One of the best comedies currently on television has just been renewed.  FX announced today that the hilarious animated series Archer has been picked up for a 13-episode fifth season.  Season four is currently in the midst of airing on the network, and ratings have continued to climb.  Compared to season two, this season has posted ratings gains of +44% in the adults 18-34 demo and +36% in the adults 18-49 demo.  Moreover, the show continues to shine creatively as the exploits of the titular character (voiced H. Jon Benjamin) are as entertaining as ever under the direction of creator/showrunner Adam Reed and executive producer Matt Thompson.

Hit the jump to read the full press release, and click here to read Dave’s report from last month’s Archer Live! event.  7 episodes remain in the current fourth season, with the two-part season finale set to air on April 4th and April 11th.

We received a fantastic entry into the spy genre in 2012 with the release of the James Bond film Skyfall, but damn it’s going to be good to have Archer back in our lives this month.  The fantastic FX spy comedy series returns for its fourth season later next week, and a new poster has been released online (bearing the headline “Quantum of Mediocrity”) along with a few amusing character interviews.  Said interviews play out like the characters sat down with journalists at a junket, but in true Archer fashion they don’t exactly play out as expected.

Hit the jump to check out the new poster and interviews, and click here to read our recap of the recent Archer Live event and Q&A.  Archer returns for season four on Thursday, January 17th on FX.

Believe it or not, the only time the voice cast of FX’s animated spy series Archer gets together is during events like Comic-Con or the TCA press tour.  So it’s a special treat for them to participate in Archer Live!, an in-person event that not only lets the cast members get out of the recording booth and riff on each other in person, but lets them interact with their rabid fanbase in a variety of ways.  Outstanding vocal talent H. Jon Benjamin, Aisha Tyler, Chris Parnell, Amber Nash and Lucky Yates were on hand along with executive producer Matt Thompson to hold a fan Q&A, reenact some favorite scenes, preview episodes of the upcoming fourth season and take us all into the danger zone.

Season three of Archer will be available on DVD and Blu-ray starting January 8th.  The season four premiere of Archer debuts on FX at 10PM ET/PT on Thursday, January 17th.  Hit the jump for a recap of Archer Live! and a preview of season four.

Rejoice!  FX has announced the return dates for two of its most beloved series, Archer and Justified, as well as that Charlie Sheen show Anger Management.  Here’s a brief rundown of the premiere dates for FX’s early 2013 series:

• Justified returns for season four on Tuesday, January 8th at 10pm ET/PT.
• Anger Management kicks off its 90-episode run with the two-episode season two premiere on Thursday, January 17th at 9 and 9:30 ET/PT.
• Archer returns for season four on Thursday, January 17th at 10pm ET/PT.
• Legit has its series premiere on Thursday, January 17th at 10:30pm ET/PT.
• Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell begins a new set of episodes on Thursday, January 17th at 11pm ET/PT.

Hit the jump to read the full press release.

Archer fans love the show for its immoral characters, quick fire pop cultural references and ridiculous plot lines.  The end of Season 3 featured the ISIS crew in outer space, and creator Adam Reed said that he is strongly considering a two-episode finale in Season 4 that would be set underwater.

The talented voice cast who help make Archer so memorable returned to Comic-Con in anticipation of the show’s fourth season.  Show creator Adam Reed, along with voice actors Aisha Tyler, Amber Nash and Chris Parnell, sat down with members of the press to offer their insights regarding the show’s popularity and what motivates their characters.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Comic-Con has released the schedule for Preview Night on Wednesday, July 11th and the full schedule for Thursday, July 12th.  Preview Night won’t just have people trampling each other for Exhibitors Floor merchandise.  It will also have screenings of the pilots for Arrow, 666 Park Avenue, The Following, Revolution, and Cult.  As for Thursday, Comic-Con has wisely scheduled The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 as the first panel of the day in Hall H (although it doesn’t start until almost 1:00pm for some reason), so all the Twihards can get in, see the panel, and get on with their lives.  For the rest of the day, Hall H will play host to Frankenweenie, Oz the Great and Powerful, Wreck-It Ralph, Jackie Chan’s CZ12, The Expendables 2, and…not much else really.  No offense to Chan, but his directorial feature CZ12 is going to be packed only because Expendables 2 is coming afterwards.

