Originally made for the FX network, this adult-oriented, animated spoof of spy TV shows combines international intrigue, corporate competition, and cutthroat office politics with raunchy humor and sexual innuendo. Sterling Archer (code name: Duchess; voiced by veteran H. Jon Benjamin) is a supremely confident moron with the bland good looks of a James Bond knock-off and a license to kill. Archer has become a top agent at the private intelligence agency ISIS thanks to arrogance, recklessness, hard drinking, womanizing, and, most importantly, nepotism: his mother Malory (Jessica Walter) is the sarcastic head of the organization. The striking animation has the hard-lined appearance of a '60s comic book, while the voice cast also includes Aisha Tyler (as Lana, the unbelievably pneumatic top operative at ISIS and Archer's former girlfriend), Chris Parnell (as Cyril, the head tech geek), and Judy Greer (as Cheryl, the slutty secretary), plus guest appearances by Jeffrey Tambor, Coby Bell, René Auberjonois, Thomas Lennon, and Ron Perlman. Compiling all 10 episodes from the 2010 debut season, DVD extras include the original unaired pilot, a six-part featurette on various visual elements, and deleted scenes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Archer: The Complete Season One
Fox, 2 discs, 220 min., not rated, DVD: $29.99 April 25, 2011
Archer: The Complete Season One
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