zach woods as Jared in HBO's Silicon Valley.

Hugh Laurie and Zach Woods Are Heading to Space in Armando Iannucci’s New Series

Plus a look at the final season of Veep.
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Veep creator Armando Iannucci is back with a new series on HBO that sounds right up our alley. Iannucci is re-teaming with Zach Woods (Silicon Valley) and Hugh Laurie (House) for the comedy series Avenue 5. The show is set in the future, and follows the crew of an intergalactic space ship.

Woods will play Matt, a former entertainer who is now head of Customer Relations. Laurie will play the ship’s confident and charismatic captain, Ryan Clark. Both actors have worked with Iannucci before on Veep. Suzy Nakamura (Dr. Ken) and Rebecca Front (The Thick of It) have also joined the cast. If this entire series is just Laurie playing a version of Zap Brannigan to Woods’s Kif Kroker, I would be so happy.

With a talented cast and the brilliant Iannucci at the helm, this series is guaranteed to be a must-watch. It will also soften the blow of losing one of the funniest shows on television, Veep. Iannucci’s previous HBO series just released a trailer for their seventh and final season of the beloved political comedy.

The award-winning series returns on March 31st. According to the trailer, it appears that Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is running for president once more, this time against everyone’s favorite punchline Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simonds). While season six of Veep was very funny, it was missing the singular chemistry of Selina and her team working together. Having the gang back in D.C. working on Selina’s election feels like a glorious return to form.

We don’t get a glimpse of series favorite Richard Splett (Sam Richardson), but we do get the return of Sally Phillips’ Finnish politician Minna Häkkinen, whose deadpan performance is a true highlight.

While the trailer doesn’t give us any update about Dan and Amy’s lovechild, we do get a glimpse of Catherine and Marjorie’s baby, along with a weeping Catherine, who is suffering from post-partum depression and a tragic mom haircut. The trailer is filled with the series signature love of swear words, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus saying of her tenure as president, “I took a dump on the glass ceiling, and I shaved my muff in the sink of the old boy’s club.”

Perhaps the best, funniest part of Veep is Selina and her team’s total disdain for the people they are trying so desperately to win over. Selina says in the trailer, “This entire country is getting more disgusting by the second”, to which Kent replies, “that’s a demo we’re targeting mostly on Facebook.”

It will be sad to see Veep go, but hopefully, Avenue 5 will prove to be a worthy successor.

(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: HBO)

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Chelsea Steiner
Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.