On the TV side, there will be panels for returning series Psych, Wilfred, Archer, Nikita, Dexter, and Workaholics.  There will also be panels for new series Beauty and the Beast and Elementary.  Hit the jump for highlights from the Wednesday and Thursday schedules.  The 2012 San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 12 – 15th.

Last night the second annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards were revealed, and while fans usually gripe about these kinds of people being out of touch with the public, they’re usually more accurate than the Emmys when it comes to picking the best that TV has to offer. This time was no exception as Homeland, the best new drama of the season took home the big award for Best Drama Series and Community finally won its biggest award yet by winning the Best Comedy Series award. It’s just a shame that creator Dan Harmon won’t be around next season to try again, though we’re going to give the new showrunners a chance before truly griping.

There were also some great wins for cast members from Breaking Bad, Parks and Recreation and Modern Family, not to mention some much deserved loved for BBC’s Sherlock and its star Benedict Cumberbatch, and FX’s animated comedy series Archer. I can’t say there’s much I disagree with here. Even the tie for Best Actress in a Comedy Series makes perfect sense. My favorite award though is the one that went to Louis C.K. for his turn on his own series Louie, followed closely by Paul Rudd‘s guest turn on Parks and Recreation as opposing city council candidate Bobby Newport (“Leslie, we did it!”). In addition, critics even gave us a taste of what they think the most promising shows of next season are by naming five of them the most exciting of the upcoming slate.  Check out the full list of winners after the jump.

FX Networks announced today that the have ordered a fourth season of the popular animated series Archer. The show is currently in its third season and is scoring impressive ratings compared to its first and second seasons. I’m still late to the Archer party (I’m currently burning through Battlestar Galactica on Netflix), but I’ve heard nothing but great things about the dirty comedy series. I expect fans will be happy to hear that there’s more Archer in the future. In addition to the season four order, FX signed an overall deal with Archer executive producers Adam Reed and Matthew Thompson which keeps the duo at FX for two years with an option for an additional two years. The deal covers additional seasons of Archer and any new shows Reed and Thompson develop.

Hit the jump to read the full press release.

Adult Swim created a new language for cartoons. From the style of animation (which combined old school cell animation with new digital technology) to the nonsense plots that would often run for fifteen minutes or less, it’s a formula that has become something of a standard – until then, animated shows often went The Simpsons route. Archer, the FX adult cartoon show, is a mixture of both, but with a lot of that Adult Swim style. It’s no surprise that creator Adam Reed also worked on Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Sealab 2021.

The show stars H. Jon Benjamin as Archer, the would-be Bond spy for ISIS, a spy organization run by his mother (Jessica Walter). There he works with fellow spy Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), desk girls Cheryl Tunt (Judy Greer) and Pam Poovey (Amber Nash), and with Lana’s former lover Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell). The show mixes spywork with the clash of office mates, most of whom are functionally insane. Our review of the second season of Archer on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Later this year we’ll see Bryan Cranston in the sci-fi epic John Carter, but before that, the Breaking Bad star is heading into space along with the animated spy Archer for the two-part season finale. The new season doesn’t even begin until January 19th, but The Huffington Post reports the finale is already slated to have Cranston play Commander Drake an “earnest, conscientious astronaut” trying to stop mutiny aboard the International Space Station. In addition, series creator and executive producer Adam Reed also revealed that Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) and Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) will also guest star in an upcoming episode where the Isis team heads to West Virginia to help Gillette’s marijuana farming brother (Rooker). McBrayer is perfectly suited for backwoods parts of West Virginia, but Cranston in space with some of the crew will be something special to behold. The third season of Archer begins on January 19th at 10/9c on FX.

Details on Emma Stone and others taking guest spots on 30 Rock after the jump.

We’ve already learned that Burt Reynolds is stopping by Archer as himself, and seen a brief tease of the forthcoming third season of Justified with Timothy Olyphant, and now FX has announced when all this goodness will premiere for their midseason schedule in January. The cable network revealed in a press release that Justified will make its anticipated return on Tuesday, January 17th in its normal 10/9c timeslot with the new season following Raylan Givens’ nemesis Boyd Crowder and his crew learning they aren’t the only ones making a play to rule the Harlan underworld. Now Raylan finds himself facing off against dirty politics, hidden fortunes, a mysterious man named “Limehouse” and an enterprising and lethal criminal from the Motor City. Hit the jump for more, including the premiere dates for Archer and the new animated series Unsupervised.

