Archer Greatest Episodes

It can be hard to believe, but “Archer” is about to enter its 10th season. That’s right, the creative team behind “Archer” has been going at it non-stop for almost 10 years. (Phrasing!) To celebrate Gold Derby offers the photo gallery above of the 40 greatest episodes of the animated series, ranked worst to best. Click through our photo gallery above and see if your favorite episodes made it on to the list.

“Archer” centers on Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), a selfish, womanizing covert agent at ISIS, an intelligence agency run by his over-bearing mother, Malory (Jessica Walter). Also working at ISIS is his ex-girlfriend, Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), who is dating the agency’s incredibly nerdy comptroller, Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell). The rest of the cast consists of Malory’s completely insane secretary, Cheryl (Judy Greer), ISIS’s raunchy and surprisingly strong head of human resources, Pam Poovey (Amber Nash), openly gay agent Ray Gillette (Adam Reed) and the agency’s mad scientist, Dr. Algernop Krieger (Lucky Yates).

The animated spy-comedy that quickly became a cultural phenomenon is from animator Adam Reed. Prior to this Reed had been known as the co-creator of two Adult Swim programs that had gained cult followings: “Sealab 2021” and “Frisky Dingo.” The idea came to him while he was vacationing in Europe and encountered many insanely attractive women that made him too nervous. The idea of a brash person with no fear talking with those women is how Sterling Archer came to be. FX ordered a full season and on September 17, 2009, “Archer” premiered with a non-publicized sneak peak.

By the time the show had its official premiere the following January, it was a hit both critically and commercially. The program debuted to over a million viewers and quickly became one of FX’s biggest hits. Critics were also quick to embrace the show’s cutting-edge animation style, sharp dialogue and excellent voice actors. Brian Lowry of “Variety” called the show “a sharp comedic arrow” and Paige Wiser of the “Chicago Sun-Times” proclaimed it to be “fast, funny and smart” and added that “the random humor pays off more often than not.”

While critics and audiences were very quick to embrace “Archer,” the Emmys took quite a bit of time to give the show the proper recognition. The first season netted the show a single nomination in the Best Voice-Over Performance category for Benjamin in the pilot episode, “Mole Hunt.” He lost that to Anne Hathaway for “The Simpsons.” After that the show was completely ignored by the TV Academy for several years. The show’s creators were so frustrated with this that they didn’t even submit for Best Animated Program in 2013 and attempted to get into the race for Comedy Series. The show finally made it into the Animated Program race in 2014. It returned in 2015 and won an Emmy for Best Creative Achievement in Interactive Media – Multiplatform Storytelling for its online feature, “Archer Scavenger Hunt.” In 2016, it finally won the Emmy for Animated Program for their seventh season premiere, “The Figgis Agency.” The show also won the Critics’ Choice TV Award for Best Animated Program four consecutive times (2012-2015) and also won the same honor at our own Gold Derby Awards twice (2013-2014).

40. EDIE’S WEDDING (S. 6, E. 4)

Pam is devastated that she has to go back to Wisconsin to be in the wedding party of her ruthless sister, Edie, and Archer offers to tag along as her date. Barry gets wind of this and ends up following them in what turns into an epic standoff between two sets of archenemies.

Personal favorite part: Edie complaining that her life has been ruined because of Pam and asking her if she’s happy, to which Pam replies, “Yes.”

Guest starring Allison Tolman as Edie and Dave Willis as Barry

39. SEA TUNT: PARTS 1-2 (S. 4, E. 12-13)

Malory enlists the help of Cheryl’s brother, Cecil, to retrieve a loose nuclear weapon which she intends to sell (or ransom) back to the American government. The mission turns out to be a ruse for Cecil to get ISIS’s help in dealing with the captain of their “sea lab” who has gone rogue and is threatening to strike several cities with nerve gas-tipped missiles.

Personal favorite part: Pam continuously eating vegan crab legs despite the fact that she’s deathly allergic to soy.

