Archer: So wrong (and yet so right)
My girlfriend’s best friend in the world (other than me?) is also named Matt. He’s a good guy — we stayed with him when we visited Florida last year, and I found him to be absolutely delightful. His track record on entertainment, though, isn’t great. Seriously, he sent us this Miyazaki anime about shape-shifting raccoons that would, like, attack each other with their giant, magic testicles? It was some messed up shit. Another cartoon (from Adult Swim, maybe?) about a prison in hell followed. I’m still having nightmares.
So when he started pimping Archer I was willing to give it a shot, but I’ll admit that I began the series with my hand hovering over the remote, prepared for the worst. I owe Matt an apology, though, because the amount of joy this show has brought me would be worth drowning in raccoon testicles.
Archer is so funny precisely because it’s so wrong. Sterling Archer is a spy, and the kind of self-obsessed, misogynist jackass who could easily cross the line into frat boy anti-humor if not handled just right. Jon Benjamin (who I remember primarily as Coach McGirk on Home Movies) voices him with such clueless aplomb, though, that you can’t help but love the guy, at least a little. The plots feature various action hijinks and espionage intrigue, but it’s all just an excuse to stick the brilliant cast together and let them banter.
During the course of their perpetual bickering, for example, Archer calls his fellow superspy (and ex-girlfriend) Lana Kane “baby crazy,” a charge which only offends because it’s so completely out of left field. In turn she accuses him of dragging around a 35 year old umbilical cord, which should hit awfully close to home, but bounces right off. ” See!” he says. “All you talk about is baby shit! Because you’re baby crazy!” He’s so indignant. It’s so funny. I’ve ruined that joke by trying to dissect it, of course, but the quips come rapid fire, so there are plenty more coming down the pike.
My girlfriend insists that the show is a bastion of female empowerment, and it’s true that the strongest characters are women. Mallory Archer (voiced by Arrested Development‘s Jessica Walter), Isis agency head and other end of the aforementioned umbilical cord, would crush you under her heel without thinking twice. And Lana (Aisha Tyler) exudes a deadly competence in equal measure to her government-mandated sex appeal.
You can download individual episodes from Amazon or just commit to the first season DVD, but we watched it on Hulu and streaming from Netflix, so check those first. Season 2 is currently running on FX.
You have a limited amount of time, so why spend it reading about things that suck or are only kind of okay? Favorite thing EVER is not a review site. We're unrepentant fans, and this is the stuff we love. Hope you like gushing, because we're about to embarrass ourselves.
Also, today is my birthday. That is all.
Government-mandated sex appeal. That would make a great band name.
Hooray for Archer. Also, loganberries. Which are not at all ballistically similar to grapes.
(Also, happy birthday, woo!)
Happy birthday, weirdo!
I owe you raccoon testicles forever for introducing me to this show. Now I need to figure out how the hell to get it in Canada.
Happy Birthday!! I finally caught an episode of this show a few days ago. I’m in love.
Whoops! This is a re-post from last August, and I didn’t realize I had misleading birthday messages in the comments. Still three and a half months before I turn 40 GODDAMN YEARS OLD and start yelling at kids to get off my lawn.