Listen, guys: Adam Reed and the Archer cast get it. You didn’t like Archer Vice. But in the immortal words of Aisha Tyler at the New York Comic Con Archer panel, “Haters can suck a dick.” Reed discussed the idea behind Vice and their extreme approach to the fifth season. “We wanted to make sure nobody was feeling complacent, so rather than doing it by half-measures, we decided to go all the way and changed up everything. And FX was super cool about it.” Apparently Reed assumed he would need to ease the network suits into the idea for Vice, but instead they just gave him the go-ahead because, in Reed’s words, FX has “much bigger shows that we do.” But the network clearly embraced the season, as Archer is not only returning for season six, but they’ve also been renewed for season seven.
So what can we expect when the series returns in January? Well, we already know that Archer and Lana now have a baby girl, thanks to Lana tricking Archer for his sperm. But how does the perpetually drinking super spy take the responsibility of being a father? And what’s going on with the rest of the gang?
- Archer starts out the season in a secret hiding place complete with pierced ear, cobra whiskey, and clearly not genetically female Asian … ahem … companions.
- Mallory and her agents are no longer called ISIS; now they work for the CIA, and Archer has been recruited for a mission. Reed explained that the show would not address the name-drop, but the season premiere did feature the old sign with the name being rolled away in the background.
- The season will feature a multitude of returning characters like Conway, Ron Cadillac (played by Jessica Walter’s husband), and Barry Allen. It’ll also feature great new guests like Fargo’s Allison Tolman.
- H. Jon Benjamin described the season-six premiere as “Finally an animated apology to Japan.” You’ll see why very quickly. And yes, the explanation does involve World War II.
- Pam will return to her “smoking-hot body” from before her cocaine-eating days. The premiere also revealed Pam does some lightning-bolt landscaping to the hair in her nether regions with the letters “TCB.” While we obviously didn’t see the artwork, Reed said the animators draw in the artwork in every frame involving Pam. Clearly for artistic integrity.
- A fan asked what changes Benjamin makes to go from voice to voice for each of his characters, and the entire room started laughing. “I know why you’re all laughing,” Benjamin replied. He joked that it took “subtle” differences.
- The entire panel poked fun of Christian Slater and his movie-star status and the fact that Slater was drawn in his own image. “I had to put the motion-capture suit on and all the balls on my face,” Slater explained. That obviously led to many, many jokes about Slater’s testicles.
- The cast also had a heated debate over who was the better lover: Cyril versus Archer. In the end the answer is simple, NSFW, and was provided by Aisha Tyler. “Archer is drunk most of the time, so he’s a half-master.”
- Archer and Lana’s baby girl’s name Abbiejean was no random invention: It’s the name of Adam Reed’s grandmother. Apparently his reasoning for using the name was to get it back into circulation. So drop the Bellas and Katnisses, folks. Aubergine is clearly the hottest name in town.
- The obvious Arrested Development question arose as to whether or not the casting of Jessica Walter and Judy Greer was an accident. Reed apparently wrote the role of Mallory as “A Jessica Walter type,” and the actual Jessica Walter was interested. From there, Reed told agent after agent that their stars should do the show because Jessica Walter was attached.
- Another great Arrested Development moment happened when Judy Greer finished her last day of recording. Reed told the staff to say bye to Greer, and she yelled, “Say good-bye to these!” If only that moment had been recorded for all the world to see.
- Krieger does appear in the season premiere, though Reed revealed that only Kriegers voicer, Lucky Yates, knew whether or not the Krieger in the episode was the real one or a clone. Apparently Yates has been holding that secret over everyone else in the cast.
- Also, this season will feature Krieger and Pam having some fun moments together. In the premiere Pam and Krieger share a nice soak in a hot tub. And Yates said the two characters would gang up together and that Cheryl and Pam “had their run.” Greer was not pleased about this statement.
- After the office building was destroyed in season five, Mallory allots $10 million to Pam and Cheryl to make a new headquarters. What do they do with their opportunity? Make exactly the same office as before, complete with squeaking desk drawers and blood stains (made with fudge, don’t worry).
- The one change they do make to the office involves an old Kellogg’s Pop-Tart logo from the 1970s: Milton the Toaster. He is easily the best new character on the show.
