I’m not someone you can easily pin down when it comes to animated series on television. On the one hand I’m a fan of Family Guy, and I do enjoy the occasional episode of The Simpsons. On the other, I’m not sure I’ve ever laughed at an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head, nor do I understand what people love about South Park.
But there are many animated series out there that are really adult programming drawn on paper instead of done live action, shows that shouldn’t really be defined by peers in the animated genre so much as against any and all other programming on TV. One of those shows, as I understand it, is FX’s Archer. A show which, I might add, some would argue is criminally overlooked by the viewing public. So I decided to check it out.
What caught me immediately was how Batman: The Animated Series I found the art to be. Maybe that’s because the straight lines reminded me of the people on Batman, but I definitely got a very campy, ’70s vibe — understanding, of course, that Batman is from the nineties.
And I think that that visual impression carried through to the show. There was nothing hi-tech, per say, about Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) and the ISIS team … they were more like earlier iterations of some of the James Bond movies.
Archer himself is a bit of a bumbling fool, someone who probably backs into success more often than he plots it out from the start. Today’s spies are Michael Westen (Burn Notice) and Annie Walker (Covert Affairs); Chuck from Chuck is more of an exception than a rule. So there was definitely something nostalgic about Sterling Archer the man.
But that’s about where the line is drawn. I was kind of surprised at how much like an early Stan Smith (American Dad!) I found Archer to be — brash, stupidly fearless, and generally unaware of how the world around him works. And boy is he abrasive in a showy way; pulling his gun out of the hot tub and pointing it at the casino employee was classic Stan … and symbolic of Archer as a person. As a character he’s not one that I’d particularly want to get to know.
And forgetting about the team he had with him in the field, the team back at the office was ridiculous. First the fact that Malory Archer (Jessica Walter) was able to clean out everyone’s retirement accounts at all, but then how they attempted to make their money back by selling assets … that they gave away without getting money for upfront. I know it was supposed to seem silly and ha ha-worthy, but to me it felt like just so much nonsense.
I can definitely say that Archer is, by all standards save for the physical drawings, a regular TV show, not to be lumped in with “animated series.” That’s absolutely how it should be evaluated, because that’s what it is. But that being said, I didn’t particularly enjoy it as a show, animated or not. I didn’t find the characters likable, I didn’t find myself laughing, and I didn’t appreciate the feelings of nostalgia — I wasn’t a fan of Batman: The Animated Series or the early James Bond movies.
Definitely don’t pass Archer by just because you don’t enjoy FOX’s Animation Domination … but that still doesn’t mean it’s for you.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Apr 11, 2011 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
Before you let the show go completely, please watch Diversity Hire and Skytanic. If you don’t like the show after that, I’ll let it drop. This is actually one of my favorite comedies on right now. The writng on it is superb. It does have jokes where if you’re watching in a room full of people, a few of them will laugh, and the others will go “wait, what did I miss?” I find that is part of the charm and makes them re-watchable.
I was also impressed when I recently had a marathon of season one after the DVD release, just how much is set up in the first season that doesn’t pay off at all until the second season.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’ll keep an eye out for both, thanks. Does FX rebroadcast old episodes?
Usually immediately after the new episode they have been airing older episodes. I’m not sure how much older as I DVR just about everything. Unfortunately FX seems to hate hulu so there are only 3 episodes up there currently.
If you happen to have Netflix Season 1 is instant. And Chris is right, a lot was set up last season that is playing out this season. I’m so glad it got a 3rd season, it is one of my favorite shows right now. FX knows it’s comedies! (Archer, Sunny, The League)
How do you still get the green light to write these columns!?!? It baffles me that you even attempt to evaluate a show on ONE. SINGLE. VIEWING.
As I’ve stated before, scripted television by its very nature is something that is meant to be taken as a series as a whole, not evaluated one random episode at a time. Can you imagine what someone watching S02E07 of “Arrested Development” would think? They’d be lost and not get any of the MANY MANY MANY jokes and recurring gags. Or how a review of “The Wire” S04E06 would read if never taken in the context of the rest of that season, let alone the rest of that series!
I just don’t understand this column at all. I barely ever read it, but due to the rest of CliqueClack’s quality pieces I’m tempted to give it a read every now and then. But whenever I do, it’s just complete nonsense. It drives me mad!!!