HBO’s ‘Avenue 5’ Is Full of Surprising Laughs: Review

I’m four episodes deep and completely obsessed with Avenue 5. Let’s get something straight off-top, fam: I don’t think that I am the target audience for Avenue 5. I know my lane. My world almost exclusively consists of Disney, pastel, shojo anime, and sparkles. Instead of watching The Witcher like literally the rest of the world, I’ve faithfully and obsessively re-watched all 6.5 seasons (plus one movie) of Steven Universe. Which is to say, I probably wouldn’t have tuned in to Avenue 5 of my own volition. But, if anyone asks, I definitely agreed to review this series because I’m brave and totally willing to step outside of my comfort zone, and not because I was informed that it stars Josh Gad, who voices Olaf from Disney’s Frozen (one of my favorite characters EVER). That’s just a coincidence. It turns out that stepping outside of your comfort zone can be pretty dope. In the Future, Aboard the Avenue 5

Avenue 5 is what you would get if Star Trek and Wall-E had a baby, and then let The Office babysit. Hugh Laurie leads the cast as Ryan Clark, captain of Avenue 5, a luxury cruise spaceship (did I mention that it takes place 40 years in the future?) on a vacation tour through the cosmos. At the top of the first episode, a hilarious, tragic incident throws the ship off course and changes their cruise length from eight weeks to three years, and you know what? It couldn’t be me. I couldn’t stand the majority of my co-workers for the duration of my measly 8-hour shifts, y’all – I c…