After 14 years on television—becoming one of cable’s longest-running (and frequently best) animated comedies in the process—FX/FXX’s Archer is preparing to go out with a bang, and not a whimper. As announced at New York Comic Con this week, the Adam Reed-created spy series will end its 14-season run on TV this December, with a three-episode “finale event” titled Archer: Into The Cold. Specifically, the series will run the event on FX and FXX on December 17, before moving over to Hulu the next day, giving a suitably attention-grabbing send-off for a show that’s been such a huge part of the FX brand for so long.
As we noted in our pre-air review of its first four episodes, the show’s 14th season arrived with a kick of new energy, with a new character—Natalie Dew’s former Interpol agent Zara—and a new dynamic, as Aisha Tyler’s Lana stepped up to lead The Agency, and H. Jon Benjamin’s Sterling Archer adjusted to not always being the best spy in the room. (Judy Greer’s Cheryl/Carol, meanwhile, remained completely, and delightfully, insane.)
Although it’s weathered a lot of changes over the years—including a three-season detour into Archer’s coma-based dreams, and the departure of Reed as the show’s main writer a few years back—Archer has continued to truck along, producing at least a handful of tremendously funny episodes every year it’s been on the air. It’s nice to see the series getting a proper send-off, especially since its last regular episode, released back on October 11, ended on a cliffhanger, with the U.N. ordering The Agency to be shuttered, and all of our favorite spies put out of a job.