Coming as no surprise, HBO has announced that the space comedy series Avenue 5 will not be continuing to a third season. That has been assumed for some time, even before the second season arrived in Fall 2022. The show first premiered in January 2020 and then went on an extended hiatus due to COVID-related production shutdowns. The cast and crew were released from their contracts during that time and the show’s lead Hugh Laurie has since moved on to the lead role in the third season of Apple TV+’s Tehran. Despite all that, the show’s creator Armando Iannucci had previously insisted that it was not cancelled and a third season could still happen. But HBO has now put an end to any further speculation on the show’s fate.
When Avenue 5 first arrived back in 2020, it received very little promotion and premiered to mediocre at best ratings. When it returned this past Fall, it barely registered, only averaging a 0.01 rating (one one-hundredth of a ratings point) based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic across its eight episodes. The premium cable channels do not pay as much attention to the same-day numbers because they are not beholden to advertisers, but those still act as a leading indicator that not many people were tuning in. The assumption has been that the show would not have a third season, and HBO has now confirmed that. And since the show never developed much of a fanbase, it is unlikely that we will see much if any effort to save it.
This adds one more to the cancellation column for sci fi/fantasy shows this season and brings the Cancellation/Renewal Score to 26 cancelled/ending shows (39% of shows tracked) vs. 23 renewed (35%). You can keep up with the Cancellation/Renewal Score throughout the week at our Cancellation Watch Page.
Avenue 5 takes place aboard the titular luxury space cruise ship and focuses on the crew as they deal with disgruntled passengers and logistical obstacles while trying to safely return to Earth after the accidental death of the chief engineer. It stars Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, Zach Woods, Rebecca Front, and Suzy Nakamura.
The new year has just begun with more renewals and cancellations on the way, so be sure to stay tuned to this site for news and updates. You can see the status of all the currently airing and returning sci fi and fantasy shows on our Cancellation Watch Page. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news.
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows for the current season with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.
Good riddance: what a cr*p fest—literally at times. They rather should have brought back Other Space.