And Then He's Gonna Shoot Off...

Whilst I think the second episode of "Avenue 5" was better than the first, I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say that I enjoyed it.

With the passengers worried about the prospect of 3 years in space, a measure of redemption is offered when one of the engineers suggests that according to his calculations, the extra journey will only be six months. Ignoring Billie's (Lenora Crichlow) warnings that the engineer is unreliable, this information is relayed to the passengers and is the excuse for Judd (Josh Gad) to loudly and rudely decline NASA's assistance.

So, there was at least one aspect of this episode that I did find an amusing concept - that of the jettisoned caskets of the dead crew and passengers left to orbit the ship indefinitely, thanks to a basic lack of science understanding from those in command. Unfortunately, that was about it. . . I still can't stand to spend time with three quarters of the characters in the show. Josh Gad's Herman Judd is a particular lowlight.

I never sure what tone we're going for with this show. I feel like it ought to be reality, just with the level of incompetence turned up slightly (such as with "The Thick of It"), but I'm never convinced by the reality being real, as opposed to being a sitcom. For example, why are all the passengers attending the funeral of a crewman? That wouldn't happen in real life, but they're here to say their inappropriate thoughts throughout it. You weigh that up against the NASA people, for example, struggling with a password ahead of their presentation, which is a very relatable meeting moment. Pick one ideology and stick with it.

I'm not enjoying it, but I'm going to keep going, for now at least, as at least with only 8 episodes it's not a massive time commitment and I'm still hoping for an improvement.

Not as good of an episode as the premiere but just as damn enjoyable. One lingering question, though: Where is this show going? Three years, six months. Both suggest this show can go on for quite a while, but how long can it stay fresh?

The fact that everyone is restricted to inside the ship means there can't be much to do in keeping the show feeling fresh for very long without becoming repetitive. I don't see how this show could last, that is if it isn't planned on having only one season. There must be something bigger, in the process of emerging, at play. That seems like a very likely possibility.

-I really like this series ,it is the kind of sitcom good to watch before you sleep,just for a good disposition ,it is too bad it has only one season.

I'm prepared to say that maybe this is just not my kind of humour. I can see where I'm supposed to laugh, but frankly I found this embarrassing. I really hope that this programme improves as there are some good people in it. Thank goodness for Hugh Laurie who is doing his best to make things funny. The Judd character is so annoying. I shall keep my fingers crossed for the next episode being better. If not, it'll be the last one that I watch.

Update, as promised I watched the third episode. In fact I watched it with my wife. About 5 minutes from the end when neither of us had laughed once, we turned to each other. Our looks said it all. "No more" Deleted from recording list. Sad, but life's too short. Instead we watched 6 minutes of a random stand up act and laughed 7 times in 5 minutes, just to check that "yes we did have the ability to laugh and a sense of humour", just in case it was us and not the awful Avenue 5.

Episode one was filled with funny banter and nice references to other sf series but it wasn't very clear what type of series it would be. This episode clearly is the start for the real story and I'm looking forward to what's going to happen.