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They’re not standing around the watercooler, but Cheryl Sadler, Mark Meszoros, Mark Podolski and Nicole Franz are talking about what they’ve been watching, listening to and playing during their free time.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Mission impossible: Find a funnier show than 'Archer'



If I say the names Woodhouse, Sterling Mallory Archer and the Wee Baby Seamus, do they mean anything to you?
No?
That's a shame. A travesty, really.
That means you're not watching the best show on TV, FX's "Archer."
Never heard of it? I almost feel bad for you. (OK, replace "almost" with "definitely.")
The animated series about a boozing, womanizing, smart-mouthed super spy, Sterling Archer (voiced by the brilliant H. Jon Benjamin, also the voice of the lead character on Fox's solid "Bob's Burgers"), and the agency for which he works is a weekly 30-minute helping of bliss.
Here's the briefest of tastes:

Sure, "Archer" isn't for everyone. First, you must have a sense of humor. Second, you have be cool with four-letter words and what is at times incredibly crude -- if brilliant -- material. This cartoon ain't for the kiddies, folks.
But I don't throw the "best show on TV" title out their lightly. "Archer" is fantastic. The worst episodes are better than almost everything else on your hundreds of cable stations and broadcast networks.
OK, maybe "best" should be replaced with "most enjoyable." "Archer" isn't "Breaking Bad" or a handful of other hour-long dramas where the greatest work in television is being done. And it sure isn't trying to be.
What it is: incredibly rewatchable. My years of watching the best episodes of "The Simpsons" time and time again behind me, I thought I'd never find something to take it's place. But it pains me to take an "Archer" off the DVR. (Instead of dumping one I've seen, I usually dump the latest "Simpsons," even if I haven't watched it.)
There are but two episodes of the brilliant second season left, Thursday at 10 p.m. and the same time the following week.
I urge you to watch. I beg you to rent the first season on DVD.
If you do, you're bound to be there with me when "Archer" returns for its third season. (Thank you, FX, for renewing it).
Were "Archer" not coming back, I would have taken a cue from Archer himself -- aka "Duchess" -- and gone on a violent rampage. (Those of you who've seen the recent best-of-season episode "Placebo Effect" know what I'm talking about.)

Visit the official "Archer" site here.

-- Mark Meszoros
Entertainment@News-Herald.com
Twitter.com/NHFeatures

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