deborah from Men Behaving Badly but power-dressed. With starfields behind the windows.

    #248180
    Plastic Percy
    Participant

    What about the aging career woman with a strained marriage and worries about her femininity?

    #248185
    John Hoare
    Participant

    I don’t think I ever heard about this. What did he say?

    A certain Seb Patrick went to a Q&A with Armando Iannucci, and he said he didn’t really like Red Dwarf. I’m sure he talked about it on here, but I’m buggered if I can find the thread now.

    #248186
    Dave
    Participant

    Ah, I found this (second comment down).

    It’s a pod!

    Thanks John.

    #248187
    si
    Participant

    Thohn.

    #256060
    Warbodog
    Participant
    #256064
    GlenTokyo
    Participant

    It’s like Fhloston Paradise from The Fifth Element but a TV show.

    It’ll obviously be decent, what with the writers and cast, but surprised at how unextraordinary it looks to say it’s a HBO show, not that it looks bad.

    #256065
    GlenTokyo
    Participant

    Maybe that’s more a reflection on how normal TV has come on though in comparison to Premium cable channels.

    Anyway, will watch.

    #256071
    Dave
    Participant

    Looks good I reckon.

    #256085
    Warbodog
    Participant

    Not watched Veep, so I don’t know how Armando’s Americanization’s gone. He’s the only writer for this listed on reliable old Wikipedia, so I don’t know if he’ll be delegating or not. Starts in January, definitely worth a try.

    #256088
    si
    Participant

    Yes, looks very decent.

    #256147
    Lily
    Participant

    So how does one watch HBO shows in the UK anyway?

    #256148
    GlenTokyo
    Participant

    It’ll probably be on Sky Atlantic.

    #256230
    pfm
    Participant

    It’s a shame Capaldi’s not leading this tbh. Obviously, Hugh is more known to American audiences.

    For a moment it looked like there was a huge disaster, leaving minimal crew, but Armando wouldn’t do that….?? You also just know the ‘notes’ from HBO, telling him to tap into ‘The Good Place’-type vibes, constantly kept dropping. Much like everything had to be like ‘The Office’ for a number of years.

    Still, Rebecca Front and all that!!

    #256234
    Warbodog
    Participant

    It’s a shame it’s not “Hello” Hugh from The Armando Iannucci Shows, but he would be 106, if he wasn’t dead.

    #256303
    Taiwan Tony
    Participant

    ^ I read that in the style of Hugh from the Armando shows. His legacy will live on.

    #256918
    Veni
    Participant

    Looks very, very good from the recent trailers I’ve been seeing. Surprising as I’m rather tired of seeing attempted satire of capitalism in a space setting, and it’s very often done terribly with all the subtlety of a claw-hammer to the groin ala The Outer Worlds (if any of you boomers have played it).

    #257166
    Dave
    Participant

    This has started now, although it’s not on in the UK until Wednesday. Anyone catch it yet?

    #257192
    Paul Muller
    Participant

    Watched the first episode last night. It’s a weird one, the whole thing felt a bit stilted and artificial. Hugh Laurie was great though, and there were a couple of very funny moments. Hopefully it’ll pick up a bit as it goes on.

    #257219
    Dave
    Participant

    I watched the first episode tonight. I wasn’t that sold on it at the start but it got better as it went on, and the second half was pretty good. I think it definitely has potential and I think the cast is already working well together.

    #257232
    si
    Participant

    Watched it. Enjoyed it.

    Thanks.

    #257233
    si
    Participant

    Watched it. Enjoyed it.

    Thanks.

    #257234
    si
    Participant

    Twice, evidently.

    #257235

    I enjoyed that. Definitely worth watching. Cool premise, funny throughout. Good set of inter characters and a really good cast that work well together.

    Looking forward to the next episode.

    #257240
    NoFro
    Participant

    Yeah thought this was a really good start.

    #257368

    This will probably be made into a movie with no problems then.

    #257371
    (deleted)
    Participant

    I enjoyed it but I am also uninterested in ‘a load of cunts being cunts to each other’ as a sitcom genre so we’ll see as it goes on.