Guest starring Jon Hamm as Captain Murphy, Eugene Mirman as Cecil Tunt and Kristen Schaal as Tiffy

38. POCKET LISTING (S. 6, E. 9)

The CIA needs to get the fingerprints belonging to the Prince of Durhan and uses the Tunt mansion, along with the show’s core group, to conduct the operation. The episode earned “Archer” its second Emmy nomination for Best Animated Program in 2015.

Personal favorite part: Dr. Krieger spending the entire episode in and out of consciousness as Slater keeps shooting him with memory-altering tranquilizer darts.

Guest starring Christian Slater as Slater

37. HEART OF ARCHENESS: PARTS 1-3 (S. 3, E. 1-3)

After Katya is killed at their wedding by Barry, Archer disappears and has been missing for three months. Malory enlists the help of the striking Rip Riley to find and retrieve him. While transporting Archer back to ISIS, their plane crashes and both are taken captive by pirates and Archer ends up becoming their leader.

Personal favorite part: Rip attempts to make a water landing on his sea plane and almost makes it, until Archer yells out, “Wait! You didn’t put the wheels down,” causing the plane to crash into the ocean.

Guest starring Patrick Warburton as Rip Riley, David Cross as Noah and James Hong as Bucky

36. SKORPIO (S. 1, E. 6)

Lana uses a mission to assassinate an international arms dealer as a way to get a break from Cyril, who has been very clingy. Malory also travels to a “conference” which turns out to be a romantic rendezvous with Nikolai Jakov, the head of the KGB.

Personal favorite part: Archer asks Lana what she thinks of his disguise. She replies, “Depends. Who are you supposed to be? Topper Bottoms, stern yet sensual skipper of the USS Rough Service?”

35. VISION QUEST (S. 6, E. 5)

When Malory has the entire office come in for an early morning meeting, Archer, Lana, Cyril, Ray, Pam, Cheryl and Krieger get stuck in the office elevator and have to find a way to get out before they all go insane.

Personal favorite part: When Ray tries to call Malory for help only to discover that Archer has used Malory’s number and the elevator phone, that everyone thought was broken, into his latest elaborate phone-related hoax.

34. PALACE INTRIGUE: PARTS 1-2 (S. 5, E. 10-11)

The gang goes from attempting to sell cocaine to trying out being international arms dealers. They attempt to sell weapons to the leader of war-torn San Marcos, who is infatuated with Cherlene.

Personal favorite part: Malory ordering Cyril to find a vehicle for them to escape the palace in and Cyril coming back in a tank. Even in an armored vehicle, Cyril is not immune to Malory’s criticisms or Archer’s brashness.

Guest starring Fred Armisen as Gustavo Calderon and Lauren Cohan as Juliana Calderon

33. CROSSING OVER (S. 3, E. 10)

Archer hooks up with Pam and realizes that she’s the best sex he’s ever had. Nikolai Jakov, the head of the KGB, defects to America after being ousted at the KGB by Barry.

Personal favorite part: The entire opening when Archer is trying to remember who he brought back to his apartment the previous night (including grabbing chicken and waffles at a strip club) and discovering it was Pam, who is on the toilet.

32. SPACE RACE: PARTS 1-2 (S. 3, E. 12-13)

ISIS is hired to help quell a mutiny happening on the space station, Horizon, by the station’s commander, Anthony Drake. The whole crew of ISIS gets shot into space to deal with the problem only to find that it’s a ruse by Drake to attempt to start a new society on Mars.

Personal favorite part: Cyril starts firing his pulse rifle in his usual manner (“SUPRESSING FIRE!!!”) and ends up killing several of the astronauts including one who’s African-American, leading Archer to yell, “A black astronaut, Cyril! That’s, like, killing a unicorn!”

Guest starring Bryan Cranston as Anthony Drake and Dave Willis as Barry

31. TRAGICAL HISTORY (S. 2, E. 6)

Cyril is tired of being a constant disappointment to everyone and accepts an offer from a mysterious person named Spelvin to upload a virus into the mainframe so that he can come in and save the day. But Spelvin’s plan turns out to be much more sinister than anticipated.

