Politics
FXX; Entertainment Weekly
"Archer: Dreamland" season eight trailer.
Amid the wacky, sometimes surreal setting of FXX's "Archer," the animated spy show has been able to make sneaky social commentary about politics and current events.But is that still possible on the new standalone season, "Archer: Dreamland," which is set in 1947 (this is season eight of the show, for those keeping track)? Amber Nash, who voices Poovey, says it is.
"I think there's ways to reference what's going on almost even better, because you can do it under the cover of this time change. It's just as relevant," Nash told Business Insider recently.
In the past seven seasons, the show has been able to touch on the environment and fossil fuels, the legalization of marijuana, immigration, and foreign policy. Nash said that in the current season, there's even a way to comment on President Donald Trump's America, though the characters are living 70 years in the past.
Getty Images; FXX
Amber Nash voices Pam Poovey on FXX's "Archer."
"I actually write the Twitter feed for Pam and now, Poovey," she said. "It's a challenge, but one of the notes we got was that you can talk about Trump, but you call him Truman. There's little cheats like that, so I totally think we can do it."In the case of Poovey, the show's human-resources director whose gender is now left ambiguous, there's much to be mined when it comes to current views on sex and gender identity. Fans can expect that to continue on "Archer: Dreamland," in which she's a police officer.
"In the beginning, the pilot script introduces her as 'Pam, the mousy HR director.' And you look at the character now and you would never use the word 'mousy' ever in a million years," Nash said. "I think over time, ['Archer' creator Adam Reed] wanted someone to do this or that and they kept giving those things to Pam. So Pam became more and more amazing and had more and more skills. Because she can do all those things and she's body-positive, she's sex-positive, and doesn't give a s--- what anybody thinks. She's just so confident and empowered."