"Karate? The Dane Cook of martial arts?"
January 13, 2014 8:47 AM   Subscribe

Archer returns tonight. To celebrate, here is seven minutes of Sterling Archer one-liners.
posted by alby (214 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
First link borked, I think?
posted by WidgetAlley at 8:50 AM on January 13, 2014


IIII IIII III
For the Angel of Death
spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face
of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers
waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but
once heaved,
and for ever grew still!
posted by griphus at 8:51 AM on January 13, 2014 [25 favorites]


First link borked, I think?

Ah. I think it's region-locked. Flagged.
posted by alby at 8:53 AM on January 13, 2014


The link is correct, but it looks like they have some sort of weird server thing that doesn't allow direct linking unless it's inside their site. Go up to shows, click on "Archer" and you get taken to the same address, but functioning properly.
posted by codacorolla at 8:54 AM on January 13, 2014


Mod note: Nixed the first link since it basically won't work as presented and is just the network's landing page for the show in any case.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:58 AM on January 13, 2014


Thanks for the reminder!
posted by Thorzdad at 9:00 AM on January 13, 2014


The Gnomes coffee-table book was one my mother's most successful projects when she worked at Harry N. Abrams. We had a surplus of Gnomes stickers and figurines and bookmarks everywhere in the house, and they found their way into gifts and birthday party favors for years, giving me and my childhood classmates a head start on ironic humor.

I don't know how I am going to convey the last joke of the video to her in a way that captures how proud she should be.
posted by oneironaut at 9:06 AM on January 13, 2014 [9 favorites]


"It's an allegorical novella! About Stalinism! And spoiler alert: IT SUCKS!"
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:09 AM on January 13, 2014 [6 favorites]


Sterling Archer's combination of boarding school erudition and sheer idiocy is basically my favorite thing on the whole show.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:10 AM on January 13, 2014 [48 favorites]


As Griphus famously said, he's a character with high INT but no WIS
posted by The Whelk at 9:12 AM on January 13, 2014 [25 favorites]


There's just something about a show that looks at the lines of decency and civility, yet just speeds right past them while chucking empties out the window.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:13 AM on January 13, 2014 [10 favorites]


I have the pilot episode script in the desk I'm typing on and I think it would've been so, so easy to have more "straight man" characters to try and ground the show in any sense of reality or decency and the fact that they didn't do that and make everyone strange really helps create the unique tone of the show.(In the script Pam is described as "mousey". Lana is most "normal" but is usually game for whatever civility-ruining scheme is going on.)
posted by The Whelk at 9:17 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


There's just something about a show that looks at the lines of decency and civility, yet just speeds right past them while chucking empties out the window.

...and it's called It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
posted by entropone at 9:20 AM on January 13, 2014 [7 favorites]


Yeah, shows like Archer, Always Sunny, and Arrested Development get a lot of their zing from the fact that there isn't a straight man around to bounce jokes off of or act as a moral center. Such people occasionally stumble in Paddy's but are quickly repelled.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:21 AM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


"Houdini died of AIDS!"

"No... Why do you always say that?"
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:24 AM on January 13, 2014


...and it's called It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Which was never very good, it always comes across like it's trying too hard. Arrested Development works though, possibly because it has a sweeter and zanier center, while ASiP is just plain mean.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:26 AM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]


In the script Pam is described as "mousey".

I will never stop going on about how they've slowly turned Pam into one of the most compelling female characters in TV. Just watching her evolve between her early appearances as the sort of plain Jane HR lady to "you better just fuckin' kill me" has been a thing of beauty.
posted by griphus at 9:29 AM on January 13, 2014 [50 favorites]


"I don't know if they grade it but... coarse."
posted by Rock Steady at 9:30 AM on January 13, 2014 [12 favorites]


Also how the fuck has Portia de Rossi not done a guest voice on this show yet.
posted by griphus at 9:31 AM on January 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Pam is just this wonderfully positive force in the universe despite of or because of being so indulgently hedonistic.
posted by The Whelk at 9:31 AM on January 13, 2014 [8 favorites]


As Griphus famously said, he's a character with high INT but no WIS

He's got perfect situational awareness, Lana, and perception checks are clearly WIS-based.

One of my vey favorite exchanges in Archer history is when Cheryl asks, "what am I, hourly?" displaying that she's heard the basic phrase a thousand times but never understood what it meant, only that it was a snappy thing to say to someone.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:32 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Though a lot of those lacrosse camp skills are pretty universal.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:34 AM on January 13, 2014


YOU'RE NOT MY SUPERVISOR!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:37 AM on January 13, 2014 [9 favorites]


Viewing party suggestion: Green Russians and a bowl of spider webs.
posted by univac at 9:37 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also it took me like three re-watches to figure out the joke in the fact that Barry's Israeli passport has his name as "Sy Berg."
posted by griphus at 9:38 AM on January 13, 2014 [11 favorites]


I'm not saying I invented the turtleneck. But I was the first person to realize its potential as a tactical garment. The tactical turtleneck! The... tactleneck.
posted by mightygodking at 9:39 AM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


vey favorite exchanges in Archer history is when Cheryl asks, "what am I, hourly?"

It's relatively recent (and I can't recall which episode), but the one where Cheryl grinds a couple of conversations to a halt by declaring an incisive summation of someone's deepest insecurity (for Lana, it was "this place is the only thing you've ever really loved") ...and then blinks and says, "Wait, was I talking?" IS THE BEST.
posted by psoas at 9:39 AM on January 13, 2014 [7 favorites]


I will never stop going on about how they've slowly turned Pam into one of the most compelling female characters in TV. Just watching her evolve between her early appearances as the sort of plain Jane HR lady to "you better just fuckin' kill me" has been a thing of beauty.

♫ "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm, after they seen Pammy?" ♫
posted by jason_steakums at 9:41 AM on January 13, 2014 [9 favorites]


Cheryl is the best cause literally anything can come out of her mouth, it's like how Conan said Mr. Burns was his favorite character to write for cause he was so rich and so old and so eccentric that you can justify him owning or doing anything.
posted by The Whelk at 9:41 AM on January 13, 2014 [7 favorites]


"I just realized why you always do macrame instead of knitting."
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:42 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


What are your three biggest fears?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:43 AM on January 13, 2014


"I just realized why you always do macrame instead of knitting."