Personal favorite moment: When trying to buy time to fix everything, Cyril tells Spelvin, “I happen to be a kick-ass accountant.” There’s a pause and Spelvin says, “Did that sound a lot better in your head?” Cyril replies, “Yes it did.”

Guest starring Peter Serafinowicz as George Spelvin

30. LEGS (S. 4, E. 3)

Ray’s depression from being paralyzed after the space shuttle crash leads Krieger to sympathize with him and help him walk again with bionic legs. Archer, having a severe issue with cyborgs, is determined to stop it from happening.

Personal favorite moment: The recurring gag of what happened with Archer at the “Fourth of Ju-Luau” party, culminating in him collapsing naked in front of his co-workers and Cheryl saying it would be like that “if you slid a pig under him.”

29. ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE (S. 5, E. 13)

As Cyril is being overthrown as the leader of San Marcos, Lana is having her baby at the airport and Krieger decides to stop his clones from launching a missile tipped with nerve gas.

Personal favorite moment: Trying to get Pam out of the palace, Malory yells, “If we get out of here alive, I’ll buy you all new cocaine. And a pony!” Pam replies, “You heard her Cyril. That is legally binding!”

Guest starring Gary Cole as Special Agent Hawley, Christian Slater as Slater and Lauren Cohan as Juliana Calderon

28. DRASTIC VOYAGE: PARTS 1-2 (S. 6, E. 12-13)

The CIA has the team train to become miniaturized, so they can be injected into the body of a comatose scientist and destroy a blood clot that is threatening his life. The CIA also threatens them with being blacklisted from the intelligence business if they screw up the mission.

Personal favorite moment (tie): Archer repeatedly thinking that he’ll be weightless when miniaturized (and jumping up and down to prove it). Also, Malory’s constant obsession with Abbiejean’s weight, saying, “As far as I’m concerned, the sooner she learns about cigarettes, the better. This little pudge-pop’s going to need all the help she can get in the battle of the bulge.

Guest starring Carrie Brownstein as Dr. Sklodowska, Gary Cole as Special Agent Hawley, Christian Slater as Slater and Michael Gray as TV’s Michael Gray

27. THE RULES OF EXTRACTION (S. 5, E. 8)

After the Jeep carrying Archer, Cyril and Ray crashes in Columbia, the three must navigate through a jungle to find a way to get back home. Lana attempts to treat Malory to a home spa day that is overseen by Pam and Cheryl. After years of trying, this episode netted the program with their first Emmy nomination for Best Animated Program in 2014.

Personal favorite moment: Pam reminding both Lana and Malory that they’ve had sex with her.

26. THE FIGGIS AGENCY

After being blacklisted by the CIA, the gang has now set up shop in Los Angeles with a private detective agency run by Cyril. Their first case comes from Hollywood starlet, Veronica Deane, who hires the firm to steal several documents that could ruin her. This episode won the Emmy Award for Best Animated Program in 2016.

Personal favorite moment: Krieger explaining how Sterling, Lana and Ray will have to enter the house: “You’re gonna have to go in…from the rear.” They all look at Archer, expecting him to say, “Phrasing,” but instead he crosses his arms and says, “No, you all took it for granted.”

Guest starring J.K. Simmons as Detective Harris, Keegan-Michael Key as Detective Diedrich, Patton Oswalt as Alan Shapiro and Ona Grauer as “Veronica Deane”

25. THE KANES (S. 6, E. 8)

Lana brings Archer to meet her parents in Berkeley as she visits them with Abbiejean. Their skills as secret agents come in handy when Lana’s father’s research is stolen. Back in New York, Krieger’s van runs out of gas in a shady neighborhood as Krieger, Pam, Cyril, Cheryl and Krieger’s virtual girlfriend are on their way to league night.

Personal favorite moment: Archer thinking that Lana’s parents are proposing a three-way when they join him in their hot tub.

Guest starring Keith David as Lemuel Kane, C.C.H. Pounder as Claudette Kane and Christian Slater as Slater

24. EL CONTADOR (S. 3, E. 5)

Cyril is made a field agent and joins Archer and Lana on a mission to capture a notorious drug lord and turns out to be surprisingly competent in his duties. At the office, Malory is instituting a strict drug-testing policy and Krieger gives Cheryl, Pam and Ray a mixture to flush their system of any illicit substances…and cause terrifying hallucinations.

