During the New York Comic-Con, the creator of “Archer,” Adam Reed joined series stars H. Jon Benjamin, Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Amber Nash, Lucky Yates and Judy Greer alongside the moderator, Ken Tucker to talk about the new season of “Archer” on FX.
The tone was set early by an animated promo of Archer addressing the Comic-Con crowd as he came up with a way of attracting Cosplay girls by donning an Iron Man-inspired costume with the glowing Arc reactor over his crotch instead of his chest.
Since this was Walter’s first Comic-Con, Reed asked the crowd if there were any Mallory Archer cosplayers in attendance. At least two women in Mallory costumes popped up. Someone followed that up by asking if anyone was dressed as Krieger’s Anime Hologram Bride… and there was one! Yates’ hilariously creepy response was perfectly in character for Krieger.
Reed teased a few of the guest stars for “Archer” Season 5, including return performances from Ron Perlman and Ron Leibman, a recurring turn for Gary Cole and Reed noted that Christian Slater is close to signing on for an appearance as well. Other guest actors are not yet confirmed, so Reed declined to name them.
Nash stated that she not only wants to see Pam’s family at Poovey Farms, she wants to play all of her family members, including Pam’s father. Nash also demonstrated her voice for Pam’s dad,
Very early in the panel, the entire fifth season premiere of “Archer” was shown to the crowd. Although the final scene was only in animatic form, the rest of the episode was largely complete. Fair warning, there are SPOILERS AHEAD regarding the fifth season of “Archer.”
Although in the interest of keeping most of the season premiere’s jokes intact, here are some minor spoilers from that episode:
- The ISIS building is raided by the FBI.
- Archer and his cohorts stage a daring escape from government custody.
- By the end of the episode, ISIS is no more.
- The final sequence may be one of the most hilarious montages in “Archer” history, as the entire cast “breaks bad.”
- Be on the lookout for a tiger and a flamethrower.
When asked by Tucker why ISIS was destroyed, Reed responded that it was done to change up the show and to breathe new life into it. He added that FX was very supportive of his vision once he showed them the scripts and where the story is going.
Greer was very excited about Cheryl’s post-ISIS career as a country western singer. There will even be a CD of Cheryl’s country music in January and Reed said that they are trying to get Kenny Loggins (of Danger Zone fame) to sing a duet with Cheryl. Reed also noted that Kevin Kinney of Drivin N Cryin wrote Cheryl’s songs and that Greer did not provide Cheryl’s singing voice.
Lana will apparently be pregnant throughout the fifth season and Tyler said that she looked forward to Lana doing things that would be incredibly inappropriate for a real pregnant woman to do… including shootouts in the jungle and using her pregnancy to distract foes before killing them.
Reed noted that Ray will eventually walk again, but his struggles with paralysis will be an ongoing thing for the character. Later in the panel, Yates stated that he wants Krieger to finally build a giant robot. And to appease the fans, Greer yelled Cheryl’s signature line, “You’re not my Supervisor!” at the top of her lungs into the mic. Benjamin also answered the crowd’s desire for a “Danger Zone!” shout out in the voice of Archer himself.
Walter shared the story of her favorite Mallory line on the series, which was “Boom-chicka-boom-boom.” Apparently, Walter had no idea it was a porn reference until Reed explained it to her.
Speaking of porn references, Tyler had a hilarious bit about using ZZ Top as a phrase in her real life… which inevitably led to a “ZZ Bottom” joke.
There was another great exchange between Benjamin and Tyler over whether he was the white Morgan Freeman or if Freeman is the black H. Jon Benjamin. Tyler noted that the cast rarely gets together outside of conventions and special events for “Archer.” But when it happens, they almost always default to the dynamics of their respective characters. Tyler added that a Pam cosplayer once asked her if the cast was always this “f***ed up,” to which she replied “every time.”
“Archer” Season 5 will premiere in January 2014 on FX.
