Archer (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed
for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating.
Inspiration behind Archer came to Reed while in a cafe in Salamanca
, Spain
. Finding himself unable to approach a beautiful woman seated nearby, Reed conjured up the idea of a spy who "would have a perfect line". Reed conceived the show's concept while walking along the Vía de la Plata
in 2008. He pitched his idea to the FX Network, which accepted it and ordered six episodes, along with an additional four scripts. The show ended its first season on March 18, 2010, and the second season premiered on January 27, 2011. The season 1 DVD was released in Region 1 on December 28, 2010. On December 17, 2010 the first season of Archer also aired in Germany
on Comedy Central Germany
. On March 29, 2011 it was announced that FX Network had ordered a 16-episode third season of Archer, with three episodes to air in September 2011 and the remainder starting in January 2012.
, suave but incredibly self-centered master spy Sterling Archer deals with global espionage
; his domineering, hypersexual
mother/boss, Malory Archer; his ex-girlfriend (and fellow ISIS agent), Lana Kane; her ISIS accountant boyfriend (later ex) Cyril Figgis; and a less-than-masculine code name, "Duchess".
The show has an unusual style and ambiguous time setting, in which technologies/clothing styles and historical backdrops of different decades coincide. The characters wear 1960s clothing and hair styles and several episodes feature references to the Soviet Union
as a current nation (it dissolved in 1991), and to Fidel Castro
as the current leader of Cuba
(he stepped down in 2008). The technological sophistication within the series varies, with characters using computers that are dated i.e. reel-to-reel mainframe
systems, dot-matrix printers and punchcards, yet also use cell phones, GPS devices, laser gunsights, and modern day insults (such as "suck it", "screw you", and "douche bag"). Adam Reed was asked about the conflicting style, and concluded, "I just think it's ill-defined."
Judy Greer and Jeffrey Tambor also voice one-off minor characters in addition to their primary roles: Greer as Framboise, the human resources director at ODIN, and Tambor as Torvald Utne, a United Nations
bureaucrat from whom Malory wants to secure a lucrative weapons contract.
Supporting characters have also been voiced by Coby Bell
(Conway Stern), Shelly Desai (Crenshaw/Kremensky), Audrey Wasilewski
(Elke Huebsch), Ron Perlman
(Ramon Limon), Thomas Lennon (Charles), Ben Garant
(Rudi), Rafael Ferrer
(Skorpio), Stephen Stanton
(Captain Lammers), Kari Wahlgren
(Anka), Clarke Peters
(Popeye), Peter Serafinowicz
(George Spelvin), Darren Criss
(the Irish Mafia), and Joan Van Ark
(Ruth).
, while 3D background models are made by Trinity Animation in Kansas City, Missouri
. Originally, Radical Axis
housed the show's animation staff for Season 1, but the crew has sinced moved to their own facilities close to Emory University
.
The artistic style of the series was designed to be as realistic as possible, so the character designers used as much reference material as they could. The character drawings are based on Atlanta-area models; they coincidentally resemble some of the voice actors in the series. As Chad Hurd, the lead character designer for the series, noted, the end result resembles "a 1960's comic book come to life." Television critics have also compared the show's overall visual style to that of the drama series Mad Men
, as well as noting that lead character Sterling Archer, in particular, bears a substantial resemblance to Mad Mens protagonist Don Draper
. The artwork is also similar to the original "Jonny Quest" cartoon series penned by artist Doug Wildey in the 1960s.
Stylistically, the show is a mix of several different time periods; show creator Adam Reed
described it as "intentionally ill-defined", noting that the show "cherry-pick[ed] the best and easiest from several decades". Numerous plot details arise from contemporary culture, such as diversity hiring and sexual harassment
complaints.
Archer is influenced by the early James Bond
films, as well as OSS 117
and The Pink Panther
, and can be compared to Reed's former shows for Adult Swim, Frisky Dingo
and Sealab 2021
. Driven by rapid-fire dialogue and interaction-based drama, the series is "stuff[ed]...with pop-culture references" and features an anachronistic style, using fashion from the early 1960s, a mix of 1980s-era and modern technology, and a political status quo in which "the Cold War
never ended".
, Jeffrey Tambor
, David Cross
and Judy Greer
previously starred in the Fox
critically acclaimed comedy series Arrested Development. Since both shows largely revolve around feuds and rivalry disputes between family members, Archer has been described by its creator, Adam Reed
, as "James Bond
meets Arrested Development. There are also notable similarities between the characters played by all three actors. Greer's character is a "lovelorn secretary", Walter is the wealth-wielding matriarch and Tambor, while not the husband, is her long-lost passion interest and possibly Sterling's father as well. Both shows also frequently use callbacks
and catchphrases. The show also makes reference to past work by the actors as well. In the episode "Jeu Monegasque", Mallory tells the hotel concierge that "this isn't my first grand prix, you know", referencing Walter's role in Grand Prix. Further, in the Season 1 episode, "Killing Utne," when Malory complains about her relationship with her unseen neighbour Trudy Beekman, Archer remarks that she does not get along with her neighbours anywhere, a reference to Walter's character's adversarial relationship with her neighbor Lucille Austero in Arrested Development.
