Top 50 FAVORITE Animated Programs of All Time: 41

41: Archer (2009-now/FX)

All this show needed to do was have H. Jon Benjamin do the voice work. He doesn’t even bother altering his voice, mind you, its the exact same voice he uses for every character (save Jason on the infinitely better Home Movies). But add the rest of the cast (ahem, Jessica Walter?!) and you have an instant victory. That alone was enough to keep me interested in the first episode. The comedy, excellent writing, and slick animation is what kept me watching every episode since.

The show follows Sterling Archer, a member of the covert and secret organization ISIS. He, his ex-gf, a nerd, a fat HR lady, and his mother get into all kinds of mishaps that result in death, sex, sexy-death, and a joke-per-minute ratio that is tops. Animated in the same style as the creator’s other popular show, Frisky Dingo, Archer’s effectiveness comes from both the stylized animation, as well as the quick dialogue and interactions between the characters.

That isn’t to say that the action isn’t fantastic, though, as each episode has at least one sequence in which Archer and crew get into some kind of scrape, usually resulting in bloody death. This is rarely the POINT of the episode, however, resulting in accident comedy every single time.

Favorite Episode:
Killing Utne is my favorite. The set up, the inevitable (lack of a well-organized) follow-through, and the crazy assassins in the kitchen, constantly bickering racks up smiles and laughs every minute of the episode. Its just one of the many times Archer’s mother screws it all up, simply by having had Archer as a son.

Favorite Character:
Cheap to give it to Sterling Archer? Yeah, maybe. But if he wasn’t so damned cocky and sure of himself, he wouldn’t be as funny. Thankfully, his ego if freaking huge.

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Added March 22, 2017
More and more of this show has come into being since the original review went up. I was a fan up until they had to drop the ISIS name because of – well – terrorism. But, you know, its cool. The “Vice” thing and now the “Noir” thing just aren’t my bag, and the show became – almost literally – all about sex. I don’t mind some of that in a show, but it can’t be entirely about it.