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The FX original series, Archer, has been making audiences laugh for twelve seasons. A rumored eight-episode thirteenth season is in the works and is projected to debut sometime in 2022. Over the years, a colorful cast of secondary characters has joined super-spy Archer and the rest of the ISIS gang, from world leaders to enemy spies. Some of those secondary characters’ voices sounded very familiar to fans of the series because guest voice actors from other television shows brought them to life.
10. Star Trek’s George Takei Voiced Mr. Moto
Trekkie fan-favorite George Takei starred as Mr. Moto, the flashy businessman leader of the Yakuza gang. Mr. Moto appeared in two separate episodes of Archer, once in Season 3 and once in Season 5. The Yakuza and ISIS clash over drugs and drift racing, primarily due to Pam Poovey. Mr. Moto’s nephew died in a drift race against Pam, and Pam also managed to scam the Yakuza out of a million dollars worth of amphetamines after ISIS disbanded. Mr. Moto is a man who values three things: drug money, fancy cars, and swift vengeance.
9. Gunsmoke’s Burt Reynolds Voiced Himself
Archer references Burt Reynolds multiple times throughout the series, and he finally has to meet his idol in the Season 3 episode, The Man From Jupiter. However, Burt Reynolds is more interested in Archer’s mother, Mallory. In this episode, the two started dating, which led to Archer kidnapping Reynolds to sabotage the relationship. Burt Reynolds delivers everything you’d expect from an animated version of himself: charm, humor, and his signature voice.
8. Seinfeld’s Patrick Warburton Voiced Rip Riley
Patrick Warburton‘s voice is unmistakable, and he lends it to seaplane pilot Rip Riley in Season 3. Rip Riley is a manhunter who once called himself part of the ISIS crew. Rip Riley is sent to retrieve Archer, who went missing for several months. Warburton’s talent for deadpan humor makes the hardened Ripley endlessly entertaining, even when Archer causes a plane crash that strands them in pirate-infested waters. Warburton’s character fits right in with the rest of the characters in the series, and it’s a shame that Rip Riley was only around for three episodes.
7. Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston Voiced Commander Tony Drake
Another fan-favorite guest voice actor in the series was Bryan Cranston, the villain protagonist of Breaking Bad. Cranston plays Commander Tony Drake, who uses a ruse to entice ISIS agents to join him on the International Space Station. After the team helps him defeat his rivals, he attempts to enslave them aboard the vessel. However, he didn’t count on one thing: Pam Poovey and Cheryl Tunt stowed away on the ship and saved the rest of the gang from his clutches. Cranston is a strong dramatic actor, but seeing his comedic side as Tony Drake was a refreshing change of pace for fans.
6. Arrest Development’s David Cross Voiced Noah
Noah is a strange character, and no one could’ve voiced him as well as oddball comedian David Cross. Cross is known for playing very quirky characters, and he brings that talent to Season 3 of Archer. Noah is an anxiety-ridden graduate student who pirates have enslaved. His slavery is mainly voluntary. However: Noah is in the process of writing an anthropological dissertation about his captors. Although Noah is very helpful to Archer and the gang, he is left on Pangu Island to suffer an unknown fate.
5. Justified’s Timothy Olyphant Voiced Lucas Troy
Lucas Troy and Archer have a strange “bromance” when he shows up in Season 4. The chemistry is apparently due to a longstanding friendship. The two met while training to work for ISIS, but Troy defected to ODIN. Troy was supposedly dead before The Wind Cries Mary episode, but Archer refuses to believe that his friend was gone and is thrilled to find him alive. Timothy Olyphant voiced this quick-witted backstabber, who shares Archer’s somewhat bizarre love for turtleneck sweaters.
4. Bob’s Burgers’ Kristen Schaal Voiced Tiffy
Tiffy doesn’t play a significant part in the series (she was only in two episodes), but her voice belongs to Bob’s Burgers’ very own Kristen Schaal. Season 4 borrows quite a few voice actors from Bob’s Burgers, but Schaal’s performance as a vegan helicopter pilot stands out. Tiffy is the girlfriend of Cheryl’s brother, Cecil. Unsurprisingly, she and Cheryl don’t get along and constantly butt heads. The rivalry between them is hilarious: Judy Greer (the voice of Cheryl) and Kristen Schaal play off each other perfectly.
3. Mr. Robot’s Christian Slater Voiced Himself
Christian Slater steals the show wherever he goes, and the same is true of his time on Archer. Slater plays a CIA agent version of himself throughout three seasons, making him one of the series’s most enduring guest voice actors. The animated version is sarcastic and sneaky but still sports Slater’s signature haircut. He makes his debut posing as an arms dealer who trades cocaine for firearms, which brings him into direct conflict with ISIS. He becomes the CIA’s official liaison to ISIS, which means audiences are treated to repeated instances of hilarious banter between Slater and Archer. This was one storyline that fans couldn’t get enough of watching.
2. Law & Order’s JK Simmons Voiced Detective Harris
Audiences have seen JK Simmons working with detectives on Law & Order, but Season 7 of Archer gives him the chance to be one. Simmons joins the series as a guest voice actor to play Detective Harris. Detective Harris is one half of a bumbling pair of LAPD detectives tasked with investigating a series of murders. Along the way, they horribly – but hilariously – botch a hostage situation. JK Simmons seamlessly transforms from a serious actor into the world of comedy, trading jokes with his equally inept partner, Detective Diedrich.
1. Transparent’s Jeffrey Tambor Voiced Len Trexler
The question of Archer’s paternity is a running joke throughout the series. Len Trexler is a very convincing candidate, much to the reluctance of Archer. Trexler is the leader of ODIN, the sworn enemy of ISIS, and is very in love with Archer’s mother. As with all of her other suitors, Archer can’t stand the thought of his mother possibly dating Trexler. Lucky for him, Mallory isn’t interested. Jeffrey Tambor lends his voice to this lovesick leader and delivers the kind of zany comedy that viewers have come to expect from him. The ISIS gang succeeds at making Trexler fall out of love with Mallory by planting a microchip in his brain, but fans won’t fall out of love with Jeffery Tambor’s portrayal of this character anytime soon.