, most importantly Frisky Dingo and Sealab 2021. All three shows share similar animation styles; a trademark which initially began with Sealab's cut-and-paste juxtaposition of vintage cartoon clips and modern dialogue, was modernized with computer animation for Frisky Dingo, and continues with essentially unchanged appearances for some characters in Archer. The show also shares numerous stylistic and character development similarities with its two predecessors.
for its first season and an 88 for its second. Entertainment Weekly
called it a wittily raunchy spy spoof, and the Miami Herald referred to it as "a millennial (and very much R-rated) Get Smart
that acerbically and hilariously plays on our post-9/11 fears that 'U.S. government intelligence' might be a grim oxymoron."
On July 17, 2010, Archer won the NewNowNext award for "Best Show You're Not Watching".
It was also nominated for Best Comedy Series at the 2011 Critics Television Awards.
Adam Reed
Adam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating.
Inspiration behind Archer came to Reed while in a cafe in Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Finding himself unable to approach a beautiful woman seated nearby, Reed conjured up the idea of a spy who "would have a perfect line". Reed conceived the show's concept while walking along the Vía de la Plata
Via de la Plata
The Vía de La Plata or Ruta de la Plata is an ancient commercial and pilgrimage path that crosses the west of Spain from north to south, connecting Mérida to Astorga, and in extension Seville with the Bay of Biscay, at Gijón...
in 2008. He pitched his idea to the FX Network, which accepted it and ordered six episodes, along with an additional four scripts. The show ended its first season on March 18, 2010, and the second season premiered on January 27, 2011. The season 1 DVD was released in Region 1 on December 28, 2010. On December 17, 2010 the first season of Archer also aired in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on Comedy Central Germany
Comedy Central Germany
Comedy Central Germany is a German speaking equivalent to Comedy Central. The channel is available free-to-air and on local digital/cable operators in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It broadcasts many American and British imports as well as original programming. It launched on January 15, 2007...
. On March 29, 2011 it was announced that FX Network had ordered a 16-episode third season of Archer, with three episodes to air in September 2011 and the remainder starting in January 2012.
Premise
Set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, suave but incredibly self-centered master spy Sterling Archer deals with global espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
; his domineering, hypersexual
Hypersexuality
Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased sexual urges or sexual activity. Hypersexuality is typically associated with lowered sexual inhibitions. Although hypersexuality can be caused by some medical conditions or medications, in most cases the cause is unknown...
mother/boss, Malory Archer; his ex-girlfriend (and fellow ISIS agent), Lana Kane; her ISIS accountant boyfriend (later ex) Cyril Figgis; and a less-than-masculine code name, "Duchess".
The show has an unusual style and ambiguous time setting, in which technologies/clothing styles and historical backdrops of different decades coincide. The characters wear 1960s clothing and hair styles and several episodes feature references to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as a current nation (it dissolved in 1991), and to Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
as the current leader of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
(he stepped down in 2008). The technological sophistication within the series varies, with characters using computers that are dated i.e. reel-to-reel mainframe
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
systems, dot-matrix printers and punchcards, yet also use cell phones, GPS devices, laser gunsights, and modern day insults (such as "suck it", "screw you", and "douche bag"). Adam Reed was asked about the conflicting style, and concluded, "I just think it's ill-defined."
Main characters
- Sterling Malory Archer (H. Jon BenjaminH. Jon BenjaminHenry Jon Benjamin , known professionally as H. Jon Benjamin and Jon Benjamin, is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for his voice-over roles as Jason and Coach McGuirk on Home Movies, Ben on Dr...
), codename: Duchess, is 184 lb, 6'2", 36 years old (computer screen readout in the show's first episodeMole Hunt"Mole Hunt" is the pilot episode of the animated comedy Archer. It was the first episode produced for the show and originally aired as a special sneak preview on September 17, 2009, but officially aired billed as the second episode on January 14, 2010 after the episode "Training Day" which aired...
