why does everyone like Archer but me?

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > why does everyone like Archer but me?

SweetMercifulCrap!: Jan 28, 2012; Lipstick Apathy

mind the walrus posted:

I haven't been up on Adult Swim shows since I got a job and moved out of my parent's house, but the shows that the same people behind Archer were involved in--Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo--had very similar formatting and animation-styles but played to the burnout/nerd crowd explicitly. Sealab took an obscure weird-rear end cartoon about a sea base and made it into the setting for absurdist riffs that could go in any direction at any time. Frisky Dingo married a serial continuity and made the absurdism far more about verbal and character interplay but was still mired in nerd conventions like an explicit Iron Man/SHIELD riff and a weird-rear end demon dude.

Archer doesn't really do anything different from those shows conceptually in terms of its humor, except for one key difference-- it's much more self-conscious and focused on winning an audience. A part of this is that the vocal talent all come from much more "mainstream" comedy which tempers the instinct of those "behind the camera" to go too obscure or experimental. The spy setting is much more "classy" and aesthetically acceptable to jocks/so-called "normal" people and all the major characters all cut very aesthetically attractive figures. The humor is often punctuated with glamorous rich living, sex with beautiful people, and violence. The memetic humor is still in the Frisky Dingo mold but with much more conventional timing and its references are to things that are much more acceptable to be a manchild about-- 80s power ballads, ocelots, RUSH, the simple knowledge that anime waifus are a thing that exists. In other words, Archer is The Who while Adult Swim cartoons are Prog Rock--there's a lot of overlap in fans but The Who are always going to be more acceptable to the average schmuck to know and quote, even if he does listen to Yes albums and The King in Crimson when no one else is around.

I don't enjoy Archer despite enjoying it's similar shows but I've never been able to articulate why. Thank you.

Also it's hilarious that people see "classy rich attractive spies" and mistake this as smart television.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2015 18:57

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 12:58

SweetMercifulCrap!: Jan 28, 2012; Lipstick Apathy

Bob's Burgers does decent for ratings and they keep renewing it. As long as they don't mess with it's timeslot too much, its probably safe for at least a few more seasons.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2015 01:38

SweetMercifulCrap!: Jan 28, 2012; Lipstick Apathy

Ryoshi posted:

ok ive been wondering about this for a while since i binged thru venture bros on netflix recently : for a show that seems to take itself way more seriously than it should,

That's why I stopped watching sometime into season 3. I didn't want a deeply intricate story, it worked just fine as a parody of Johnny Quest / Superhero cartoons. It's funny how much more detailed the episode descriptions get per season: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Venture_Bros._episodes

# ¿ Apr 1, 2015 21:36

SweetMercifulCrap!: Jan 28, 2012; Lipstick Apathy

South Park has always, always been very hit-or-miss. It's worst era was maybe 2007/8 through 2011/12 when every single episode followed the same psuedo-drama crisis/commentary/repeat the same joke formula. But even then there were a handful of great episodes. Since season 16 (most recent season was season 18) they've mostly dropped that formula and the show has improved significantly.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2015 22:57

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > why does everyone like Archer but me?