Shoveling Gold Into An Abyss

I do some writing on a friend's entertainment blog, thought I'd cross-post - hope you like it, if you do, check out the full blog at http://countsofthenetherworld.tumblr.com/

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TV is infested with animated comedies. On any given day it’s possible to catch, in sequence, The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, American Dad, and more. Or it is, if you don’t mind getting bedsores from remaining on the sofa: personally I don’t mind, as it just adds to my existing sores below the waist. Generally the big three have been The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy. Gun to my head I’d place pre-jumping the shark Simpsons slightly ahead of South Park, with Family Guy a very distant third.

Me…and Your Mother

Recently, however, I have acquired a new obsession, and its name is Archer…Sterling Archer. [And yes, there are fucking spoilers ahead, big ones with teeth]

From left to right? I guess…3, 5, 4, 2, 1? 

Archer snuck onto our screens through FX (who brought us the apocalyptically violent testosterone enhancer that is Sons of Anarchy - watch it now). The show follows Sterling Archer, international super-spy and man of mystery. He works at ISIS, an international spy agency run by his mother, Mallory. His colleagues include:

• his ex-girlfriend, and interracial porn enthusiast, fellow field agent Lana Kane;
• company accountant and sex addict Cyril, whom Lana is now dating;
• Pam, the gossipy HR officer;
• Carol, a secretary with a choking fetish;
• gay, formerly married, analyst Ray; and 
• mad scientist Krieger who owns a “rape van”. 

So far,so Bond… on meth. 

Where things get interesting are in the characters’ (ridiculous) flaws, and their relationships to one another.

Archer is, to put it simply, a total dick, incompetent at anything other than being a field agent. He treats his elderly heroin-addicted butler Woodhouse as some sort of sub-human. At one point he threatens to grind sand into Woodhouse’s “dead eyes” if he finds any dog hairs in his apartment when he returns home….before telling Woodhouse to go buy some “coarse” sand.  He throws women’s clothes off his balcony to make them leave (a useful tip, actually). Archer also has an utterly bizarre relationship with his gin-soaked mother/boss Mallory, who codenamed him “Duchess”, after her favourite dog. With that said, the character is certainly not one-dimensional, and particularly in series 2 we see some excellent gags based around Archer’s slightly geeky obsessions - for instance his obsession with Burt Reynolds, and his excitement in spending most of an episode playing with ocelot named Babou. 

The show is, however, in many ways an ensemble comedy. The supporting cast bring plenty to the table, with the voice actors delivering everything fantastically well, and some of the best moments taking place with the titular (anti?)hero off-screen. Generally the format seems to involve one or zero straight-men to the comedic characters. It must also be said that series 2 builds on each of the characters, and they become better used and more fleshed out with each passing episode, making the ensemble comedy moments even better as the show goes on.

My friends, family, and visitors often find me like this

One of the real strengths of the show is the writing. There’s a huge range of humour tucked away in the show. There are fairly obvious gags based around Archer’s cruelty to Woodhouse, or Cheryl’s weird fetishes, which work well. There are, however, also, some awesomely weird/slightly nerdy gags, such as Archer mixing up a furrier (sells furs) and a farrier (sells horseshoes), or demanding to know if someone’s against whaling because they are against “clean burning lamp oil”. There are also some pretty obscure easter eggs tucked away in the show:

• a reference to Herman Melville’s short story Bartleby the Scrivener;
• a reference to Bilbo Baggins’ coat of dwarven mithril;
• a back tattoo of Lord Byron’s “The Destruction of Sennacherib.”

These little touches aren’t necessary to enjoy the show, but if and when you spot one you ‘get’ it adds another layer onto an already fantastic show.

Finally, it certainly doesn’t hurt that the show is the most quotable thing I’ve seen in, well, ever. A few examples should suffice:

• “Your authority is not recognized in Fort Kick-ass.” - Krieger
• “Immigrants! That’s all they do, you know. Just driving around listening to the raps and shooting all the jobs.” - Mallory
• “Does Internet porn know you’re cheating on it?” - Archer 
• “Not many women could bring me to orgasm in front of my mother. I don’t think.” - Archer
• “And I love that I have an erection that doesn’t involve homeless people.” - Krieger
• “Oh, I’ll just yank his pants off, splash a lot of scotch and women’s underthings about, and then tell him he slipped and fell chasing a terrified Asian prostitute out onto the patio. It’s not the first time I’ve bashed his head in and had to cover my tracks. Happens three, four times a year.” - Woodhouse (on Archer)

Watch it now, and give this great show the attention it deserves.

2 of the editors of the blog, last weekend (artist’s depiction)