), and is considered the world's most dangerous secret agent. Though he shows proficiency in stereotypical spy skills—weapons, driving, martial arts—his only real interest in the job is the opportunity to enjoy a jet-setting lifestyle full of sex, alcohol, lacrosse, fast cars and spy toys. Egotistical and self-serving, Archer generally lacks empathy towards anyone. Although he often does the right thing and has stopped a number of highly dangerous criminals he usually does so not out of a desire to uphold the law but for his own personal selfish reasons. He has however demonstrated compassion for others on occasion; in "Placebo Effect" he genuinely cared about fellow cancer patient Ruth and was clearly upset over her death, and in "El Secuestro" he expresses concern that Cheryl's pet ocelotOcelotThe ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...
is understimulated and advises her to buy some cat toys. In "Double Trouble" Archer also attempts to stop Katya Kasanova and Lana from fighting as he doesn't want them to hurt each other. A recurring joke of the show is Archer forgetting his pre-planned witty one-liners swearing "I had something for this" before saying something different. He also refuses to wear anything other than "tactical" turtlenecks during operations (he will take the time to change into one rather than immediately disarming a bomb) and claims he was the first to recognize the garment's tactical potential (referring to it as a "tactile-neck"). Archer also has an intense fascination with the actor Burt ReynoldsBurt ReynoldsBurton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
. He often quotes famous lines and re-enacts scenes from Reynolds' many movies and asking Lana constantly if he looks like Reynolds. Even though he's not the brightest person, rival agents admit that no one is better in the field than Archer. Because of this Archer is equally likely to kill a room full of enemy agents as he is to accidentally cause an international disaster. His encyclopedic knowledge of completely irrelevant things allows him to make clever references on a moment's notice (e.g. "Lana, you'd better call Kenny LogginsKenny LogginsDuring the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
'cause you're in the...Danger Zone!" or referencing the Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleHerman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
short story "Bartleby the Scrivener"). He was largely reared by his valet Woodhouse, whom he constantly belittles. He is almost always seen with an alcoholic drink.
- Lana Kane (Aisha TylerAisha TylerAisha N. Tyler is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and author, known for her regular role as Andrea Marino in the first season of Ghost Whisperer and voicing Lana Kane in Archer, as well as her recurring roles in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Talk Soup, and on Friends as Charlie...
) is the top female agent at ISIS. She has incredibly large and strong hands, which other ISIS staffers regularly call mannish or "TruckasaurusRobosaurusRobosaurus is a transforming dinosaur robot created by inventor Doug Malewicki in 1989 and is currently owned and operated by Monster Robots, Inc. Robosaurus is modeled after Transformers toys with the driver sitting in the head of the robot, and the ability to transform from a 48-foot semi trailer...
-like." Portrayed as smart and tough, she's constantly frustrated that she's still seen as second fiddle to Archer and passed over because his mother heads the agency. Like Archer, Lana is an expert in Krav MagaKrav MagaKrav Maga is a noncompetitive eclectic self-defense system developed in Europe that involves striking techniques, wrestling and grappling. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and extremely efficient, brutal counter-attacks...
, in which all ISIS agents undergo training. Before Lana was an agent, she was an animal-rights activist; at a protest, she tried to throw red paint on Malory's fur coat but was stopped when Malory pulled a gun on her. Lana's fearlessness so impressed Malory that she offered Lana the chance to become an agent. Lana has a complex love-hate relationship with former flame Archer after having moved on to dating ISIS comptroller Cyril Figgis, whose main appeal was that he was Archer's exact opposite. She is usually seen carrying two Tec-9 submachine guns in shoulder holsters.
- Malory Archer (Jessica WalterJessica WalterJessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
), Sterling Archer's mother and the head of ISIS, is a self-centered alcoholic who regularly hatches half-baked, invariably disastrous schemes to use the agency's resources to her own personal advantage (she has staged a false assassination attempt on a U.N. official to secure a lucrative government contract and called in a fake bomb threat to get a luxury cabin on a dirigible "cruise"). She also has some kind of a grudge against an as yet unseen character called Trudy Beekman, in the episode "Killing Utne" it appears she is her neighbor and this grudge continues in "Skytanic" also. In the second season, it is revealed that she was an aspiring actress during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when she was recruited into the OSSOffice of Strategic ServicesThe Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
by Wild Bill DonovanWilliam Joseph DonovanWilliam Joseph Donovan was a United States soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered as the wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services...
. During her days as a black-ops spy, she had clandestine affairs with KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
head Nikolai Jakov, rival spy agency ODIN's boss Len Trexler, and jazz drummer Buddy RichBuddy RichBernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
, so she's not sure which one fathered her son. She had told Sterling that his father was John Fitzgerald Archer, an ace pilot who was awarded the Navy CrossNavy CrossThe Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
. She was a highly inattentive parent, shipping him to boarding school for 13 years and leaving him stranded in a train station one Christmas Eve because she never told the school she was moving. In various flashbacks Malory is shown to have been a highly capable field agent in her younger days. Like her son she was proficient at the practical things such as hand-to-hand combat and using firearms; she is shown to have been a merciless killer and at some point used to wear an eye patch for as yet unexplained reasons.
