Trailer For HBO’s AVENUE 5 Is Basically STAR TREK + VEEP

For months now, details on Armando Iannucci's Avenue 5 - a sci-fi comedy series headed to HBO early next year - have been hard to come by. We knew it was set in the future, we knew that it'd take place "mostly in space", and we knew it had attracted a number of strong comic performers, including Hugh Laurie (who previously appeared on Iannucci's Veep), Zach Woods (who previously appeared in Iannucci's In The Loop, one of the funniest movies in recent memory) and Josh Gad (who previously appeared in, ah, Frozen). In terms of plot, however, the finer points have largely been kept under wraps...until today.

Behold:

This is the first teaser trailer for Avenue 5, which lays bare what Iannucci's latest series is about: it's something of a workplace comedy set aboard an interstellar cruise ship, one captained by Laurie, owned by Gad's billionaire character, and staffed by a number of folks who seem absolutely fed up with the clientele they deal with every day. It's a little bit Star Trek and a little bit Veep, and everything on display here is classic Iannucci (which is to say: it looks funny in an acidic, mean-spirited way). This one also looks remarkably expensive: look at that set design! Hell, look at all these sets! They clearly spared no expense bringing this one to life.

All of this is very good news for us Iannucci heads, who've been eagerly anticipating the dude's latest project. We're delighted by this trailer, and will absolutely be tuning in when Avenue 5 hits HBO this coming January. How 'bout y'all? Sound off in the comments below if you've got anything to add here, and stay tuned for more on Avenue 5 as further updates become available.