Avenue 5 - HBO

Looks like it has potential. Plus Zach Woods!

https://play.hbonow.com/extra/urn:hbo:extra:GXc76jQUf0MPCwwEAAAgi

Anyone else watching this? I thought the pilot was a little rough but the second episode had me laughing quite a bit. Looking forward to more!

I watched the first episode and thought it was an absolute train wreck. Literally the worst episode of TV I’ve sat through in years. I don’t understand because the ingredients are there. Decent budget, solid cast, proven writer. Yet it looks cheap (perhaps due to the cinematography/lighting), the acting was god-awful, the script painfully unfunny.

Dreadful, dreadful. 1/10.

With that being said, it is possible it could improve despite the terrible pilot episode. The ingredients are there - something just went horribly wrong in the baking.

Haven’t watched episode 2, but agree with the sentiment that the first episode was pretty bad - just trying painfully to be funny, without really being so at any point. I’ll probably give it another chance, because as mentioned it should be fun with that cast and theme…

I agree.

Two episodes in and I’m finding it very mediocre. The parts are all there, but they’re not coming together for me. There have been a couple great moments, but overall it’s just not fun enough.

It’s terrible, absolutely freaking awful. I can’t point to one good moment in the first two episodes.

That said, I’ll keep watching. It’s the dude behind VEEP making a space movie with Hugh Laurie. It should be awesome. Maybe it’ll take a while to find its footing. Hopefully.

Watched 2 episodes and I’m out. Ep 1 was dreadful. Poorly paced. The bits that I guess were supposed to be funny just landed with a thud. The Zach Woods character is awful. And I can’t be the only one who hates Josh Gad. Ep 2 was a bit better but this doesn’t seem worth it.

This is where I think the big disconnect is with me. There’s no Jonah character in Avenue 5. Someone loathsome, but hilariously loathsome. Zach Woods’ character is just a clueless asshole. The older woman who has kindof taken charge of the guests is just an asshole. Neither are funny in any way like the loathsome characters in Veep.

That’s a really good point. They’re unlikable and that’s about it.

It’s even less likable after 3 episodes.

I was gonna sub to HBO for this, but I am sort of glad I didn’t after seeing the comments so far. :)

Third episode was a LOT better than the previous two. I laughed 4.5 times, compared to zero in the first two episdes.

Of particular note was “I fought in the Huawei wars” and “That was the hottest year - Our fish boiled in the sea”.

And of course, the moment when the Captain discovers just who his crew are, was pretty interesting.

I always give shows 3 episodes and see where it was at, and this convinced me to watch the next few ones as well. After all, it is only 25 minutes, in case it doesn’t hold up!

Why though? It’s still not very funny.

I won’t say this has improved in recent weeks … but it has become more topical, unfortunately.

They have made a few minor strides insofar as people have actually died, even a character we have seen more than once. A possible turning point in the series would have been Josh Gad actually ejecting the hapless husband. This show needs a lot more Death of Stalin and a lot less Red Dwarf.

Well, that got dark(er).

Caught up on it tonight. Not quite sure why, though - it’s been consistently awful throughout. It’s still not very funny, and it’s hard to feel any sense of drama (which is what episode 8 sets up), when everything else in the show is so ridiculous.

Why is the show not funny? I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m so disappointed to hear Armando’s doing something that’s not working.

I have been watching the show and have been consistently amused - the last episode I watched (from two weeks ago - “Was It Your Ears?”) had me LOL throughout.

So your mileage may vary.