Archer (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archer (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archer is an American animated television series created by
Adam Reed for the
FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009.
[1] The first season premiered on January 14, 2010.
[2] The show carries a
TV-MA-LSV rating.
The inspiration for
Archer came to Reed while in a cafe in
Salamanca,
Spain. Finding himself unable to approach a beautiful woman seated nearby, Reed conjured up the idea of a spy who "would have a perfect line".
[3] Reed conceived the show's concept while walking along the
Vía de la Plata in 2008.
[4] He
pitched his idea to the
FX Network, which accepted it and ordered six episodes, along with an additional four scripts.
[5] The show ended its first season on March 18, 2010, and the second season premiered on January 27, 2011.
[6] The season 1 DVD was released in
Region 1 on December 28, 2010. On December 17, 2010 the first season of Archer also aired in
Germany on
Comedy Central Germany.
[citation needed] On March 29, 2011 it was announced that
FX Network had ordered a 13-episode third season of
Archer.
[7] A three episode special dubbed "The Heart of Archness" was aired in September 2011. New episodes from season 3 began airing on January 19, 2012.
[7] On February 23, 2012 FX ordered a 13-episode fourth season of Archer.
[8]
Premise
Set at ISIS, the International Secret Intelligence Service (cf.
SIS,
ASIS,
CSIS,
NZSIS) in
New York City, suave but incredibly self-centered master spy Sterling Archer deals with global
espionage; his domineering,
hypersexual mother/boss, Malory Archer; his ex-girlfriend (and fellow ISIS agent), Lana Kane; and his other ISIS co-workers (including fellow agent Ray Gillette, accountant Cyril Figgis, Human Resources representative Pam Poovey, secretary Cheryl Tunt, and Applied Research head Doctor Krieger); as well as a less-than-masculine code name: "Duchess" (after his mother's deceased
Afghan Hound)
[9].
The show has an unusual style and ambiguous time setting, in which technologies/clothing styles and historical backdrops of different decades coincide. The characters wear 1960s clothing and hair styles and several episodes feature references to the
Soviet Union as a current nation and to
Fidel Castro as the current leader of
Cuba. Similarly, the second episode of the series shows a very young Sterling receiving a letter from Mallory about
Operation Ajax, which occurred in 1953, placing the date of Archer's birth in the mid to late-1940s, meaning the show probably occurs sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s (though the same episode includes a reference to
Dane Cook, who was not a well-known figure until the 2000s). Woodhouse's involvement in
World War I also implies the show is not set in modern times (the last surviving World War I combat veteran died at age 110 only months after an episode depicting Woodhouse and several other members of his specific squadron as still living
[10]).
The technological sophistication within the series varies, with characters using computers that are dated (e.g.
reel-to-reel mainframe systems,
dot-matrix printers and
punchcards), but also cell phones, GPS devices, and laser gunsights. In addition, modern day insults are prevalent (such as "suck it", "screw you", and "
douche bag"). This ambiguity is explicitly recognized in the season 3 episode "Lo Scandalo". (Mallory: "What year do you think this is?" Archer: "I, uh, yeah. Exactly. Good question.") Adam Reed was asked about the conflicting style, and concluded, "I just think it's ill-defined."
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