Hello all, the show we've all come to know and love is coming to its conclusion August 30th 2023! As Variety said:
Per the official description of the new season, “Archer and The Agency are finding their own way with Lana at the helm. Her goal is to make money while also making the world a better place, but she quickly finds out running a spy agency isn’t so cut and dry.”
Even after the show ends, we'll always have the wiki and greater Archer community around the world to celebrate the show with!
For those of you still reading, I'd like to make this blog into an appreciation post of Archer, Adam Reed, Matt Thompson and the great cast. For those of you who watched Adult Swim on TV for what seems like forever ago you may recall shows like Sealab 2021 (2001, yikes) or Frisky Dingo (2007, still yikes I feel old) that's where you were first introduced to the creative combo of Adam Reed and Matt Thompson. Adam Reed even had a few credits for Robot Chicken back in its heyday, he's a man on a mission to entertain us! Matt also executive produced on the show Chozen which was a collab from Archer and Eastbound & Down producers which wasn't too popular but I credit that to the show being ahead of its time. These 2 men are responsible for a heafty load of shows you've seen on Adult Swim and FX/FXX and for that, I could never thank them enough.
And the cast, who could ever sleep on this voice acting cast?
H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell and Lucky Yates
H. Jon Benjamin (our rockstar) has possibly the most recognizable voice of the cast and that's in no small part to him starring in TONS of cult classic shows Bob's Burgers, Home movies, Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and so much more! Not to mention the crossover shout outs he's gotten in Family Guy that reference Bob's Burgers and Archer. He's been our main lead for 14 years now and it's been great seeing him nail it every season. His character could've never changed and still been fresh as he's pretty fun and enjoyable but even when Archer did change he remained an easy top 3 main cast character. Easily iconic, very quotable and our favorite narcissist.
Aisha Tyler is possibly the most well known cast member in person as she's been in live action shows such as Friends (dated Ross), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Boys (cameo) and a lot of other cameo/one offs. She voice acts, acts in movies, tv shows and video games (likes some H. Jon Benjamin) . Lana has been such a solid main character and her character added a lot of humility and humanity to the show. It's pretty cool that she SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER took over the helm and maintained the spy agency as acting matriarch, I'm sure Jessica Walter is proud of the job that she has done and will do.
Chris Parnell starred in films such as Anchorman and it's sequel, The Hotel Transylvania movie series, 21 Jump street and tv shows you've definitely heard of such as 30 Rock, Seinfeld , Friends, Funny or Die Presents, Workaholics and who could forget the most obvious - Rick and Morty. Obviously someone who's resume speaks for itself, a very gifted actor who's filmography is probably the most recognizable of the bunch. Cyril has always been a huge source of comic relief but like most of the main cast he was fleshed out and stayed a very lovable character. Glad to have seen Cyril stick it out with his oddball bestie Archer all this time.
Judy Greer is a star (especially when she's not busy burning shit in office buildings) she's been in smash hits like The Village, Halloween (2018), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and of course the MCU Ant-Man movies as well as shows like Big Bang Theory and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. There's so much more she's in (over 150+ credits over her career) so my little list doesn't do much justice to her level of dedication to her craft. Cheryl has always been a chaotic wild card and her escapades with Pam over the years have been some of the funniest moments in the show. Not to mention the plots that were available to the show because of her massive wealth so we really should be thanking her for allowing us to be able to see Ocelots, clone Kriegers, Yakuza standoffs and undersea annihilation. She never really changed much but that's true to character, there was never much to fix in the first place.
Amber Nash is very different from everyone else in the cast, she doesn't have a lot of huge start studded showing but all the shows she's appeared in (Frisky Dingo, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies) are very solid shows. She's an actress who performs in theatre and improv comedy but even better - she was a youth counselor before all this! Yes PAM! Maybe that's why her character is the HR. Amber is a very diverse person and maybe that's why her character Pam is easily likable. Pam can be chaotic especially when paired with Cheryl but she also grounds people and is a rock for people. Probably the one person from the show you would want as a friend. In my opinion Pam is a top 3 Archer character and she's been kicking ass these last couple seasons too.
Lucky Yates like Amber will surprise you because his character is probably the craziest and most morally flexible person in the show (sorry Cheryl) but Yate's pedigree is the most prestigious of all the cast, being host for Criterion Collection and Turner Classic Movies on the streaming service FilmStruck. Hand picked to host for timeless and priceless classic film, a high praise indeed for our crazed Doctor. Obviously after saying all this it downplays that he was in the Food Network's Good Eats and Frisky Dingo as well along with Amber Nash, but Yates is just an interesting guy who will surprise you. He also frequents Dad's Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta which hosts many who's who of entertainers such as Nick Kroll, Phil LaMarr and Lan-I mean Aisha Tyler! Amber Nash is also an artistic director there, so its pretty nice to know Pam and Krieger are rubbing shoulder irl too! Krieger has always been the most interesting character in the show, the experiments, favors and shenanigans he's gotten into have always made him a character that was someone you really looked for in every episode because when he was in an episode he had the potential to gain your whole attention and make you laugh til your stomach hurts.
Jessica Walters, our matriarch. Jessica Walters was born in 1941 so the majority of 170+ credits haven't been seen as much as the others but she's been in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow" in 1964 and supported William Shatner as his wife in For the People. She has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Amy Prentiss (1975) and has gotten two Golden Globe Award nominations and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. One might say she was the most perfectly cast person in the show, having lived through many things that happened in Archer in real life, starring in neo-noir films that Season 8 mimicked and I mean come on-Alfred Hitchcock? She's just perfect. And also don't forget her late husband Ron Leibman who also played her husband Ron Cadillac in Archer. Rest in peace to our lovely matriarch Jessica Walter.
Obviously if you read this far, you see the overlap in filmography and real lives of the cast members. Its great that they stay in each others lives and I hope you can see that and know that you're a friend and part of a community that these entertainers are a part of. for life It's been a great journey and some of us may have fallen out at different seasons but ultimately this show stayed true to what it was even if we all didn't like how the plots played out. It was so nice while it lasted and I'll always have Archer on my watchlist on Hulu.
August 30th people, be there or be square.