Avenue 5

Avenue 5 is a luxury space liner run by the Judd Corporation.  Herman Judd (Josh Gad) is aboard the ship, trying to make the voyage a success.  However, he is a socially awkward mogul who is more likely to get the opposite results.  Captain Ryan Clark (Hugh Laurie) exudes confidence and reliability.  He is famous for saving lives on the Avenue 3.  Of course, he disclaims any credit, stating that it was the fire suppression system that did all the work.  Right as the ship is approaching Saturn's moon of Titan, where they will get a gravity assist to send them back toward Earth, the ship's gravity resets.  This cascades into a series of disasters that cause the Avenue 5 to miss its window for rerouting the ship.  Suddenly, the three week cruise becomes a 3 year cruise!  The passengers are not happy.

Following the disaster, the actual working of the ship is revealed.  The high-tech bridge with its attractive and smartly-dressed crew are just a facade.  They are actors who deliver specific lines from a script.  Likewise, Captain Clark is just an actor.  The real captain was killed in the disaster and the real crew lives below decks in quarters that look like a World War II submarine.  Despite the luxury appearance, it turns out that the ship was cheaply made.

The show is a dark comedy, but the laughs are few and far between.  It has a distopian feel to it.  Among the regulars are Iris Kimura (Suzy Nakamura), Mr. Judd's executive assistant and yes-woman, Matt Spencer (Zach Woods) the ship's activity director and counselor who offers mostly unhelpful and sad advice, Karen Kelly (Rebecca Front), a particularly vocal and nosy passenger who horns her way into authority, Billy McEvoy (Lenora Crichlow), the lead engineer who emerges from below decks and is one of the few competent people aboard, and Spike Martin (Ehtan Phillips), a retired astronaut who is always eager to join whenever he sees an opportunity.

Much of the 'comedy' comes from characters doing obviously stupid things.  Why wasn't someone who knew better in charge of jettisoning weight from the ship rather than a bunch of busy body passengers?  That comic at the comedy club is dreadfully unfunny was not funny.  It was mildly amusing, maybe causing a brief smile but that he went on and on in an unfunny set that later required him to be unfunny was like milking a stone for laughs.  Ugh.  The characters are stupid enough for this to be pure slapstick silliness.  Then again, Herman Judd is quite stupid for a successful businessman.

Mediocre.  It has a second season.  Maybe it improves.