Yeah. They were super-serious about that.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:44 AM on January 13, 2014


My favorite bit of dialog is Ray's total snap against Lana in that pirate king three-parter: "I'm sorry, did you want to hear what I think, or just what you want to hear?" *sip* "He asked, pretty sarcastically."
posted by jason_steakums at 9:48 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Did we ever have a flashback episode where we saw how everyone was hired by ISIS? Cause I want one and I want the unspoken silent joke to be we never see Cheryl getitng hired cause she was always just there.
posted by The Whelk at 9:50 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


SKY-CAPTAIN OF YESTERYEAR
posted by griphus at 9:50 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Neither Amazon nor Netflix have S4 up yet, so I'm at the "what the hell, distributors?" part of withdrawal. Get your copyright shit taken care of before the new season starts, guys!
posted by zombieflanders at 9:50 AM on January 13, 2014 [8 favorites]


We saw Lana getting hired, and Kreiger getting taken away from the compound in Brazil by Malory, and saw the dinner they had for all the new hires in the Lucas Troy episode, but that's it IIRC.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:52 AM on January 13, 2014


We also saw Lana get recruited as she was about to throw blood/paint on Malory's fur...


...which on preview, was totally just the first thing you mentioned. I have a more improvisational process.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:55 AM on January 13, 2014


What am I, hourly?
posted by Rangeboy at 9:57 AM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]


Ray might be my favorite spy character ever. Total pro and totally not an insane reckless idiot. "Oh, rocket launcher! Y'all! Y'all, my car's slowing down for some unknown reason! Just must be out of... carburetor..."
posted by jason_steakums at 10:03 AM on January 13, 2014 [7 favorites]


He's also just as wanton and lustful as the rest of them, but you know - not at work, there's a job to do people.

"Goodbye sweet man whores of Montreal."
posted by The Whelk at 10:05 AM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]


According to Archer Animator Domirillo, Pink Gin and fast food burgers are the ideal pairing for tonight's episode (though one can rarely go wrong with Green Russians and Groovy Bears, as always).
posted by Nekosoft at 10:06 AM on January 13, 2014


The Whelk: the fact that they didn't [ground the show in "straight" characters] and [instead] make everyone strange really helps create the unique tone of the show

Does the tone change, or is it something that grows on you? My wife and I love The Venture Bros, and we are finally watching Arrested Development with much enjoyment, but when we watched the first few episodes of Archer, it didn't jive for us. We understood where the jokes were coming from and the general attempt, but it seemed like too much. Are we somehow too sensitive to the humor? I previously equated it to the humor of Family Guy, and there was a general agreement that Archer is no Family Guy.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:09 AM on January 13, 2014


Do we talk about that interview with all the spoilers and whether it was an elaborate joke or not here?
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:13 AM on January 13, 2014


TheWhiteSkull: "I have a more improvisational process."

And much like my son's notions of what "improvisational" mean, I'm sure your process will lead to you your mother being forbidden from entering Paris and Vatican City as well.
posted by Malory Archer at 10:13 AM on January 13, 2014 [9 favorites]


Does the tone change, or is it something that grows on you? My wife and I love The Venture Bros, and we are finally watching Arrested Development with much enjoyment, but when we watched the first few episodes of Archer, it didn't jive for us. We understood where the jokes were coming from and the general attempt, but it seemed like too much. Are we somehow too sensitive to the humor? I previously equated it to the humor of Family Guy, and there was a general agreement that Archer is no Family Guy.

I think the distinction for me between Archer and something like Family Guy is that the tasteless dialog and choices of the characters in Archer are very clearly rooted in the failings of those characters, and the show constantly points that out. Sometimes they have moments of enlightenment, but they're not quite capable of the necessary change. Which is why the Arrested Development comparison is so apropos.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:15 AM on January 13, 2014 [6 favorites]


Does the tone change, or is it something that grows on you?

Both. I mean, I loved it from the word 'go' so take this with a grain of salt, but the show as a whole absolutely evolves over time. The first couple of episodes are really on-the-nose and world/character-build-y by necessity. Once the writers become confident that the viewers know what the general situation is, who the characters are, what they do, and so on, it becomes a much more well-crafted show.

Give "Lo Scandalo" from Season 3 a shot. It's a masterpiece.
posted by griphus at 10:17 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Archer's characterizations are incredibly strong - I know this because when I wrote that Archer script on a dare it was remarkably easy to figure out what they "should" say because by now they've got very sharp, well-developed personalities. Wheras with It's Always Sunny... I feel like I loose track of who's talking if I close my eyes.
posted by The Whelk at 10:19 AM on January 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Does the tone change, or is it something that grows on you?

Both. I mean, I loved it from the word 'go' so take this with a grain of salt, but the show as a whole absolutely evolves over time.


I would disagree, but I also loved it from the word go (or at least, the word "When they're dead, they're just hookers!"). I don't think the tone particularly changes, in the sense that it's always going to "seem... like too much."

Not that I'd advocate giving up on one of my favorite shows, but there's nothing wrong with not liking Archer's coarseness. It's a coarse show. It always will be a coarse show.
posted by Etrigan at 10:21 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also, Family Guy's thing is that the show is just a springboard for jokes. On Archer, the plot matters, the continuity sticks around, and the characters exist beyond either telling a joke from a certain archetypal perspective or making fun of some feature of that archetype. In Archer, a lot of the humor comes from the fact that characters are well-developed and have histories and personal likes and dislikes and idiosyncrasies that are consistent and consistently built-up.
posted by griphus at 10:21 AM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


(hat tip to mightygodking for fixing a Doctor Strange joke for me BTW)
posted by The Whelk at 10:21 AM on January 13, 2014


Lentrohamsanin: Do we talk about that interview with all the spoilers and whether it was an elaborate joke or not here?

