Armando Iannucci Is Making A Sci-fi Comedy For HBO!
Armando Iannucci, creator of ‘Veep’ and ‘The Thick Of It’, is heading away from politics up into the stars with ‘Avenue 5’, a new comedy for US network HBO according to Deadline.
Not much is known about the series right now, other than it’s set in the future, and believed to mainly take place on a spaceship. This is an interesting new direction for Iannucci, whose best known for his political satires. Along with creating the multi Emmy winning ‘Veep’ and the BAFTA-winning ‘The Thick Of It’, he’s also responsible for ‘The Day Today’ with Chris Morris and ‘Alan Partridge’ with Steve Coogan. Even his most recent film, ‘The Death of Stalin’, has a political edge, as a comedy-drama about the Soviet power struggles following the death of the infamous leader.
It’s possible ‘Avenue 5’ may also have some political leanings too, albeit ones set in the future, in space. It’ll certainly make first contacts interesting if he reteams with Peter Capaldi – a man no stranger to travelling in space – but in full Malcolm Tucker mode… “I will tear your f*&king skin off, I will wear it to your mother’s birthday party, and rub your nuts up and down her leg whilst whistling Bohemian f*&king Rhapsody. Right?”… On second thoughts… Maybe best to keep Tucker away from greeting alien visitors…
Scifi-comedy has been something rather lacking from US production slates until the past year or so. Despite being mauled by critics, Seth MacFarlane’s ‘The Orville’ has retained solid ratings over its first few episodes. Amazon is also set to join in on the action with a tv version of ‘Galaxy Quest’ in the works. Here in the UK, we do, of course, have ‘Red Dwarf’, which is due to return to our screens next month.
Armando Iannucci’s ‘Avenue 5’ is only a pilot stage for HBO right now, but we’ll let you know when we hear more!