Personal favorite moment: Drinking Krieger’s tea, Ray says: “Oh god! It tastes worse than it smells.” Pam fires back, “If I had a nickel for every time I heard a guy say that…I’d have eight nickels!”

Guest starring Joaquim de Almeida as Román Calzado

23. BABY SHOWER (S. 5, E. 6)

When the crew puts together a short-notice baby shower for Lana, Archer decides to get Kenny Loggins to play for the party.

Personal favorite moment: Lana being totally oblivious to Kenny Loggins and even Archer’s repeated use of the phrase, “Danger zone.”

Guest starring Kenny Loggins as Himself

22. THE HONEYMOONERS (S. 4, E. 9)

Archer and Lana pose as newlyweds in order to take down North Korean terrorists who are trying to buy uranium. Cyril becomes increasingly worried that Lana, who he has just started seeing again, will sleep with Archer during the assignment.

Personal favorite moment: Archer calling North Korea, “The nation-state equivalent of the short bus.”

21. ONCE BITTEN (S. 4, E. 6)

A venomous snake bites Archer in the taint while on a mission with Cyril and Ray in Turkmenistan, causing Archer to hallucinate memories from his past with the assistance of James Mason.

Personal favorite moment: Cheryl taking down Lana in beautiful detail about how “this terrible place [ISIS] is the only true love you will ever know,” and then immediately following it up by saying, “Oh my god, was I talking?”

Guest starring Peter Serafinowicz as James Mason

20. THE LIMITED (S. 3, E. 6)

ISIS is tasked with transporting a radical Canadian terrorist (who’s fighting for a free and sovereign Nova Scotia) back to his home country after being captured in America.

Personal favorite moment: Archer in the police car at the end with Babou. At first he’s talking sweetly to the neglected ocelot, but then he sprays Archer with urinem causing Archer to remark, “Totally worth it.” Babou roars back to Archer and he replies, “No Babou! That was all sarcasm!”

19. HONEYPOT (S. 1, E. 5)

When Malory is blackmailed by Cuban operative Ramon Limon with an incriminating file, she has Archer conduct a honeypot mission to seduce him and get the file back.

Personal favorite moment: Woodhouse alerting Archer, “Sir, that stolen lemur has bit one of your prostitutes right in the face and she says she can’t go to hospital because she’s quote, tripping balls.”

Guest starring Ron Perlman as Ramon Limon and Thomas Lennon as Charles

18. PIPELINE FEVER (S. 2, E. 4)

Lana and Archer are sent to Louisiana to stop an eco-terrorist from blowing up a pipeline who also happens to be Lana’s ex. At ISIS, Malory implements a bunch of environmentally conscious initiatives that completely backfire.

Personal favorite moment: Cyril complaining about the state that Pam left the bathroom in. Pam replies, “Don’t blame me. It’s those new low flow toilets. With the old ones you could flush a dachshund puppy. I mean, not that you would.”

17. SOUTHBOUND AND DOWN (S. 5, E. 5)

Cherlene gets booked on a major music program in Texas but she refuses to fly. This results in a bus, a lot of “Smokey and the Bandit” references and a madcap journey to get Cherlene from New York to Austin in time for the show.

Personal favorite moment: Malory says she can’t understand Sterling’s fascination with Burt Reynolds. Lana says, “I think part of it is because you didn’t get him that CB McHaul toy truck he wanted for his birthday,” causing Malory to reply, “Wha…He was thirty!”

16. BLOOD TEST (S. 2, E. 3)

Trinette shows up with a baby that she claims Archer is the father of. As ODIN conducts the paternity test, Malory forces Sterling, a liter low on blood, to switch the blood samples.

Personal favorite moment: Malory waiting in her car and saying, “And if I wanted to sit around all day going nowhere, I’d be a teacher!”

