tv: Double Dukes!
If you follow me on twitter or Facebook, it’s no secret that I love the show Archer. I’ve been called an Archer Evangelist at times and I don’t deny it. It is likely the best not-for-kids animated shows on television right now. And I don’t mean shows like Codename: Kids Next Door, Phineas and Ferb or Batman: The Brave and the Bold that contain enough references for both the children and adults watching to enjoy it. Archer is James Bond meets The Office while taking place on the set of Mad Men for some reason…*
The season 2 finale recently aired and while there have been a lot of clever references** thrown out, including some that make me pause my TiVo and scrutinize the screen, the above image had me cracking up.
Adam Reed’s productions–Sealab 2021 & Frisky Dingo most notably–have had gay characters in them, but mostly poorly written or played off for cheap laughs.*** The Archer character Ray Gillette seemed doomed to the same fate, throwing out a good zinger here and there as you might expect in season 1, but in season 2 has actually developed into less of a recurring and more of a proper character… that still drops a lot of stereotypical lines and references. Still, when he whipped out his guns, ready for action and I saw that they were named Barbra and Liza–I LOL’d, no lie.
It was a bit of a weird ending to the season, leaving things wide open and unresolved, very unlike the first season ender. I suspect that’s because this time they know they’ve been renewed going into writing it. It wasn’t exactly a cliffhanger, more just an odd place to end the episode, as if the next new episode was coming the following week… except that it ain’t. And since there’s no new eps for a while, I’ll have to be content with reruns and laughing at the occasional user made video 
* If I could decorate my apartment/home from TV shows or movies, I’d like make it a blend of Archer, Mad Men and The Incredibles with a touch of Far From Heaven.
** When I say clever, I really mean you’re pretty smart (or culturally savvy) if you get them all.
*** Seriously, the gay character on Sealab 2021 was named “Gay Guy Lance”.
This season of “Archer” has been awesome, and the episode when Pam was kidnapped was simply the best of all. I thought the argument Archer had with Ray in the parking garage was a scream. “We look gay!” “I am gay.” I think the show is learning how to play with the stereotypes without being (too) insulting. I laughed my ass off when Ray told Archer to put his gun “back in your purse.” Epic.
I think I may easily become an Archer fan, given I love the Venture Bros., plus the shows Reed has done (and I do remember Gay Guy Lance!). I’m getting the impression Archer and Venture Bros. are probably the two most intelligent animated comedies on TV today. 🙂