I just watched Episode 8 of Avenue 5, and suddenly I got it. I wondered where it was going and I was starting to think nowhere. I initially believed that the first few episodes were simply the beginnings of some layered and subtle world-building process. As the episodes went by, doubts started to grow, because the show was still all surface. Most of the jokes are poorly written, ultra cliché or low rent slapstick. The characters are one-dimensional, generic, annoying and almost impossible to invest in, and there was no sign of this changing. But then, during episode 7, Johnson from Peep Show arrived (I mean, literally Alan Johnson, in his entirety - I'm surprised he didn't show up in a beamer). This made so little sense I began to think that somewhere, this whole thing is more than it seems. Just after episode 8 had finished I started laughing and couldn't stop for a bit. I had suddenly realised what they were doing, and it's genius. It's a parody. HBO have been gamed. Because each week, through all the turgid plot lines and terrible dialogue, the boundaries of what they can get away with on this show are being pushed that little bit further. The contempt they have for people, the anarchistic nihilism which has been underlying from the start is starting to push its way to the surface. Had nobody at the network read the scripts? How are they getting away with this? I've never seen a show with such contempt for its audience. And suddenly, it was hilarious, because you realise all the lame jokes were only there to keep the network executives off-guard and the sofa dwellers switched on. This show shouldn't be judged as a sitcom, it should be judged as a work of art - in fact the greatest work of art since the KLF followed their own template and then burned all the money they made. It's a Brasseye-esque coup of epic proportions. Look out for a Chris Morris cameo. Talk about breaking the 4th wall, this show is meta-ing that meta. I realise now that not only is a second series unlikely, but that it was never even conceived of. We've all just been taken for a ride. And suddenly Avenue 5 has exceeded all of my expectations.