- Cyril Figgis (Chris ParnellChris ParnellThomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
) is the comptrollerComptrollerA comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
of ISIS. Cyril is portrayed as quite competent at his job but is plagued by a number of personal issues. He was Lana Kane's love interest at the beginning of Season 1, but due to residual trust issues from her relationship with Archer, she refused to call Cyril her boyfriend or say she loved him. Cyril is a buttoned-down nebbish who wears browline glasses and chops vegetables for supper in his office. Cyril is also so remarkably well-endowed that he once put in a claim for "penis ensmallment" surgery, as Pam and Cheryl are shocked to learn when they hack into the company's medical records. Manipulated by Cheryl, Cyril cheats on Lana with her, "Scatterbrain" Jane, and Framboise, a secretary at ODIN (whom Archer calls "the PelePeléHowever, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
of anal"); Lana broke up with him when she caught him with Framboise. In Season 2 there are frequent references to Cyril calling a phone-sex hotline, spending much time looking at Internet porn, and attending sex addictionSexual addictionSexual addiction is a popular model to explain hypersexuality—sexual urges, behaviors, or thoughts that appear extreme in frequency or feel out of one's control...
meetings. He is potrayed to be extremely clumsy about gun safety, as seen in the episode "El Secuerto", when he injured Brett Buckley after mistaking whether or not a gun's safety was on.
- Cheryl Tunt (Judy GreerJudy GreerJudy Greer is an American actress, known for portraying a string of supporting female characters, including Kitty Sanchez on the Fox series Arrested Development and Cheryl on the animated comedy series Archer...
) is Malory's secretary. She regularly legally changes her name, going by Carol, Carina, and Cristal during the series. She thinks that she's smarter than most of her co-workers, but she is really an idiot who shows a huge lack of intelligence (trying to turn on her computer by typing O-N, wondering aloud who brings Jewish people their Christmas presents, thinking that a website can tell her that she's pregnant, believing that LSD-laced paper strips are breath strips, sniffing or swallowing rubber cement). She regularly fantasizes about being choked during sex, and after office trysts she has prominent ligature marks on her neck. In the second season it is revealed that she and her brother are heirs to the billion-dollar Tunt railroad fortune, although her half is in a trust controlled by her brother. She works as a secretary but lives in an extravagant mansion with an ocelotOcelotThe ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...
named Babou, possibly after Salvador DaliSalvador DalíSalvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
's own ocelot.
- Pam Poovey (Amber NashAmber NashAmber Nash is an American actress. She currently stars on Archer as Pam, whom she describes as a sturdy bisexual. She has also starred in Frisky Dingo.-References:...
) is ISIS's Human Resources Director. She condescends to the staff by talking through a dolphin puppet in disciplinary meetings, and she regularly gossips confidential information to the whole office (within an hour, everyone knew when Archer was on a secret mole hunt). She's constantly subjected to cruel jokes about food and her weight. She's also extremely desperate to get just one colleague, male or female, to have sex with her; she succeeds in "Dial M for Mother" when Lana agrees to have sex with her after breaking down in Cyril's office. She was raised on her father's WisconsinWisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
dairy farm, named "Poofy Farm." Known for having an extraordinary alcohol tolerance, she regularly totes a dispenser of Schüzenmeister (a parody of JägermeisterJägermeisterJägermeister is a German 70-proof digestif made with 56 different herbs and spices. It is the flagship product of Mast-Jägermeister SE, headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, south of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany.- History :...
) at parties. "El Secuestro" revealed that she is an expert bare-knuckle pugilist and has a stanza of Lord Byron's "The Destruction of SennacheribThe Destruction of SennacheribThe Destruction of Sennacherib is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1815 in his Hebrew Melodies. It is based on an event described in the Bible during the campaign by Assyrian king Sennacherib to capture Jerusalem...
" tattooed on her back. Her favorite epithet is "Holy shitsnacks!"
- Doctor Krieger (Lucky Yates), is the head of the ISIS applied research department. He spends most of his time working on projects to facilitate his kinky sexual fantasies, including an advanced sex robot named Fister Roboto, a mechanical hand to choke Cheryl when his own hands are not strong enough for her taste, a drug that instills homosexual urges in its users (this eventually kills Danny the Intern), various animal-human hybrids, and a holographic girlfriend simulation so sophisticated that the state of New York legally allowed him to marry it. He kills another intern, Chet, by having him wear a not-quite-bulletproof vest during a live-fire test. He's alluded to frequently drugging other co-workers, admitting to Pam "I've had good results with ether" when advising her on how to increase her odds for having sex with co-workers. For the first three episodes Krieger did not speak. In Season 2 it is revealed that his 'father' was a Nazi scientist who escaped to BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, and Krieger is possibly a clone of Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
(a reference to The Boys from BrazilThe Boys from Brazil (film)The Boys from Brazil is a 1978 British/American science fiction/thriller film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. It stars Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier, with James Mason, Lilli Palmer, Uta Hagen and Steve Guttenberg in supporting roles...