I have carefully avoided it on purpose, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about it here.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:22 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


It's not that I haven't wanted to get into Archer, it's just that there's only so much time, and I really haven't watched a lot of TV lately. But I love jason_steakums' description of how it differs from Family Guy -- it seems to know its characters are flawed and doesn't seem to revel in it, which is something Seth MacFarlane shows do all the time.
posted by JHarris at 10:22 AM on January 13, 2014


I always thought the Charlie and Mac characters in Always Sunny deserved a better show with better-defined characters around them. They're both so much more solid than the others, who basically just act outrageous because the script calls for them to act outrageous, but Charlie's stuff is always rooted in crippling social awkwardness and Mac's in ridiculous insecurity so there's something there with those two.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:23 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Wheras with It's Always Sunny... I feel like I loose track of who's talking if I close my eyes.

If it's misanthropic, it's Dennis.
If it has no grounding in how people relate to the world and society around them, it's Charlie.
If it's straight-up avaricious, it's Frank.
If it has a thin (and false) veneer of responsibility or self-righteousness, it's Dee.
It it turns me on, it's Mac.

Easy!
posted by psoas at 10:24 AM on January 13, 2014 [13 favorites]


"No, do not say the Chekhov gun, Cyril. That, sir, is a facile argument. "

"Also woefully esoteric."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:24 AM on January 13, 2014 [10 favorites]


It's not that I haven't wanted to get into Archer, it's just that there's only so much time, and I really haven't watched a lot of TV lately. But I love jason_steakums' description of how it differs from Family Guy -- it seems to know its characters are flawed and doesn't seem to revel in it, which is something Seth MacFarlane shows do all the time.

I would say that Archer definitely still revels in it, it just knows when to pull back on that.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:24 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


"That's not my ...uh, legerdemain."
"You mean bailiwick?"

God, I love this show.
posted by psoas at 10:25 AM on January 13, 2014 [8 favorites]


It's a coarse show. It always will be a coarse show.

Oh, in that sense, no, the humor remains a combination of boundary-invading social commentary, slapstick violence, sexual obscenity and obscure references. But when all of that starts revolving around the characters' rather than the audience's sensibilities, it becomes more tempered and less transgression-for-transgression's-sake.
posted by griphus at 10:26 AM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


part of the joy of Archer for me is the idea of very smart, very educated people revealing in in this over the top coraseness.
posted by The Whelk at 10:28 AM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]


Reed and Thompson are masters at reveling in coarseness and lunacy and still grounding the characters. Watch Frisky Dingo, which is even more over-the-top than Archer - yet everyone is how they are for a reason. It might be a really fucked up and highly exaggerated reason, but it's consistent, and every character has heart.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:28 AM on January 13, 2014 [10 favorites]


One little recurring bit I particularly love is the way the characters sometimes have to struggle to come up with their jokes and funny ideas. It's there from the beginning with the whole "Stir Fryday" being better than whatever name Cyril and Lana already have for it, and Archer is often doing the "Wait, I had a thing for this..." bit. There's one moment where Malory is talking to someone on her videophone and wants to call him "Captain [something dismissive]" but she can't think of anything, so Archer jumps in with "Crunch! No, wait, Kangaroo!"
posted by Rock Steady at 10:29 AM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]


Or Pam offering up a burn against herself when Archer can't think of one. "Blob Marley!"
posted by jason_steakums at 10:30 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Or just how Pam cheerfully deals with the abuse hurled her way.
posted by The Whelk at 10:31 AM on January 13, 2014


I hardly watch any TV anymore, let alone get excited about it, but Archer is the glaring exception. The writing is so wonderful and jam-packed with layered jokes that there's always something new you will pick up on by re-watching. I feel like Archer follows in the same vein as MST3K (but obviously more crass) - lots of fast jokes that cater to various individual perception levels, such as the genre-specific meta jokes.
posted by antonymous at 10:32 AM on January 13, 2014


Pam knows that, when it comes down to it, she could murder anyone in the office with her bare hands. So let 'em poke at her weight if it makes them feel better. She could give a crap.
posted by Etrigan at 10:32 AM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]


Pam is the only one who realizes that if you dish it out (and she does) you should be able to take it.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:34 AM on January 13, 2014


Rock Steady: Archer jumps in with "Crunch! No, wait, Kangaroo!"

The joke is actually even better than I remembered it:

Malory: I don't care if you're Captain... uh...
Archer: Crunch! No wait, Beefheart! No wait... Kangaroo!
posted by Rock Steady at 10:37 AM on January 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Wait. Shit. There's a whole SEASON of Archer I haven't seen? But it's not available streaming anywhere? That is great/terrible news.
posted by that's candlepin at 10:38 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also, and I hadn't noticed this before, but Pam is the only one who trades barbs with people in a way that's largely not personal. With everyone else it's mostly rooted in some simmering-beneath-the-surface grievance, but Pam might be the only one who actually sees all of these people as friends and for the most part acts like it's just friends giving each other shit. Because if Pam has a grievance, she will see how much you wiggle when she's whippin' five thousand bucks worth of your ass.
posted by jason_steakums at 10:41 AM on January 13, 2014 [6 favorites]


On Archer, the plot matters, the continuity sticks around, and the characters exist beyond either telling a joke from a certain archetypal perspective or making fun of some feature of that archetype. In Archer, a lot of the humor comes from the fact that characters are well-developed and have histories and personal likes and dislikes and idiosyncrasies that are consistent and consistently built-up.

Hell, I'd say a large part of Archer's humor comes from how perversely it sticks to its own continuity. If someone drops the tiniest piece of information as a joke somewhere, expect that to be shown as canon two years later.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:45 AM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


"Is that Baboo?"
"He remembers me!"
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:46 AM on January 13, 2014 [11 favorites]


Season 4 is available via Amazon Instant Video. SPLOOSH!
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:47 AM on January 13, 2014


Pam is the only one who realizes that if you dish it out (and she does) you should be able to take it.

