How to Archer: A Beginner’s Guide and Also a Review

Section One: A Beginner’s Guide

ARCHER FINALLY COMES BACK THIS WEEK! WAHOOIE!

That’s right, after what feels like FOREVER (because it’s been almost a year), the FX original animated series Archer will be returning to your television set this Thursday night, January 17th. Archer is amazing. In case you haven’t hopped on this band wagon yet, here’s a short synopsis: Archer is a not-so-secret agent working for his mother at the ISIS agency. He is the stereotypical Bond type agent but taken to the absolute extreme, with a severe case of self-loathing Mama’s Boy. He’s good at his job, but about 90% of it is sheer dumb luck.

Lana, in her natural state

The supporting cast/rest of ISIS is made up of women who’ve slept with Archer, men who hate him, and Mama Archer herself. Aisha Tyler provides the voice for Archer’s ex, the ruthless agent Lana Kane, and Jessica Walter is pitch perfect as Malory Archer, the alcoholic matriarch who’s slept with nearly every world leader, plus Burt Reynolds.

Archer is crude, it’s self-aware, it’s unlike anything else on television today. It messes with the conventions of espionage stories, it’s time period is just the right amount of ambiguous (everyone has cell phones but dress like they’re trapped in the early ’60s), and the characters who started as stereotypes three seasons ago have developed into complex and interesting people who never cease to surprise us as viewers.

Section Two: Also A Review

A little over a year ago, How To Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written by Sterling Archer was released. This book will teach you everything you ever wanted to know. Ever. (about Archer). In the same vein as other fictional books such as How I Met Your Mother‘s The Bro Code and The Playbook, How to Archer is written from the television show’s main character, and gives you tidbits of story you won’t get from the show. The book also includes information you could actually use, such as recipes for both cocktails and meals, and helpful tips on how to dress “without looking like a dickbrain”. How to Archer is a hilarious, indispensable guide to everyday living, not just living the life of a spy. If you are anything like me, and can’t get enough Archer in your life, definitely pick up a copy of How to Archer as soon as possible…or sooner, if you can.

You can get your copy at Barnes and Noble, in paperback or for the Nook.

Jen Schiller
Staff Writer
Twitter.com/Jenisaur