). His first lines, during the fourth episode, are a passionate defense of his reasoning for creating Fister Roboto. At the end of Season 2 it was revealed that he had been working on a project that, as KGB agent Katya Kazanova puts it, could "shift world power." But when he learns that the Russians have technology to build cyborgs, he remarks that his 8 years of work was wasted. He also had a van with illegally tinted windows and the words "EXIT... VAN LEFT"Exit...Stage LeftExit...Stage Left is a live album by Canadian band Rush, released in 1981. A video release with the same name, with slightly different content, was released in 1982 on VHS and later on Laserdisc, and in 2007 on DVD....
airbrushed on the side, however in the Season 2 episode "Double Trouble" KGB defector and would be wife to Archer, Katya Kasanova, sacrifices herself when a cyborg version of Barry Dylon is attacking Archer by jumping off Archer's balcony taking Barry with her. Barry survived the fall, due to his cyborg modifications, unfortunately this was not the case for Katya and Krieger's van.
- Ray Gillette (Adam ReedAdam ReedAdam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
) is an openly gay intelligence analyst and one of the few competent members of ISIS. He and Lana are such good friends that he can discredit her clothes as knockoffs and she will merely laugh it off. When she offers to bed the whole agency and Cyril asks why he is queueing up, he quips, "Nobody's that gay!" He loathes Archer and would happily see him blown to smithereens, but during the episode "Skytanic" he helped Archer and Lana try to defuse a bomb. In "A Going Concern" he reveals that he was once married to a lesbian he met at a "Pray Away the Gay" rally. Early in Season 2 he reveals he's an Olympic bronze medalist in Men's Giant Slalom. A recurring character in Season 1, Ray's much larger role in Season 2 depicted him as a more-than-capable field agent. In the Season 2 finale he reveals that he is an ordained but out-of-practice minister who is still allowed to perform marriages ("the irony of which is not lost on me"). He commonly wields a colt 1911 with ivory grip inlays.
- Woodhouse (George CoeGeorge CoeGeorge Coe is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for having been a cast member on the first three episodes of Saturday Night Live, as well as for his work on various television shows.-Career:...
) is Sterling's long-suffering BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
valet who patiently accepts the unending stream of abuse hurled at him by his employer. His name is a tip to the Jeeves and WoosterJeeves and Wooster-External links:*—An episode guide to the series, including information about which episodes were adapted from which Wodehouse stories.*—Episode guides, screenshots and quotes from the four series....
creator P.G. Wodehouse. Woodhouse speaks in a very similar manner as Wodehouse's Jeeves character as they are both valets/butlers who are quite involved with the happiness and well-being of their employers. An avid heroin user, he frequently hints at a mysterious military career which has included experience with cannibalismCannibalismCannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
in the King's African RiflesKing's African RiflesThe King's African Rifles was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from the various British possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within the East African colonies as well as external service as...
. In "The Double Deuce" he discusses being beside his squad leader, Reggie Thistleton, as he was killed by a sniper during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
; Woodhouse then killed and scalped over 50 German soldiers with a knife in an apparent berserkerBerserkerBerserkers were Norse warriors who are reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested in numerous Old Norse sources...
rage and was subsequently medically discharged. It was later revealed he received the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
for his service. Woodhouse met Malory when she staggered into his bar in the throes of labor; after Woodhouse assisted in Archer's birth, even inadvertently naming him, he stayed with the family; she sent him to America to raise baby Sterling while she finished her assignments. When properly motivated, Woodhouse has proved to be a proficient killing machine, even with a single knife. Notably, Woodhouse is one of the few people Malory treats with respect. Archer, however, is quite unreasonable with him, routinely disciplining him by throwing his clothing, shoes and other belongings over his balcony.It is also made clear in the Season 1 episode "Killing Utne" that Sterling perceives Woodhouse as more of a house pet than a human being: When Woodhouse arrives at Malory's dinner party, Sterling states "I don't even know how you got out," and when Malory invites Woodhouse to sit down for dinner, Sterling scolds him and asserts that they should not be kind to him or "he'll think he's people".
Recurring characters
- Len Trexler (Jeffrey TamborJeffrey TamborJeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
) is the head of rival spy agency ODIN (Organisation of Democratic Intelligence Networks), a ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
-based organization which regularly undercuts ISIS for lucrative government contracts, which is revealed because they regularly engage in bribery. ODIN enjoys fancier offices, higher salaries and more advanced equipment than ISIS, but is bogged down in the same kind of petty office politics. He may be Sterling's biological father. He nearly manages to marry Malory, but Archer and crew manage to brainwash him (with the assistance of a KGB mind-control chip salvaged from Archer's head) into no longer finding Malory attractive. The effects of the brainwashing may be permanent as well as not limited to his perception of Malory; he displays such a decrease in cognitive function that even Sterling expresses guilt about it.