On top of that, the only thing Pam has to prove is how many pool balls she can fit in her mouth.
posted by griphus at 10:47 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh, and filthy light thief: watch S1's "Skytanic." If you are not laughing uncontrollably through the final five minutes of that, then no, you will not like Archer.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:47 AM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]


Babou might be my favorite character. He is exotic, which is just people talk for awesome.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:48 AM on January 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


It's the attention to detail too - having guns act as realistic guns is one of the best running jokes on the show (plus, trigger discipline! My personal pet peeve in these kinds of shows is actually followed!)
posted by The Whelk at 10:48 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


"This is Rodney. He's our new... Gun Librarian."
"Armorer!"
posted by Rock Steady at 10:49 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


The show has one of the single most subtle acknowledgements that a referential joke has been made when Archer rolls his eyes when confronting "George Spelvin".
posted by griphus at 10:51 AM on January 13, 2014 [8 favorites]


CAPTAIN LAMMERS?!
posted by Navelgazer at 10:54 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Nice read, Velma.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:54 AM on January 13, 2014 [8 favorites]


Babou might be my favorite character. He is exotic, which is just people talk for awesome.

For some reason, one of my favorite call-back Archer jokes is the Mountie shouting "He's crepuscular! Get 'im, boys!"
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:55 AM on January 13, 2014 [7 favorites]


It's not just Babou, though. It starts there, but then we'll see over time that the normally jackass Sterling Archer has a profound compassion for big cats which comes up over and over again.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:56 AM on January 13, 2014 [6 favorites]


The show has one of the single most subtle acknowledgements that a referential joke has been made when Archer rolls his eyes when confronting "George Spelvin".

I was just watching that ep last night (working my way through Season 2). I also can't believe how much that actor sounds like James Mason, and then looking him up on the Wiki saw that in a later episode he basically plays James Mason.

Love this show.
posted by sweetkid at 10:56 AM on January 13, 2014


CAPTAIN LAMMERS?!

Nice read, Velma.

Were you guys watching some other blimp commercial just now?
posted by griphus at 10:57 AM on January 13, 2014


Thanks, y'all. I've taken your comments into consideration, and I'll add those particular episodes to my list of things to watch, if I don't try to watch the first season in full.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:57 AM on January 13, 2014


...rigid airship...
posted by Navelgazer at 10:58 AM on January 13, 2014


(Also, our love of Bob's Burgers makes it confusing to hear Archer, which is credit to H. Jon Benjamin being a diverse voice actor, but still takes some getting used to.)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:59 AM on January 13, 2014


NO ONE SAY ANYTHING
posted by griphus at 11:00 AM on January 13, 2014 [7 favorites]


filthy light thief: (Also, our love of Bob's Burgers makes it confusing to hear Archer, which is credit to H. Jon Benjamin being a diverse voice actor, but still takes some getting used to.)

Oh, well there is a 4th(?) season episode you NEED to see...
posted by Rock Steady at 11:00 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


(Also don't Google anything, flt.)
posted by griphus at 11:01 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


sorry
posted by Rock Steady at 11:01 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


"M as in Mancy" might be the funniest line I've ever heard.
posted by kmz at 11:01 AM on January 13, 2014 [13 favorites]


ME OF ALL PEOPLE WHAT?!
posted by The Whelk at 11:04 AM on January 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


(oh god I re-watched that scene and JUST NOW caught the "Bravo" "thank you" joke. Wow.)
posted by The Whelk at 11:05 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


griphus: "NO ONE SAY ANYTHING"

Less than ten blocks from the office all that time, but could anybody be bothered to actually do footwork? God knows in my day we'd have him back home and debriefed before the honeymoon was over.
posted by Malory Archer at 11:06 AM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


I hear Hug Me The Bear is going to make a cameo in Season 5.
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:13 AM on January 13, 2014


(Also, our love of Bob's Burgers makes it confusing to hear Archer, which is credit to H. Jon Benjamin being a diverse voice actor, but still takes some getting used to.)

If anyone here hasn't watched Jon Benjamin has a Van, they need to correct that.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:17 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Did we ever have a flashback episode where we saw how everyone was hired by ISIS?

This just drove home for me that all the characters' background info that comes up is always a complete surprise to all the others (including Mallory) when its revealed in episodes, because ISIS apparently does no background checks of their employees. Like how Cheryl is a super-rich heiress that lives in a mansion and has private rail cars and Pam has a background in underground street racing and pit fighting. So wonderfully incompetent, I love this show.
posted by Hoopo at 11:35 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


I liked how all of last season it felt like Mallory was taking ISIS rogue, but wasn't ever directly addressed, and as of tonight's episode, ISIS is no longer a spy agency; they're just coke dealers now. So seemingly sudden and yet so well-developed.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:39 AM on January 13, 2014


I love you, grumpybear69. You are my new streaming TV oracle.
posted by that's candlepin at 11:45 AM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


and as of tonight's episode, ISIS is no longer a spy agency; they're just coke dealers now.

No, I haven't seen that episode and - spoiler alert - it ends with a closet full of your suits on fire.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:47 AM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Hey, uh, also guys? Any predictions for Chozen?
posted by psoas at 11:48 AM on January 13, 2014


I'm sorry if I spoiled anything - they've been pretty open about this change in all of the previews and press and interviews and everything.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:50 AM on January 13, 2014


Hooray for metaphor!
posted by angrycat at 11:51 AM on January 13, 2014


What are you, a cosplay enthusiast?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:51 AM on January 13, 2014


(also, I have heard that first joke re: Greek many times and I still don't get it.)
posted by angrycat at 11:52 AM on January 13, 2014


Angrycat - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=greek
posted by mollymayhem at 11:56 AM on January 13, 2014


If someone drops the tiniest piece of information as a joke somewhere, expect that to be shown as canon two years later.

This is something I really loved about Trailer Park Boys. The last couple of seasons seemed to be largely driven off of random, possibly improvised insults thrown by J-Roc a couple seasons earlier.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:02 PM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


Navelgazer: I'm sorry if I spoiled anything - they've been pretty open about this change in all of the previews and press and interviews and everything.

I've been meticulously avoiding the preview interviews because I knew there were big spoilers. It's OK though.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:02 PM on January 13, 2014


"It's like...Meowschwitz in there."
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:03 PM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


Hey, uh, also guys? Any predictions for Chozen?

