When “Archer” premiered in 2010, the animated series used ISIS as the name of its fictional spy agency. With the rise of a very real ISIS in the Middle East, “Archer” creator Adam Reed has dumped the ISIS name entirely.
At New York Comic Con, the entire sixth season premiere of “Archer” was screened for the audience as the characters adjust to being back in the spy business and in their “new” offices. However, it’s Sterling Archer himself who struggles to deal with being a father before finding himself stuck with an old soldier who doesn’t know that he’s already lost the war.
Following the screening, the moderator introduced Reed and the entire voice cast of “Archer,” including H. Jon Benjamin, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Lucky Yates and a new recurring guest star… Christian Slater, who is reprising his role as “Slater” from the fifth season. Producers Matt Thompson and Casey Willis were also a part of the panel.
The first question from the moderator was about “Archer” Season 5. He asked the panel why they did the “Archer Vice” storyline and Reed replied that they didn’t want the show to become complacent. Tyler seemed to not be happy about the sometimes negative response, as she told the haters to “suck a dick.”
Reed noted that FX was cool with the change to the series and he was surprised that some people hated “Archer Vice.” The writers even kept track of how much cocaine was left after each episode. Thompson was enthusiastic about the introduction of Slater’s character while Nash was excited about Pam’s “hot new body” while she was binging on cocaine. However, Nash said that she was equally excited about the return of Pam’s “old super hot body” in the new season.
Somewhere along the way, the writers never managed to get to an episode in which Pam and Cheryl led a South American revolution or the planned episode in which Archer and Cyril owned a bank together.
One of the biggest turns for the show is the introduction of Abijean, the daughter of Lana and Archer. Reed told the crowd that it would be fun to see what they are like as parents, but he added that some of the comedy will come out of their inappropriate behavior in front of Abijean.
Yates joked that the upcoming scenes between Krieger and Pam are the set up for a new spinoff. The panel was also ambiguous about whether Krieger is the real Krieger, after his fight to the death with his clones last season. Reed said that Yates is the only cast member to know whether he is playing the real Krieger.
Slater joked that his character Slater was well named and that he is the only man who could play him. The panel said that Slater was the cast member most like his character, while Parnell is the least like his character, Cyril.
The panel gushed that “Fargo” star Allison Tolman will guest star this season as Pam’s sister. Coby Bell will also reprise his role as Conway Stern from the first season of “Archer.” Archer’s rival, Cyborg Barry will also be back. Also coming back is Other Barry.
When a member of the audience asked the cast about switching between character voices, everyone laughed at Benjamin. He responded by describing the elaborate preparation it takes to play Sterling Archer and Bob from “Bob’s Burgers.” Greer chimed in that she plays Krieger’s anime hologram bride. However, none of the cast members seemed up for answering the question of who would be their ideal anime hologram bride.
“Archer” Season 6 will premiere in January 2015 on FX.