- Nikolai Jakov (Peter NewmanPeter Newman (actor)Peter Newman is famous for his voice work for Rankin/Bass. In ThunderCats he provided the voices of Tygra, Wilykat, Bengali, and Monkian. In SilverHawks he provided the voices of Quicksilver, Mumbo Jumbo, and Timestopper. He also played the evil Duke of Zill & Wack Lizardi in Felix the Cat: The...
) is the head of the KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. He is in a controversial relationship with Malory (the two would be ruined should their affair become public) and shares Trexler's status as possible biological father of Archer. He has a large video screen link directly to her office, which he uses to talk with her on a regular basis. He continually tries to persuade Malory to live with him in MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, often going to extreme lengths such as staging the assassination of a U.N. official at her dinner party and using a whole KGB surveillance team to make a sex tape of her for blackmail purposes. He desperately wishes to be Archer's father, even calling him "son." Although his subordinates address him as "Major", this may be an in-jokeIn-jokeAn in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
among them ("Major Jack-off"MasturbationMasturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
), as he wears a Major General's uniform with KGB royal blue colors.
- Barry Dylon (Dave WillisDave WillisDavid "Dave" Willis is an American voice actor, writer, and producer mostly known as one of the creators, writers, directors, and actors of the adult humored animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force....
) is Len Trexler's former number two at ODIN, and has helped in his official actions with ISIS. He has a major grudge against Archer, who was responsible for shattering Barry's femur during a botched operation in Berlin, as well as several other incidents which almost always result in Barry being injured; eventually Barry loses his right leg after Archer drops him from a fire escape. Trexler regularly berates Barry as an "asshole." In the finale of Season 2, the KGB rebuilds Barry as a cyborg under the name "Comrade Bionic Barry" to seek vengeance on Archer.
- Mannfred and Uta (René Auberjonois and Kathryn CressidaKathryn CressidaKathryn Cressida is an American voice actress, also known as Kat Cressida. She guest-starred in several television shows and was featured in a few films before moving into voice-over full-time in 2000. She is notable as a top celebrity voicematcher, impersonating top female stars for Disney,...
) are a pair of German freelance assassins. Uta resembles the main character from the film Run Lola RunRun Lola RunRun Lola Run is a 1998 German crime thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 German marks in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend's life...
. The two are in a relationship despite Uta being 19 and Mannfred being middle-aged. Uta desperately wants to have a baby; Mannfred reluctantly tolerates that while she wears a prosthetic pregnancy bodysuit, she believes that she is actually pregnant. Jakov regularly hires them for New York-based activities like assassinating a U.N. official or kidnapping Archer to implant a mind-control microchip in his brain. Mannfred is almost always seen wielding a c-96 broomhandle pistol.
- Trinette (Maggie WheelerMaggie WheelerMaggie Wheeler is an American actress, best known for her role as Janice on the TV show Friends.-Personal life:Wheeler was born Margaret Emily Jakobson in Manhattan...
) is Archer's favorite call girl. She answers to a pimp named Popeye. In the second season she has a son named Seamus Sterling Magoon-Archer and forces Archer to submit to a paternity test overseen by ODIN. Archer, sure that he is the father, switches his own blood for Cyril's, who turns out to be the actual father. Archer is then stuck paying child support to Trinette and looking after Seamus occasionally, although Trinette knows he isn't the real father.
- Brett Buckley (Neal Holman) is an ISIS worker who is usually injured in the office by being shot. He was heard(and shot) several times in Season 1, but was not seen till the Season 1 finale.
- Katya Kasanova (Ona GrauerOna GrauerOna Grauer is a Mexican–Canadian actress, best known for her portrayal of the Ancient Ayiana and later Emily Young in the science fiction television franchise Stargate.-Life and career:...
) is an Undercover KGB Agent who wishes to defect to ISIS. When Archer goes to Russia, hoping to find out whether or not Nikolai Jakov is his biological father, Katya saves his life. She makes Archer promise to take her back to the States, which he does, and asks to become an ISIS Agent. Archer quickly falls in love with Katya, and even tries to quit drinking for her. Later, Archer asks her to marry him, and she agrees. The impromptu ceremony takes place on Archer's balcony, but when Barry Dylon appears and attempts to kill Archer, Katya grabs Barry and jumps off the building, committing suicide in an attempt to save Archer. Archer cries hysterically.
- Bilbo (Adam Reed) is a heavyset ISIS worker who mans the control room. Bilbo likes to work Lord of the Rings references into his conversations, and is occasionally victim to Archer's verbal and physical abuse.
- Rip Riley (Patrick WarburtonPatrick WarburtonPatrick John Warburton is an American actor of television, film, and voice. He is best known for his several TV roles, including the title role of The Tick, David Puddy on Seinfeld, the evil Johnny Johnson on NewsRadio, and anchorman Jeb Denton on Less Than Perfect...