Not good.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:09 PM on January 13, 2014


They really missed out by not releasing How to Archer as an audiobook.

(Note: the Kindle version is available for cheap and is well worth picking up.)
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:14 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


I know (or think I know) that it's just a coincidence, but every time I watch Archer I'm struck by how Ray's a dead ringer for Mel Brooks in To Be or Not to Be.
posted by COBRA! at 12:18 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


I hated Archer at first. The episodes I saw centered on Archer at his least redemptive, and frankly I had zero patience for watching an abrasive jackass hurt other people by failing repeatedly. How is that funny?

Turns out the show has a lot more to offer than that, as does Archer the character. I love the show now.

Pam is *by far* the best character. She's the only one in the show that I actually like and respect. Her lust for life is a shining beacon in the midst of the other sad sacks and damaged goods in the office. She whole-heartedly embraces her sexuality in a really open, fun, sex-positive way. She knows herself and her limits, and finds joy in the valleys as well as the peaks of human experience. Plus she is the most utterly competent badass person in the show. Even Archer on a rampage can't compare to Pam on an off day.

Excuse me while I go devour some bearclaws.
posted by jsturgill at 12:30 PM on January 13, 2014 [11 favorites]


Pam has limits?
posted by Lemurrhea at 12:34 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


So would anyone else watch a spinoff about Ron Cadillac's early days? I can practically hear the knockoff Ennio Morricone music in the title credits and visualize Once Upon A Time In America poster parody DVD cover.
posted by griphus at 12:34 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


I love the little simple normal things that Pam does kind of interspersed throughout her more hedonistic actions, like making her dad a marzipan model of their farm pre-flood or connecting with Schlotz over growing up on a dairy farm. There's this naive, uncorrupted thing at the center of her character.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:37 PM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


Pam has limits?

She just isn't defined by them.
posted by jsturgill at 12:38 PM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


Ray's adventures at Pray Away The Gay camp!
posted by The Whelk at 12:39 PM on January 13, 2014


Season 4 is available via Amazon Instant Video. SPLOOSH!

Whatever my equivalent of sploosh.

Which I guess is just sploosh. Only with semen.
posted by middleclasstool at 12:41 PM on January 13, 2014 [7 favorites]


Any show that can subtly reference The Destruction of Sennacherib and then also pull off chemotherapy Zima and the Caress of Krieger while using the same characters in the same basic circumstances is, by definition, a win.
posted by aramaic at 12:41 PM on January 13, 2014


I do want to see how Ray left the ministry. I bet he fell in love with a fellow clergyman, maybe even his first love. I'm picturing an almost shot-for-shot remake of the fake movie trailer for Satan's Alley from Tropic Thunder.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:44 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's a testament to the characterization that at this point, four seasons in, every character has enough background material for a compelling spin-off:

-Mallory and Woodhouse's days as young spies
-Archer's 14 years at the boarding school.
-Pam's drifting/pit fighting.
-Lana's time as an burgeoning eco-terrorist
-Ray's closeted life in the holler OR as a world-class Olympic skiier.
-Cyril's recurring troubles with his satyriasis.
-Carol/Cheryl's adventures as an insane rich person.
-Krieger's lifelong struggle to nail YYZ (that's "why-why-zed.")
posted by griphus at 12:47 PM on January 13, 2014 [7 favorites]


griphus: -Mallory and Woodhouse's days as young spies

Grabby hands.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:49 PM on January 13, 2014


-Cyril's recurring troubles with his satyriasis.

"Sex addiction's not a real thing, asshole!"
"Yeah well we'll see when the new DSM comes out!"
"We'll see you still being an asshole!"
posted by Navelgazer at 12:52 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Exciting news. S4 had some great aspects (say, Cheryl's growing meta-awareness of the show-as-show: "ignore it! it's non-diegetic!"), and it was still better than most other things currently on TV, but I do feel like it was a step-down from S2 and S3, which were just top-shelf in every way (humour, plotting, characterization, voice-acting, etc etc etc). It'll be interesting to see how this season plays out.
posted by erlking at 12:52 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


For all that the timeline can't be nailed down, interestingly we have a limit for the earliest it can take place. Towards the end of Lo Scandalo, Archer makes reference to Malory sleeping with the Italian PM for 35 years all the while plotting revenge for his killing of her lover, who may have been Sterling's father and was speaking out against the return of fascism in Italy, so 1945 + 35 = 1980.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:54 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


-Krieger's lifelong struggle to nail YYZ (that's "why-why-zed.")

Mallory's involvement with Krieger's, um, family loss.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:54 PM on January 13, 2014


jason_steakums: see also that the Burt Reynolds fanaticism fits that era.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:56 PM on January 13, 2014


I think the use of telex over fax machines also points to that time period as the base of the "retro-" part of the retro-future aesthetic.
posted by griphus at 1:01 PM on January 13, 2014


Interesting that Reynolds' gray hair pegs it as more modern, but IIRC Archer doesn't name any post-1980 Reynolds movies.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:02 PM on January 13, 2014


Which, you know, not that there's a lot there he'd geek out over post '80.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:03 PM on January 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Krieger's lifelong struggle to nail YYZ (that's "why-why-zed.")

Neil Peart stands alone.
posted by logicpunk at 1:14 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Lampshading the ambiguous setting was also a recurring joke in Frisky Dingo, where the closest anyone came to identifying the main location was calling it "the town" in a very knowing voice. Yet another item in the looong list of jokes and references carried over from Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo. Which is a really great way to reward longtime fans, little easter eggs here and there that are totally natural dialog for the show, not shoehorned in at all (except maybe Mr. Ford, but Mr. Ford totally deserved to be shoehorned in because his ass is everywhere).
posted by jason_steakums at 1:16 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Stroker Ace is from '83, and that's right up Archer's alley.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:16 PM on January 13, 2014


Interesting that Reynolds' gray hair pegs it as more modern, but IIRC Archer doesn't name any post-1980 Reynolds movies.

