Adam Reed

Hey everybody, thank you so much for joining me for the AMA! I have to run, but please tune in for the Archer season 7 finale tomorrow at 10pm on FX!

1. Where did you get the inspiration for Archer?

2. Is the current series being aired out of order?

3. Are there any ideas which didn't and can't make it into the show anymore?

4. Would there ever be a possibility of a longer special episode? (I enjoy the current episodes but sometimes feel that 20mins is not long enough)

5. Would You Rather Fight a Horse-Sized Duck or a Hundred Duck-Sized Horses?

Edit: 6. How did you come up with the name 'Archer'?

For me, this man is/was the beating heart of Archer. The voice artists get a lot of credit, and rightly so, they really do do an amazing job! But, it was the razor sharp writing that kept my attention and, in my opinion, set Archer several steps above most other shows, animated or otherwise. Once Adam took a backseat in the writing I couldn't help but feel that the characters noticeably suffered somewhat and devolved into less nuanced, slightly reductive versions of themselves, rehashing old jokes and lines in what felt like a caricature of former seasons.

Okay maybe that's a little harsh, however I do feel Adam's wit and sense of timing were certainly missed. I've often touted Archer to unaware friends as being one of the sharpest, wittiest and well written American shows i've seen and when doing so it is quite specifically the Adam Reed penned seasons I have firmly in mind.

So, I thought i'd post here to say thank you, and to find out what else he's been up to.

Here's Adam's main writing credits from IMDB:

Archer - 2009-2020

Cassius and Clay - 2016

The Xtacles - 2008

Frisky Dingo - 2006-2008

Sealab 2021 - 2000-2005

From what I have seen on the list, its all solid gold. Sealab was hilarious and somewhat absurdist late night fare, Frisky Dingo and the Xtacles had some real laugh out loud moments, excellent timing and brilliant characters and interactions (Killface and his son being top of the list for me). All hallmarks we would see further in Archer.

The only one here I'm not familiar with is the TV Movie "" Anyone seen/got thoughts on it?

Annoyingly, no "coming soon" is listed. Am hoping that just means he's cooking something up under wraps.

Anyhoo, thank you Adam Reed. You've made me laugh. A lot. Here's hoping you'll continue to do so in the future. Ciao.

Before I start, this is in no way is a “true fan” argument. Whatever fans like is valid.

While post-season five was a decline, the mix dark humor, cutting insults, wit, obscure references, interconnected threads, callbacks, dialogue and more still gave the show the unique charm that I and many other love it for. In the end, it’s Adam Reed’s voice that made Archer what it is. It’s his writing that the voice actors were able to work amazingly from.

While season 11 was decent (I even like more than season 7), I largely watched the post-coma seasons for solely the character development since the jokes weren’t funny anymore. To me, they were a poor attempt to emulate Reed’s style. On top, the characters became flanderized versions of themselves, especially Pam, Cheryl and Krieger. I couldn’t even finish season 14.

The coma seasons were by no means amazing, the characterizations were still mostly solid if not great as usual and their interactions still carried it. Like The Simpsons, I rather I’d have seen the show end at season 11 than it getting worse and worse.

As a writer and/or director, specifically. I know he said he was done, but like, it's the finale, and it's only 3 episodes, so....decent reason to come back. I can't find anything about this finale on the wiki, yet. Pretty much all I can find on it is a bunch of articles saying that it was announced at comic con.

I pretty much called it. Reed just does voice-over for Ray and little else, even though he is still (was) a producer on the show.

"Scripted by Mark Ganek, Archer: Into The Cold ends a decade-and-a-half of this series by putting the team on a global..."

Also, it's 64 minutes without commercials.

And yes, Zara was introduced b/c they thought the show was continuing for many years.

Lastly, the three part Series Finale was conceived and pitched as a last minute deal, reported by Screenrant.

My first and second watch-throughs, the last 2 seasons either hadn't come out, or I was just seeing them for the first time so I didn't notice it as much, but I'm on my third watch-through now and everything post-coma was alright on first-time viewing, not horrible, but I'm finding it's not really passing the rewatch test.

I mean, there are little changes like, it feels more like the overall plot actually matters more and it's more of an action-comedy (which it always was a bit, but I feel like that was not quite as high up the list of priorities, there was also a strong element of them goofing off, not caring about work etc.) I notice post-coma the emphasis changes a lot to where their competency on actually succeeding on missions albeit messily, is much more of a focus. Or to put it more simply I guess, it seems like the characters (as a whole unit anyway) have goals to succeed at work now, whereas before most of them hardly cared and that was part of the charm.

Little changes like that aren't necessarily such a big problem 'cause obviously the coma seasons were very radical changes and I think they're better than post-coma just personally. I think the issue is the writing whilst having its moments feels like a totally different style. Like, there are times they cram in a lot of little asides from esp. Cheryl or Krieger but they're gratuitous, not in the carefully-timed way they used to be. Also a lot of the witty comebacks don't land, or they're less thoughtful, like someone calls Cyril boring and he just says 'fair' or what have you. Little things like that. This is even while Malory's still in the show so I can't even blame it on her character's retirement either.

At least post-coma 'Archer' introduces us to the concept of the 'Pampage,' which is something Reed definitely left on the table, but apart from that, yeah, 'Archer' just seems like a much more 'common' action-comedy type show once Reed's gone with a lot less of its individual flavour. I know Reed didn't write all of season 10's eps, which surprises me actually, but maybe that got away with it because, IDK, it was one of the temporary coma premises.

After a rewatch, 12 + 13 felt nowhere near as tight as the rest of the show. Which admittedly, hasn't been as good since the end of season 7.

But this felt different, characters seemed off, action sequences were cut out entirely, more deus ex machina (like Cheryl in the bank robbery episode) and overall the dialogue was less snappy and less smart, IMO.

Sucks to see. I remember Reed saying he wanted to end it after S10, without him it just doesn't feel the same. He pretty much wrote seasons 1-10 himself, he's the heart of the Archer experience, and as a lifelong fan it's a bummer that he's left.

My dad and him were childhood friends and roommates in college. He is honestly one of the coolest most down to earth guys I have ever met I just wish I had gotten my picture taken with him.

No matter how shit my life with a chronic medical condition can be, Archer reliably makes the day easier to get through.

So a simple thank you to all involved over the last 14 seasons.

And Parkinson's? You can go eat a bag of dicks.

Just noticed in the credits of Season 12 that Adam Reed is given "created by" credits but not "written by" credits.

Is he not writing the show anymore?