The third season of Archer is already underway, and a new episode in January will bring a special visitor to FX’s animated comedy series. The cable network revealed today that veteran actor Burt Reynolds will guest star as himself on an episode titled The Man from Jupiter, which only makes sense since the actor himself is from Jupiter, Florida. In the episode, Reynolds is dating Archer’s mother and boss Malory and the agent is not very pleased about it. Series creator Adam Reed says, “I think the only person on the planet who’s a bigger fan of Burt Reynolds than me is Sterling Archer. Archer constantly tries to imitate Burt and always raves about Burt’s movies and all-around awesomeness.  So to have Burt recording voice-overs for the show was just amazing.” Check out photos of Burt recording his lines and his animated form after the jump.

As part of the TCA Press Tour presentation for FX Networks, President and General Manager John Landgraf took some time to talk about the growth of their comedies – Wilfred, Louie, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League and Archer – the strength of their dramas – Sons of Anarchy, Justified and Rescue Me – their hopes for their new shows, including American Horror Story from Ryan Murphy, and what they are looking for, in the future.  Here are the most interesting points:

• In 2011, FX is on track to achieve the highest ratings in all measures, in the 17-year history of the channel, up 17% in adults 18-49 and 18% in total viewers in prime. They have also achieved their goal of programming original dramas and comedies, all year round.
• FX has ordered a Season 8 and 9 of the acclaimed hit comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia with an option for a Season 10, making it the longest-running live-action comedy in basic cable history. In addition, FX Productions is entering into a three-year exclusive television overall deal with RCG – the production company run by Sunny creators/executive producers Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton.
• The full 13-episode third season of Archer will return in January 2012, with three episodes airing this Fall, behind the first three episodes of Season 7 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which premieres on September 15^th. The Season 3 premiere of The League will debut after Sunny on October 6^th.
• Wilfred was the highest-rated first season of a comedy ever on FX, leading them to renew it for a second season of 13 episodes, while Louie has also been renewed for third season of 13.
• American Horror Story, from Glee executive producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, is being established as a serialized saga that can go on for multiple years, with subsequent seasons either taking place in the past or in the present, depending on how the story unfolds.
• Powers (in the vein of David Fincher’s Seven or Zodiac),  based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming and starring Jason Patric, and Outlaw Country, a family drama set against the backdrop of Southern organized crime, are the next two drama pilots that FX will be looking at for possible pick-up

Hit the jump for more of what he had to say:

I know I’m not the only Collider writer to feel that if you’re missing out on FX’s Archer, you’re missing one of the most consistently funny shows on Television.  If biting satire, political commentary, and cartoon nudity are things you enjoy, chances are high you already do enjoy FX’s brilliant Archer.   The cast hit Comic-Con to promote the upcoming third season, and I got to sit down with stars H. Jon Benjamin (Voice of Sterling Archer), Amber Nash (Voice of HR Director Pam Poovey), Aisha Tyler (Voice of Agent Lana Kane), and Chris Parnell (Voice of Cyril Figgis).  If the cast is to be believed, Season 3 will feature:

• “Operational fieldwork”
• “Midgets”
• “Terrible things”

Check all three video interviews after the jump.

FX has sent out a press release laying out their fall schedule.  The network’s fall season will kick off on Tuesday, September 9th at 10pm with the 90-minute season premiere of Sons of Anarchy.  On Thursday, September 15th at 10pm, the new season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will begin.  FX’s newest show, American Horror, will premiere on Wednesday, October 5th at 10pm.  The following night at 10:30pm, the new season of The League begins.  Finally, Archer will get a special three-week run starting on Thursday September 15th in hopes that it can expand its audience by having It’s Always Sunny as its lead-in.  New episodes of Archer will air on September 15, 22, and 29th and then will return for its new season in earnest (although the word “earnest” should never be used when writing about Archer) in early 2012 with a 13-episode season.

Hit the jump for the full press release which contains more info on all five shows.