Interesting, but I refuse to believe Adam Reed won't eventually pick up the "Evening Shade" joke that's just sitting there on the table in front of him.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:26 PM on January 13, 2014


Danger Zone! Under my nose the whole time with the earliest date thing, because that song might be the most recent cultural reference at 1986. Though putting it later in the 80's means Lana's thing for Alex Karras might include Webster-era Karras.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:34 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Lana wants a candygram from Mongo?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:40 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Pam zinged Krieger with a "Clone Wars" putdown once, so I'd say the setting is indeterminate.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:43 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Pam is so awesome, my SO and I went as Cheryl and Pam for Halloween.
posted by mikurski at 1:43 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also, and I can't believe I didn't think of this when thinking of the Burt Reynolds stuff, but Archer dressing as the Bandit for halloween as a child definitely puts things in the 90's at least, so I guess the cultural references are useless for dating the setting. I'm mainly just interested because I find it fascinating that there's a very specific time for the cultural references despite everything else being so ambiguous time-wise. This show is plugged directly into the cultural reference center of the brains of 30-somethings. Archer himself is like some kind of messed up Captain Marvel to the Billy Batson of late 70s/early 80s kids who got more attention from TV than their parents.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:51 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


I have a Pam "sploosh" shirt. I will be wearing it tonight.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 1:53 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Now that I think about it, "clone wars" could have been a reference to the original Star Wars, and Krieger's vans have referenced Rush albums from about '78 to '81, so the late 80's setting might work.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:55 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm running through non-historical, non-classic-literature, explicitly "the character has seen this and is referring to it" cultural references that haven't been mentioned that I can remember and they're all coming up roughly the same time period:

Hemispheres was '78, Boys from Brazil was '78, YYZ was '81, Blade Runner was '82, M*A*S*H was '72-83, "Mr. Roboto" was '82, Aliens was '86, Ferris Bueller... was '86.
posted by griphus at 1:57 PM on January 13, 2014


(Actually, Boys from Brazil isn't that sort of reference and neither is Aliens but still...)
posted by griphus at 1:59 PM on January 13, 2014


because that song might be the most recent cultural reference at 1986.

Except for the one in the post title, you mean?...
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:59 PM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]


You could probably craft a pretty convincing retcon of the Archerverse in which it is happening in the current day, but since the Cold War never ended, American/world culture has been stifled either intentionally by the government, or as a natural byproduct of the continued anxiety created by a 50+ year Cold War.

Doesn't Archer drink (or maybe NOT drink) Zima at one point?
posted by Rock Steady at 1:59 PM on January 13, 2014


The continued Cold War would also be a plausible reason for the sci-fi levels of space and robotics technologies.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:00 PM on January 13, 2014


He also references Alanis Morrissette's "Ironic" which was released in 1996.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:03 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yes, Archer is taking Zima for chemotherapy at one point (in one of the other best episodes to show n00bs, IMHO, which itself explicitly references a 1982 tv episode.) but yeah, the Dane Cook thing has to be the most recent explicit reference I can think of.
posted by Navelgazer at 2:05 PM on January 13, 2014


A computer screen references Jay-Z's "99 Problems" (2004).
posted by griphus at 2:07 PM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


I'd say we're well into alternate history now anyway, thanks to the incompetence of ISIS. What with the Soviet Premier being assassinated and an American cyborg running the KGB...
posted by Kevin Street at 2:10 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


That actually opens up some interesting (if totally pedantic) philosophical questions on the nature of cyborgs: Barry the person is American, and also died. Barry the cyborg was built in the Soviet Union, by Soviet scientists using Soviet technology.

Does the body naturalize the mind? Or the mind naturalize the body?

I don't know.
posted by griphus at 2:14 PM on January 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


omg you nerds
posted by The Whelk at 2:14 PM on January 13, 2014 [6 favorites]


A computer screen references Jay-Z's "99 Problems" (2004).

The list of processes also has one called "DoubleRainb," which could just refer to any double rainbow, but it's probably this one, which would place it even closer to the present day, right?
posted by Maecenas at 2:15 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


There were German spies hunting Malory (an OSS agent) through Tangier when Archer was born, too. Such a ridiculous impossible timeline, I love it.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:23 PM on January 13, 2014


"Does the body naturalize the mind? Or the mind naturalize the body?"

If I was in the Politburo I'd be more concerned that my engineers didn't think to design Barry with an off switch. He's a couple of snapped necks away from running the whole USSR.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:23 PM on January 13, 2014




expect that to be shown as canon two years later.

Just like the gypsy woman said!
posted by flaterik at 2:23 PM on January 13, 2014 [11 favorites]


The Archer timeline's gotta be a direct reference to the impossibility of James Bond's.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:24 PM on January 13, 2014


griphus: "A computer screen references Jay-Z's "99 Problems" (2004)."

I swore I told those idiots to disband that damn tontine.
posted by Malory Archer at 2:24 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Oh! Lemonparty is explicitly referenced, and I am so not Googling that for the year at the office but I bet it's pretty contemporary.
posted by griphus at 2:25 PM on January 13, 2014


I really enjoyed the first two seasons of this, as they were effortless, but then with season 3 it really felt like the writers were, yes, trying too hard. I guess I should revisit it.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:34 PM on January 13, 2014


HUNCH HUNCH
posted by hal9k at 2:36 PM on January 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


Oh, probably one of my favourite bits (which wasn't even commented on in the show) was Pam in the break room, eating her lunch from a slow-cooker. I love that. Pam is the best.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:46 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


I would totally like to hang with every character. I wouldn't want them to talk to me, just be in my living room and getting drunk and saying totally inappropriate things and there would be hijinks with the ocelot.

I remember the breast cancer episode the first time i saw I found it lacking, and then I watched it again and somehow gave into it. The combination of snark about Archer being a member of the E-Street band and Lana high from being hotboxed with Archer and asking for snacks, maybe, sold me.
posted by angrycat at 2:51 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also the whole Family Feud interrogation. Well that was what did it for me, anyway.
posted by Navelgazer at 2:53 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


A computer screen references Jay-Z's "99 Problems" (2004).

That screenshot is GOLD.