Guest starring Maggie Wheeler as Trinette McGoon and Dave Willis as Barry

15. MOTHERLESS CHILD (S. 7, E. 4)

Barry’s still living endoskeleton returns to ask the Figgis Agency to help track down his birth mother, but to make sure they do so in a timely manner, he’s kidnapped Malory and placed her in an underground bunker with a limited amount of oxygen.

Personal favorite moment: When Barry, all bandaged up because he’s just a robotic endoskeleton, explains his situation, Archer drunkenly exclaims, “You’re coming to me as a robot mummy! Oh my God, who’s got – NO MUMMY!”

Guest starring Dave Willis as Barry

14. WHITE ELEPHANT (S. 5, E. 1)

The FBI raids ISIS headquarters and arrests everyone there as it’s revealed that Malory has been conducting espionage missions for decades without any authorization from the United States government.

Personal favorite moment: After a bullet (finally) kills Brett, Archer says, “Well, he died doing what he loved. Getting shot.”

Guest starring Gary Cole as Special Agent Hawley

13. TRAINING DAY (S. 1, E. 2)

In an effort to annoy Archer, Malory tasks Sterling with training Cyril on how to be a field agent.

Personal favorite moment: After Cyril kills Trinette, Archer yells, “Oh my God! You killed a hooker!” Cyril yells back, “Call girl!” and Archer replies, “No, Cyril. When they’re dead, they’re just hookers!”

12. THE ROCK (S. 1, E. 8)

ODIN steals a contract from ISIS after the agency conducts a security assessment and Malory has Sterling and Lana steal a priceless diamond as payback. Cyril attempts to unionize the ISIS office workers so he can buy Lana a real engagement ring.

Personal favorite moment (tie): When Cheryl speaks up against the union, Krieger can be heard yelling, “Yes! Confederacy forever!” Also, the chant of the ISIS picket line: “What do we want?” “Unfair!” “When do we want it?” “Change!”

Guest starring Jeffrey Tambor as Len Trexler

11. BLOODY FERLIN (S. 3, E. 9)

Ray travels back to his home in West Virginia, along with Sterling and Cheryl, to help out his marijuana farming brother, who’s being sought after by the county sheriff, who used to bully Ray relentlessly.

Personal favorite moment (tie): Archer and Lana see that Ray isn’t actually paralyzed and Ray replies, “And is that not the stuff of miracles?” Also, when Archer is about to have sex with Randy’s wife, he looks at a rooster and says, “Don’t judge me…Food.”

Guest starring Michael Rooker as Sheriff E.Z. Ponder, Jack MacBreyer as Randy Gillette and Paula Malcomson as Janelle

10. JOB OFFER (S. 1, E. 9)

Lana is offered a job at ODIN but Archer mistakes the offer as being for him. When he leaves ISIS, Malory retaliates by putting out a burn notice on Sterling.

Personal favorite moment: Malory recounting the time she moved before Sterling came home from boarding school for Christmas break and she forgot to give her new address. “I mean, he rode the train into the city all by himself. He couldn’t pick up a phone book? Nine years old and bawling in that police station like a little girl. Ha! What does that tell you?” Cheryl says, “Kind of a lot, actually.” Malory fires back, “Oh, shut up. I bet you’re barren.”

Guest starring Jeffrey Tambor as Len Trexler and Dave Willis as Barry

9. STAGE TWO (S. 2, E. 8)

Malory thinks she might have breast cancer. After finding out her test was a false positive, Sterling finds out that he actually has breast cancer.

Personal favorite moment (tie): When Cheryl starts telling Malory about her weekend, Malory says, “If I cared about what you do on the weekend, I’d stick a shotgun in my mouth and pull the trigger with my toes.” Also, when we see Sterling’s mugshot and the name he’s given the cops is Cyril Figgis.

Guest starring Charles Napier as Dr. Spelts (his final role before he passed away in 2011)

8. PLACEBO EFFECT (S. 2, E. 9)

Archer finds out that the drugs he’s been taking to treat his cancer are actually placebos, leading him to go on a rampage to find out who is behind the fake medicine being given out.