    It did feel like the violence and swearing was quite tacked-on though, as though there was something more accessible and networky at its heart that had been dressed up unconvincingly in ‘adult’ clothes. There’s something jarring about its shoutiness/grimness that felt to me like they were embarrassed that they’d come up with a solidly mainstream show, panicked and jammed it awkwardly back into their comfort zone.

    #257372

    I’m not entirely sure I watched the same show as Darrell “‘a load of cunts being cunts to each other” is not how I’d describe it at all.

    #257373
    Dave
    Participant

    Although some of them were definitely cunts.

    #257374
    (deleted)
    Participant

    Its tone is definitely that same fight-or-flight, aggressively hostile thing of everything Iannucci’s done since Thick Of It. I just struggle to buy into *any* sitcom, not just this, where most of all the characters are varying degrees of school bully/sociopath/nihilist and every other line is a put-down. It’s utterly dispiriting.

    It might settle down, and I’m intrigued enough by the world, cast and story to continue watching, especially as there’s a John Finnemore episode coming up. But it needs to lighten up as it is fighting itself. The best joke – the background screen with Laurie’s multilingual greetings – was its daftest. If it just relaxes out of that angsty Thick Of It default it’ll work.

    #257375
    Dave
    Participant

    Oh, I didn’t know John Finnemore was going to be in it. Great.

    #257378
    (deleted)
    Participant

    He’s got a guest role and also he’s written one.

    #257379
    Dave
    Participant

    That should be good.

    #257403
    Seb Patrick
    Keymaster

    I quite enjoyed the first episode and I liked the twist about Hugh Laurie’s character as a meta joke about his terrible American accent.

    But blimey, eh, considering Iannucci’s on the record about never having been interested in Red Dwarf… very familiar aesthetic in the scenes in the engineering area, eh?

    #257406
    si
    Participant

    He’s not wrong, y’know.

    #257409
    Hamish
    Participant

    About not being interested in Red Dwarf?

    #257411
    Ben Saunders
    Participant

    Bold stance to take, here.

    #257422
    Dave
    Participant

    Episode 2: still ok, but still not hugely funny. I hope it gets better.

    #257424

    I know its a bit silly, but its making me laugh a lot. It’s nice to have some uncomplicated sci-fi comedy to watch that isn’t trying to be anything too proper.

    Particularly liked the coffin orbiting the ship, though maybe taken a little too far with adding another 3 of them.

    Have to echo Seb’s comment above, really enjoying the (not) captain being English and the switches back and forth on accent when he isn’t around passengers. Was great in the first episode when he was stressed and he broke into it now its just highlighting how crap his fake bravado American accent is!

    “Oh shitting aunts” is possibly my favourite thing I’ve heard all week, along with the misplaced “EAT THE RICH”

    Like I say its all very silly but I’m enjoying it.

    #257426
    si
    Participant

    Yeah, I’m enjoying it, too. So…y’know.

    #257427
    Veni
    Participant

    Thought it was alright. Feel like I’ve seen this premise before but done better, and Hugh Laurie for me was the only one carrying his weight whilst everyone else faded into the background.

    Don’t think I’ll be tuning in again but more a circumstance about how little time I really have to spare for TV shows now.

    #257428
    Taiwan Tony
    Participant

    I’ll watch or listen to anything connected with Hugh Laurie, John Finnemore or Armando Iannucci except Gash.
    In an interview podcast, Armando has expressed a desire to create another sci-fi concept comedy or two. About AI and Robots…
    Perhaps his view of Red Dwarf has softened since getting the boxset for Christmas.

    #257451
    (deleted)
    Participant

    Watched ep 2. Either it’s settling in or I am (or both), but I’m quite engaged with it. Laughed out loud a good few times, particularly at “keep naming limbs”.

    #257471

    Just thinking, its nice to have a sci-fi show on that I’m not invested in, but that I enjoy, whilst going through the rollercoaster that is Doctor Who and Picard at the moment.

    I can just sit and watch Avenue 5, and if its not brilliant, I don’t care. I can enjoy it for what it is and move on.

Viewing 50 replies - 1 through 50 (of 92 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.