But it could be referring to the idiotic 1993 Ice-T track (NSFW), which seems more Archer's speed. (Or Cyril's, for that matter.)
posted by Sys Rq at 3:01 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


The Whelk - great job!
posted by tdismukes at 3:56 PM on January 13, 2014


Thank you I'd like to think this is the last time I'll use an elizardbits tumbkr tag in my writing but I know that's not true.
posted by The Whelk at 4:38 PM on January 13, 2014


Holy shitsnacks, that screenshot. I might finally have to get these in HD.
posted by indubitable at 5:42 PM on January 13, 2014


Love all the little jokes on that computer screen. KillBangMrry, HoloBride, WebPregTest, FistoRoboto. The "ercFknSims" program (Eric Sims, background director on the show) has the state "coolest". Also "Nearl", another Dingo reference! And "SextEdit" which, of course that's their only word processing program.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:56 PM on January 13, 2014


You can't tourniquet the taint.
posted by machaus at 6:52 PM on January 13, 2014


I have absolutely used "What is this, Babytown Frolics?" in conversation before. Also, Pam is my favorite and the Pam getting kidnapped episode is hands down my favorite.

Also, I love "Other Barry." God, this show.
posted by gc at 7:22 PM on January 13, 2014


I am committed to making "babytown frolics" happen. Too, too good of a phrase to stay confined to the show.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:29 PM on January 13, 2014


After the premiere, I am really looking forward to the new season. Tons of potential.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:33 PM on January 13, 2014


I have repeatedly used "babytown frolics" and not once has anybody not got the meaning of it.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:33 PM on January 13, 2014


I have a simple issue with Archer - I both hate and have contempt for all the characters. Perhaps it got better after the first several episodes but those left me completely and utterly uninterested.

This is my issues with several very popular cult comedy shows, but Archer is particularly bad.

I'm not THAT picky - for example, Blackadder is a truly awful human, but you can respect him and the other characters.

Oh, and the "jokes" on Archer seem to consist of "Let's say something that's supposed to be really shocking," which just leaves me cold. There's not much "wit" there...
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 7:45 PM on January 13, 2014


OK, if Jan Hammer isn't on the soundtrack of at least one upcoming episode, I will be SERIOUSLY PISSED.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:57 PM on January 13, 2014


Mac Davis can SUCK IT!
posted by raysmj at 7:58 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Annotated high-res top screengrab. You're welcome.
posted by zippy at 8:02 PM on January 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Well I've been marathoning S1 all night. Favorite bit I'd forgotten about:

"This is all I could find. I'm thinking goggles - yes. Shovels...? I don't know how or why we'd use 'em..."
posted by Navelgazer at 8:17 PM on January 13, 2014


I have a simple issue with Archer - I both hate and have contempt for all the characters. Perhaps it got better after the first several episodes but those left me completely and utterly uninterested.

It did. They're still all jerks, so you probably still won't like it, but there's more personality and depth to the jerkiness as the series goes on.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:46 PM on January 13, 2014


Oh, and the "jokes" on Archer seem to consist of "Let's say something that's supposed to be really shocking," which just leaves me cold. There's not much "wit" there...

It's not falsely celebrated for its wit, there's more than enough there. But, I do think if the more superficial jokes turn you away at the door, you probably won't get a chance to see the wit, so I can understand coming away with the impression that it's not there. It really is a show with a hell of a lot under its surface, though - and that surface being coarse "shocking" jokes actually feeds into a lot of the more substantial stuff.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:52 PM on January 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Annotated high-res top screengrab. You're welcome.

Can someone who has a flickr account please send that to imgur or somewhere else I don't have to create a fake identity to view it? Flickr/yahoo insists that I give them my mobile number, which I'm not super keen about.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:15 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Here's where I was going to post my favorite quotes from tonight's episode, decided not to type 50% of the episode's script here for fear of spoiling for anyone who might appreciate it, and instead just be happy that person I thought might die did not. Just watch it soon, especially if you are lucky enough to not know what is going to happen. Just wow!
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:34 PM on January 13, 2014


Flickr/yahoo insists that I give them my mobile number, which I'm not super keen about.

Yeah, there sems to be something drastically wrong with that flickr link- I told it my yahoo login from 1998 or whatever, then it says it doesn't recognize the device I'm logging in from and asks me for either my phone number or the name of my oldest niece. I presume that means the name of one of my sister's cats, but I don't know that, so I'm guessing yahoo doesn't either.

posted by hap_hazard at 10:04 PM on January 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


paper chromatographologist: This is something I really loved about Trailer Park Boys. The last couple of seasons seemed to be largely driven off of random, possibly improvised insults thrown by J-Roc a couple seasons earlier.

Whoa whoa whoa, as excited as I am for new Archer, I really need to know about this. I've seen every TPB episode at least 10 times and I never picked up on this fact. Give me examples!
posted by gucci mane at 1:47 AM on January 14, 2014


Excuse me while I go devour some bearclaws.

RAWR!
posted by MikeKD at 2:46 AM on January 14, 2014


After last night's excellent fifth season premiere, the AV Club has a great interview with Adam Reed that neatly book-ends last week's two-part interview that Uproxx had with Matt Thompson.

At this point, the show's characters play off one another so well, the writers could either relax and recycle variations on the same themes (a.k.a. Zombie Simpsons Syndrome) or put the cast in completely new situations with each season. As Reed reveals, "The part that occurred first was the, “Hey, you guys have been spying without a license, and you’re in huge trouble,” so then it was like, “Do they all go to jail? Do we do a season where they’re all in this prison and working to escape?” Which, looking back, that could have been pretty fun. [Laughs.] I think Pam would have ended up just running the entire cellblock. Maybe we’ll do that in season six: They all go to prison. " Of course, once he brings up the CIA's historical involvement with drug-running, "Archer Vice" is a no-brainer. One of the many great things about Archer is how even though it's only an animated basic-cable comedy, it's better on espionage than the average James Bond or Jason Bourne movie.

