Holy hilarity Batman! Archer is back on TV! Before last year, I had become sort of disillusioned with animated shows that weren’t on adult swim. I was never much of a Family Guy guy, and after King of the Hill went off the air, I just stopped watching cartoons. But when I heard Adam Reed (Sealab 2021) was getting a new show on FX, my interest was piqued. FX in general has been stepping it’s game up considerably in recent years.

Archer fit right into it’s hilarious docket of comedies (The League, It’s Always Sunny), and in my opinion became the funniest of the bunch. Now, season 2 is upon us! Huzzah. The first episode, which aired last night, was as good as ever. The animation is great, and H. Jon Benjamin is unbelievably funny as Sterling Archer, the super spy cum sexual deviant. It continues to expertly spoof the spy genre, while also having most of it’s humor built around the characters (which is always better).

I know a lot of shows, especially those on adult swim, have tried to wring a lot of humor out of pushing the taste envelope. I will admit that at times it has worn on me. I like dirty/violent/disgusting humor as much as the next guy, but it can also become sort of a crutch. Archer, however, retains a very high and smart quality of writing, while also reaching levels of profanity that at times even shock me.

The supporting voice cast is awesome too, especially Jessica Walter (Lucille from Arrested Development) and Chris Parnell (SNL). “Swiss Miss” was a great start to the season and saw the team headed to Gstaad to try to protect a German businessman and his nymphomaniacal 16 year old daughter from twin assassins (both of whom are sleeping with the same woman, and one of whom has had his face burnt off). If that sounds at all appealing (it should), please, grab a cocktail (something brown, please) and watch Archer.

- Whole Milk