Personal favorite moment: When the office is reacting to Sterling saying that his cancer is in total remission, Cheryl can be heard continuing the joke from the previous episode, “Seriously, what is cancer?”

7. EL SECUESTRO (S. 2, E. 10)

After Pam is kidnapped by a group of criminals thinking she’s actually Cheryl, Cheryl reveals that she’s actually the heiress to the Tunt family fortune. Malory then tries to get a contract with Cheryl to provide her security…and get Pam back if there’s time for that.

Personal favorite moment: At the end, Pam starts angrily calling out everyone for their botched response to her kidnapping and saving her most savage attacks for Malory. As she’s getting ready to kick the crap out of Malory, Lana steps forward to try to pull Pam back and Archer holds her back, telling her, “Lana, let her have this one.”

6. LIVE AND LET DINE (S. 4, E. 7)

When a threat has been issued against the Albanian ambassador to the U.S., ISIS is tasked with going undercover at the restaurant where he is dining and the chef is also filming his reality show, “Bastard Chef.” Malory tasks Cheryl with getting a table at the restaurant.

Personal favorite moment: Ray’s alias being “Gilles de Rais,” after the French army leader who was later convicted of being a serial killer, and his description being “Child-Murderer.” Archer comments on how it’s confusing: “It shouldn’t be hyphenated. That makes it seem like he’s a murderer who’s also a child.”

Guest starring Anthony Bourdain as Lance Casteau, Ron Liebman as Ron Cadillac, Ona Grauer as Katya Kazanova and Dave Willis as Barry

5. THE DOUBLE DEUCE (S. 2, E. 5)

Archer is forced to look after the Wee Baby Seamus while, at the same time, Woodhouse believes he’s in danger as several of the people he served with in World War I are dying by mysterious circumstances.

Personal favorite moment (tie): Sterling being upset that Woodhouse has seen Malory naked: “Eww! Mother, he touches my food!” Also, Archer saying to Seamus as he leaves him with Malory, “Baby, you’re pear-shaped.”

4. MOLE HUNT (S. 1, E. 1)

Sterling attempts to get into the ISIS mainframe by pretending to conduct a mole hunt so he can remove any suspicious activity from his operations account.

Personal favorite moment: Archer saying he dumped Lana because she was baby crazy. Lana replies, “I dumped you because you’re dragging around a 35 year old umbilical cord!” Archer fires back, “See! All you talk about is baby sh**! Because you’re baby crazy!”

3. SKYTANIC (S. 1, E. 7)

ISIS is hired to uncover a bomb threat on the maiden voyage of the rigid airship, Excelsior. Cyril’s affair with Cheryl continues to spin out of control.

Personal favorite moment: Malory explaining why she made a phony bomb threat: “Trudy Beekman booked the very last ticket on this flight, so it was all ‘Meh! Meh! Meh! I’m Trudy Beekman, I’m on the co-op board and I’m going on a blimp! MEEEHHH!”

2. LO SCANDALO (S. 3, E. 8)

The prime minister of Italy has been murdered in Malory’s apartment and, in addition to cleaning up the scene, attempts to prove to everyone at ISIS that she didn’t kill him.

Personal favorite moment: The ISIS crew dress as dinner party guests, except for Lana who has to settle for a French maid’s outfit. Cheryl’s insane over-the-top delivery about it being “the most ELEGANT dinner paw-ty” is just fantastic.

1. A GOING CONCERN (S. 2, E. 2)

Malory loses all her savings in a Ponzi scheme and is forced to sell ISIS to their rival, ODIN, as well as accept Len Trexler’s marriage proposal. Sterling sets out to make sure both do not happen.

Personal favorite moment (tie): Sterling yelling “OH MY GOD! THERE’S NO SINK!” after Ray reminds him of the fact when he has to turn off a vibrating device in his mother’s desk. Also, Len Trexler’s saying, “So, Barry, you ass, for the love of all that’s green, take me and Rabbert to the lettuce store,” after being “conditioned” by Krieger.

Guest starring Jeffrey Tambor as Len Trexler and Dave Willis as Barry