) is an adventurer and former ISIS agent recruited by Malory to track down Archer and bring him home after he disappears following Katya's death. Rip flies a seaplane he calls 'Loosey Goosey' which he adamantly claims is practical despite its obvious shortcomings for the mission. Savvy and level headed Rip is familiar with the threat of modern pirates and has a good knowledge of geography. As a former ISIS field agent Rip also has good hand to hand combat, weapon and survival skills.
- Noah (David CrossDavid CrossDavid Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
) is a researcher turned slave pirate, who becomes Archer's #2 when Archer becomes the Pirate King.
Judy Greer and Jeffrey Tambor also voice one-off minor characters in addition to their primary roles: Greer as Framboise, the human resources director at ODIN, and Tambor as Torvald Utne, a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
bureaucrat from whom Malory wants to secure a lucrative weapons contract.
Supporting characters have also been voiced by Coby Bell
Coby Bell
Coby Scott Bell is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as NYPD officer Tyrone Davis, Jr. on the NBC drama Third Watch, and professional football player Jason Pitts on the CW/BET comedy-drama The Game...
(Conway Stern), Shelly Desai (Crenshaw/Kremensky), Audrey Wasilewski
Audrey Wasilewski
Audrey Wasilewski is an American actress and voice actress.-Life and career:Wasilewski's first role came in the 1994 Japanese animated film Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko, where she was one of the additional voices dubbed in English...
(Elke Huebsch), Ron Perlman
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
(Ramon Limon), Thomas Lennon (Charles), Ben Garant
Ben Garant
Robert Ben Garant is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer.Garant was born in Cookeville, Tennessee, and grew up in Farragut, Tennessee...
(Rudi), Rafael Ferrer
Rafael Ferrer
Rafael Ferrer is an American actor.Ferrer is the son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney, and the brother of Miguel and Gabriel. He is a cousin of George Clooney. Ferrer is best known for his voiceover work in commercials, trailers and on-air promotions...
(Skorpio), Stephen Stanton
Stephen Stanton
Stephen Stanton is an American voice actor, impressionist and visual effects artist. He is well known as an "audio double" or "voicematch" for actors: Alec Guiness, John Cusack, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Nicolas Cage, Robert Downey Jr., and Peter Cushing among many others...
(Captain Lammers), Kari Wahlgren
Kari Wahlgren
Kari K. Wahlgren is an American voice actress who has provided English language voices for dozens of anime titles and video games. Her debut role was as one of the main characters of FLCL, Haruko Haruhara. She had a live-action role as Tinker Bell in the 2003 Damion Dietz film Neverland...
(Anka), Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters is an American actor, singer, writer and director best known for his role as Detective Lester Freamon on the HBO drama The Wire.-Early life:...
(Popeye), Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz is an English actor, comedian, writer, composer, voice artist and occasional director.-Early life:Serafinowicz was born in Liverpool, England. He attended Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Primary School and St Francis Xavier Secondary School...
(George Spelvin), Darren Criss
Darren Criss
Darren Everett Criss is an American actor, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and a founding member and co-owner of the theater company StarKid Productions. He currently portrays Blaine Anderson, an openly gay high school student, on the FOX television series Glee...
(the Irish Mafia), and Joan Van Ark
Joan Van Ark
Joan Van Ark is an American actress, most notable for her role as Valene Ewing, which she originated on the CBS series Dallas and continued for thirteen seasons on its spin-off, Knots Landing...
(Ruth).
Production
Each episode of Archer takes a couple of months to produce following the completion of the script. The show is mostly animated by Reed's Floyd County Productions in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, while 3D background models are made by Trinity Animation in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. Originally, Radical Axis
Radical axis
The radical axis of two circles is the locus of points at which tangents drawn to both circles have the same length. For any point P on the radical axis, there is a unique circle centered on P that intersects both circles at right angles ; conversely, the center of any circle that cuts both...
housed the show's animation staff for Season 1, but the crew has sinced moved to their own facilities close to Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
.
The artistic style of the series was designed to be as realistic as possible, so the character designers used as much reference material as they could. The character drawings are based on Atlanta-area models; they coincidentally resemble some of the voice actors in the series. As Chad Hurd, the lead character designer for the series, noted, the end result resembles "a 1960's comic book come to life." Television critics have also compared the show's overall visual style to that of the drama series Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
, as well as noting that lead character Sterling Archer, in particular, bears a substantial resemblance to Mad Mens protagonist Don Draper
Don Draper
Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper...
. The artwork is also similar to the original "Jonny Quest" cartoon series penned by artist Doug Wildey in the 1960s.