And in another example of the show's dedication to detail—and willingness to go to any length to keep a running joke running—they are producing an actual tie-in 12-song country album for this season, "Cherlene Sings", which includes "Cherylene" (a real singer, not Judy Greer) covering "Eastbound and Down" and Kenny Loggins singing a duet with her for a country version of, yes, you guessed it... "Danger Zone".
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:00 AM on January 14, 2014 [9 favorites]


Doktor Zed: At this point, the show's characters play off one another so well, the writers could either relax and recycle variations on the same themes (a.k.a. Zombie Simpsons Syndrome) or put the cast in completely new situations with each season.

I am 100% onboard with this. Archer P.I., G.I. Archer, NYPD Archer, etc. I can think of a dozen plausible scenarios I would love to see this team of characters dropped into.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:05 AM on January 14, 2014 [3 favorites]


Kenny Loggins singing a duet with her for a country version

I nearly dropped my fork. If they'd pulled it off with Judy Greer I probably would have fallen out of my chair with this bit of news.
posted by aramaic at 11:38 AM on January 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wow!
posted by Kevin Street at 11:33 PM on January 14, 2014


Sparks are bound to fly when hot-shot surgeon Sterling Archer, MD, returns to his old stomping grounds at St. Isis General Hospital. He's bound to butt heads with Chief of Staff Malory Archer, who happens to be his mother, and possibly butt other body parts with Dr. Laura Kane, his ex-wife, who is now, inexplicably, sleeping with nebbishy OR nurse Cyril Higgins. The other nurses on the ward, like Pam Poovey and Carrie (or is it Cheri?) Tunt are a bit off themselves. Dr. Roy Gillette appears to be a better doctor than anyone else in the building, but he never seems to get a leg up on his competition, though the weird orderly who runs the morgue -- Kroger -- says he has some ideas about that...

Archer, M.D. Coming to FX this summer!
posted by Rock Steady at 11:40 AM on January 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


Oh man, yes. If they just get really bored some day like they got bored with the spy story, they should just give up on any continuity at all and have some weird anthology show where each season has the same characters in totally new stories with new histories but the same names and dynamics, I would love it so much. Something like American Horror Story but not just horror and with Malory Archer instead of Jessica Lange and such. Sterling is always Malory's neglected kid and Lana is always Lana and Pam is always Pam, but this season it's a space opera.
posted by jason_steakums at 2:15 PM on January 15, 2014 [3 favorites]


February 17 is the date.


The album, tastefully titled Cherlene, will feature songs with Cheryl-ish titles like "It's All About Me," "I'll Burn It Down," and "Gypsy Woman."


Sploosh, indeed.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:10 PM on January 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Very important MetaTalk thread
posted by jsturgill at 8:45 AM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


"She's all coke-strong."

For all my love of the new season and changes and everything that I could go on about forever, Aisha Tyler is KILLING certain line readings -- even more than usual.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:32 AM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


She has been amazing since the very beginning. Her "Yuuuuuuup" is like my favorite thing ever.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:35 AM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


I've actually started saying that since watching Archer and my coworker always makes fun of me when I do.
posted by griphus at 10:39 AM on January 21, 2014


So according to my DVR, they're actually calling the season Archer Vice (as in, the episode titles start with that, to wit, Archer Vice: A Kiss While Dying), which is just beautiful.
posted by Etrigan at 10:53 AM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Etrigan: So according to my DVR, they're actually calling the season Archer Vice (as in, the episode titles start with that, to wit, Archer Vice: A Kiss While Dying), which is just beautiful.

They actually call it that with a great little graphic at the end of the iconic credit sequence. I love those credits, but I wouldn't mind seeing them completely re-done Archer Vice style.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:55 AM on January 21, 2014


They actually call it that with a great little graphic at the end of the iconic credit sequence.

They also made it all more pastel, changed the superimposed blueprinty things, and added Lucky Yates.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:59 AM on January 21, 2014


Because of this thread, the spousal unit and I started watching Archer on Netflix. We fell in love. We binged it, and got down to the last three episodes of season 3 on Thursday night. Friday after work I stopped and bought season 4, which was finished by Saturday midday.

We are currently on viewing number 2.

Phrases that can now be heard in the household include:

"Yuuuuuuuup"
"Thank god for them internets"
"LAAAAAANAAAAA"
Any variation of Danger zone
"North Korea? That's like the nation-state equivalent of the short bus."

and probably about 52 others that I'm forgetting.

So thanks Metafilter!
posted by Twain Device at 1:38 PM on January 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Twain Device: and probably about 52 others that I'm forgetting.

For me the big ones are "MAWP" and "That's how you get ants" and some variation on "Do you not?" which I know is not originally Archer, but it's such a trademark of his, a la:

Archer: Take the suits to my tailor and the shoes to my shoemaker.
Cyril: You have a shoemaker?
Archer: Do you not?

posted by Rock Steady at 1:54 PM on January 21, 2014


In my group it's "obviously the core concept, Lana," whenever one of us is repeatedly making the same mistake or failing or just not getting something.
posted by Navelgazer at 3:58 PM on January 21, 2014


"do you not!?" has totally migrated into a tual, everyday no ironic use in this house.
posted by The Whelk at 4:05 PM on January 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


*Pop*Pop*Pop*Pop*CoCAINE
posted by Dr. Zira at 4:19 PM on January 21, 2014


From this week's episode:

ARCHER: It's The A-Team meets Scarface! That makes me... Uh...
LANA: Hannibal Montana?
posted by Rock Steady at 4:22 PM on January 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Because I can overthink any joke with the best of them, I've been imagining the moment of the creation of that one in particular quite a bit.

"The A-Team meets Scarface!" is such a Sterling Archer thing to say, but then Lana's comeback is so beautiful as well, and I like to imagine that was the moment when any possible hesitation on taking the show in the Archer Vice direction just disappeared forever.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:00 AM on January 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


I've been rewatching Sealab again lately, and now I really want Erik Estrada and Ellis Henican to guest on Archer.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:59 PM on January 23, 2014


> Okay here's the entire Archer episode I wrote on a dare - boom. posted.

READ IT. All of you. Read it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:27 PM on January 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


Related Lana Kane awesomeness:

Yyyup!


Sorry if this is old to you folks.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:56 PM on January 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


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