Archer is an animated, half-hour comedy set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), a spy agency where espionage and global crises are merely opportunities for its highly trained employees to confuse, undermine, betray and royally screw each other. The series features the voices of H. Jon Benjamin as suave master spy "Sterling Archer," whose less-than-masculine code name is "Duchess"; Jessica Walter as his domineering mother and boss, "Malory"; Aisha Tyler as his ex-girlfriend, "Agent Lana Kane"; George Coe as his aging-but-loyal butler, "Woodhouse"; Chris Parnell as ISIS comptroller and Lana's new love interest, "Cyril Figgis"; and Judy Greer as Malory's lovesick secretary, "Cheryl."
Created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson (Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo) explains a lot about the demented and out-of-control characters that give this show it's Mature Audience rating. With more Arrested Development people popping up lately you'd think they were going to make a movie or something.
I'd love to say that the writing is brilliant but I have to admit that I spent the first half of the show being blown away by the modeling and illustration so I missed a lot of the story line. The complexity and detail given to the characters' expressions and the layers upon layers of texture and style applied to the sets made my mind reel. If I had a room full of artists and animators to do my bidding I would want to create something like this. In case you didn't know, I totally dig the rotoscope look
I cant help but hear Satan's voice in H. Jon Benjamin's work with the main character, Duchess Archer so that gets some laughs out of me right from the start. In a way it already reminds me of a dysfuntional workplace/family like Arrested Development or Mad Men where the internal dramas overshadow the profession itself. It's kind of like managing hell so it seems as though they are doing it right.
Did anyone catch Sit Down, Shut Up?