Stylistically, the show is a mix of several different time periods; show creator Adam Reed
Adam Reed
Adam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
described it as "intentionally ill-defined", noting that the show "cherry-pick[ed] the best and easiest from several decades". Numerous plot details arise from contemporary culture, such as diversity hiring and sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
complaints.
Archer is influenced by the early James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
films, as well as OSS 117
OSS 117
OSS 117 is the codename for Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, a fictional secret agent initially from the pen of the prolific Jean Bruce. Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath is described as being an American Colonel from Louisiana of French descent...
and The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther is a series of comedy films featuring the bungling French police detective Jacques Clouseau that began in 1963 with the release of the film of the same name. The role was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers...
, and can be compared to Reed's former shows for Adult Swim, Frisky Dingo
Frisky Dingo
Frisky Dingo is an American animated cartoon series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Adult Swim. The series revolved around the conflict between a supervillain named Killface and a superhero named Awesome X, and much of the show's humor focuses on parodying superhero and action movie...
and Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021 is an American animated television series. It was shown on Cartoon Network's adult-oriented programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 23, 2000 and the final episode aired on April 25, 2005...
. Driven by rapid-fire dialogue and interaction-based drama, the series is "stuff[ed]...with pop-culture references" and features an anachronistic style, using fashion from the early 1960s, a mix of 1980s-era and modern technology, and a political status quo in which "the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
never ended".
Relation to Arrested Development
Jessica WalterJessica Walter
Jessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
, Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
, David Cross
David Cross
David Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
and Judy Greer
Judy Greer
Judy Greer is an American actress, known for portraying a string of supporting female characters, including Kitty Sanchez on the Fox series Arrested Development and Cheryl on the animated comedy series Archer...
previously starred in the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
critically acclaimed comedy series Arrested Development. Since both shows largely revolve around feuds and rivalry disputes between family members, Archer has been described by its creator, Adam Reed
Adam Reed
Adam Brooks Reed is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions....
, as "James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
meets Arrested Development. There are also notable similarities between the characters played by all three actors. Greer's character is a "lovelorn secretary", Walter is the wealth-wielding matriarch and Tambor, while not the husband, is her long-lost passion interest and possibly Sterling's father as well. Both shows also frequently use callbacks
Callback (comedy)
A callback, in terms of comedy, is a joke which refers to one previously told in the set. The second joke is often presented in a different context than the one which was used in the initial joke. Callbacks are usually used at or near the end of a set, as the aim is to create the biggest laugh at...
and catchphrases. The show also makes reference to past work by the actors as well. In the episode "Jeu Monegasque", Mallory tells the hotel concierge that "this isn't my first grand prix, you know", referencing Walter's role in Grand Prix. Further, in the Season 1 episode, "Killing Utne," when Malory complains about her relationship with her unseen neighbour Trudy Beekman, Archer remarks that she does not get along with her neighbours anywhere, a reference to Walter's character's adversarial relationship with her neighbor Lucille Austero in Arrested Development.
Relation to Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo
Just as some series voice-actors have worked together previously, notable people on the Archer animation and production teams (such as Adam Reed and Matt Thompson) were also cooperatively involved in several shows for Adult SwimAdult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
, most importantly Frisky Dingo and Sealab 2021. All three shows share similar animation styles; a trademark which initially began with Sealab's cut-and-paste juxtaposition of vintage cartoon clips and modern dialogue, was modernized with computer animation for Frisky Dingo, and continues with essentially unchanged appearances for some characters in Archer. The show also shares numerous stylistic and character development similarities with its two predecessors.
Reception
The show has seen favorable reviews, scoring a 78 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
for its first season and an 88 for its second. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called it a wittily raunchy spy spoof, and the Miami Herald referred to it as "a millennial (and very much R-rated) Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
that acerbically and hilariously plays on our post-9/11 fears that 'U.S. government intelligence' might be a grim oxymoron."
DVD release
| DVD Name | R1 Release Date | R2 Release Date | R4 Release Date | Blu-ray Release Date | Ep # | Discs | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season One | December 28, 2010 | May 2, 2011 | March 2, 2011 | December 27, 2011 | 10 | 2 | An allegedly unaired Archer pilot (essentially the first episode with Archer replaced by a human sized velociraptor Velociraptor Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils... ), an unaired network promo, deleted scenes, a six-part "The Making of Archer" featurette, bonus episodes from The League and Louie. |
| Season Two | December 27, 2011 | 2012 | February 29, 2012 | December 27, 2011 | 13 | 2 | Archersaurus - Self Extinction; Ask Archer; Semper Fi; L'espoin Mal Fait; ISIS infiltrates Comic-con. |
Awards
In 2010, H. Jon Benjamin was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for outstanding voiceover performance.On July 17, 2010, Archer won the NewNowNext award for "Best Show You're Not Watching".
It was also nominated for Best Comedy Series at the 2011 Critics Television Awards.