I began my questioning of the cast and creator of "Archer" by asking about their upcoming season three finale where Sterling Archer goes into space. I started a comedy riff that rocked the Television Critics Association. After the Archer panel, I went to follow up with H. Jon Benjamin.
Crave Online: Is taking Archer into space an homage to "Moonraker" or to the other film franchises that by part 4 go into space?
Adam Reed: Yes.
H. Jon Benjamin: What are the other film franchises that have gone to space?
Crave Online: "Leprechaun," "Hellraiser"…
H. Jon Benjamin: Oh, stop. Stop, stop, right there. You're done.
Adam Reed: "Leprechaun" was the inspiration.
H. Jon Benjamin: "Leprechaun," how dare you, sir?
Crave Online: Adam, do you ever fantasize that you could do this show live action and still do all the crazy stuff you have animated?
Adam Reed: Yes. Yeah, I think everybody can play themselves, which would be great. I think the budget would be prohibitively high, I think. FX hasn't been as warm to the idea of actually shooting a live episode of "Archer" in space as I would like them to be.
H. Jon Benjamin: I'm sorry for coming down on you. How did Leprechaun go to space? Like what happened? Why are you laughing? I'm asking a question.
Crave Online: The gold was in space.
H. Jon Benjamin: Really? Is that 2 or was it 4? How many "Leprechauns"?
Crave Online: Six, because then he went to the hood, twice.
H. Jon Benjamin: See, now you guys are getting excited. All right?
Adam Reed: I think we have a clip.
H. Jon Benjamin: I would love to watch "Leprechaun 6" right now. No? I don't get what I want.
Crave Online: I’m glad I could give you so much material with "Leprechaun."
H. Jon Benjamin: Thank you.
Crave Online: What if I had said "Critters"?
H. Jon Benjamin: Then I would be just as upset with you. Just as upset.
Crave Online: Do you ever crack doing your recordings?
H. Jon Benjamin: You mean like psychotic break? Yes, a couple nervous breakdowns per season. No, do we laugh and stuff like that? Yeah, definitely we do. Yes, obviously some of the stuff’s very funny and Adam’s a good sport. I say that in the most demeaning way. There’s not a huge opportunity for boisterous amounts of fun. We will have the occasional laugh. I don’t like read a line and start laughing hysterically and cackling like a mad person. “Oh my God I. Can’t. Belive. You. Ha Ha Ha Ha.” No.
Crave Online: How does Sterling Archer handle zero gravity?
H. Jon Benjamin: I don’t know yet. He seemed fine the way I was doing it. I don’t remember if he was actually exposed to space. That would kill him, right?
Crave Online: How different are the Archer sessions from the "Bob’s Burgers" sessions?
H. Jon Benjamin: They’re a lot different. "Bob’s Burgers" is done with the whole cast together, or certainly variations of groups of people working together. "Archer" I do it completely alone, just like I like it.
Crave Online: What’s coming up for Bob?
H. Jon Benjamin: This season has more of the same as far as the restaurant and all that stuff. It’s a really funny second season and I understand they’re making a third. He still has a moustache, still has annoying kids. I know he gets a food truck. They try this food truck thing which doesn’t work out. Nothing really works out, just like in real life.
Crave Online: Are you doing more "Jon Benjamin Has a Van"?
H. Jon Benjamin: We are not at the moment. We wrote scripts for the second season and we’re waiting to hear soon if we do another season. I hope we do because I really loved it.
Crave Online: Where would you like to take the van?
H. Jon Benjamin: The van is kind of less prominent in the stories in season two. I realized that was a stupid thing to call the show and annoying and obnoxious and I’m sorry. But a lot of the writing of the first season, the van was the catalyst and we just stopped doing that entirely for the ones we wrote. I marry a billionaire in one episode and that spirals into kind of a new show.
Crave Online: Would you call it something else?
H. Jon Benjamin: No, I think it will stay the same. I think it will still be "Jon Benjamin Has a Van" but the van itself is not a big part of it.
Crave Online: That could just make it more meta.
H. Jon Benjamin: Has a train, right. "Jon Benjamin Has a Train" because it has a double meaning.
