In my second column I am going to feature the show, Archer. It is an animated series that is
similar to other animated shows such as American
Dad or Family Guy and is
extremely funny. Like these shows it is also episodic in that if you miss one
episode you’re not going to sit there pulling your hair out as you contemplate
working out what key plot points you might have missed. It is a show which I
have been shamelessly plugging to friends for a long time. The show has currently
just finished its fourth season airing in the US on FX and in the UK on 5*. It
is a co-production between Floyd County Productions, Georgia Entertainment Industries and FX
Productions.
Creator, Adam Reed, is a man whose previous efforts Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo are shows that I enjoyed immensely but felt were
definitely unpolished gems. With Archer,
however, he has created a program which hammers you relentlessly with jokes throughout
its twenty-something minute runtime and is much more accessible to the casual
viewer (compared to his previous shows). The premise is most noticeably a parody
of James Bond, The Man from U.N.C.L.E
and a plethora of other 1970/80s espionage shows. These are all comedy tropes
to which anyone can relate but the comedy geek in me loves all the off-the-cuff
references to obscure pop culture. These take inspiration in everything from
Kenny Loggins (the writer of the song “Danger Zone” from the movie Top Gun), who is referenced numerous
times to Gator (the 1976 sequel to
Burt Reynolds movie White Lightning).
Archer tells the
story of International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and the eponymous
character is Sterling Archer (who from here on out I’ll refer to as Archer). He
is a super spy, who is proficient at all of the skills synonymous with that
profession, including weaponry, driving and hand to hand combat but is
conversely cursed with a laundry list of character flaws, including, but not
limited to, being an alcoholic, a narcissist and a chauvinist. To be fair it’s
amazing that Archer is as well-adjusted as he is. To begin with ISIS just
happens to be run by his mother, Malory Archer, an overbearing and emotionally
cold woman who spends’ her entire time using the company’s resources in the
pursuit of one self-satisfying goal or another. To compound matters Malory
spent much of Archer’s childhood off on spying missions alternating between
leaving him with her butler Woodhouse and some boarding school. Secondly, his
partner, Lana Kane, is his ex-girlfriend and despite being the most competent agent
ISIS has she is riddled with insecurity due to the fact that Archer’s mother is
the boss. This sees her constantly confronted by nepotism and Archer’s own oedipal
complex. In addition, there are a litany of supporting characters that are equally
idiosyncratic.
There is an astonishing pool of talent providing the voices
to the shows characters. H. Jon. Benjamin who plays Sterling Archer is known
for voice acting on a number of other cartoons and animation but is perhaps
best known for playing Bob Belcher on Bobs Burgers and guest starring on Family
Guy manages to make a character who looks like the quintessential chiselled
looking spy and through voice alone manages to make him into an obnoxious
character. The primary cast is rounded up by Aisha Tyler (Friends) who plays Lana Kane, Jessica Walter plays Malorie Archer,
a role reminiscent of her role Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development , Judy Greer (Arrested Development) as secretary Cheryl Tunt, Chris Parnell (30 Rock) plays comptroller, Cyril Figgis.
The rest of the cast is rounded off by show creator Adam Reed who plays gay
intelligence analyst Ray Gillette, Amber Nash who plays human resources
director Pam Poovey who and Lucky Yates who plays Mr. Doctor Algernop Krieger.
Archer is a show that
will have you literally crying with laughter and even weeks or months later you
will find yourself quoting lines from this show. So in this humble man’s
opinion take Kenny Loggins’ advice, “ride into the Danger Zone” and watch Archer.
Below I have linked to a video to some of the shows
highlights from the first season:
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