Archer Season 3 Preview: Sterling Gets A Facelift?

Archer kept fans happy during the show’s seasonal hiatus by releasing the hilarious ‘Heart of Archness’ three-part special in September. Acting as the connective tissue between seasons, the special began with Sterling, code name Duchess, MIA after the murder of his Russian lover. Eventually, thanks to the help of a couple amazing guest stars - Patrick Warburton and David Cross - the foul mouthed, promiscuous spy is brought back to Isis ready for Season 3.

And awaiting his return has me chomping at the bit! Since its debut two seasons ago, Archer has quickly replaced my usual animated stalwarts as the go-to series for raunchy drawn comedy. Don’t get me wrong Futurama is still the gold standard of animated TV but it’s nice to know that there’s a really competitive alternative to Fox’s Animation Domination. It’s a hilarious show, impeccably written and animated as well as featuring quite possible the best voice cast of any animated series.

H. Jon Benjamin alone is a voice-over superstar (in my opinion, the funniest) providing his vocals for Archer as well as Bob on Bob’s Burgers and my all-time favorite Coach McGuirk on Home Movies. And in this preview of the upcoming season, they play with his real life image in a great insider joke. We all know Sterling Archer as the handsome, debonair (if crude) and kind of capable international man of mystery but after some kind of disfiguring accident, his visage is altered. The best part? Not only is the scene played out in a (not too obvious) play on the Joker mirror scene in Batman but they also changed his face to look exactly like H. Jon Benjamin. Got to love inside jokes, when you’re on the inside. Take a look at the never before seen footage and get ready for the third season premiere.

Archer Season 3 returns January 19 at 10p.m. ET on FX. It stars H. Jon Benjamin, Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walters, Judy Greer, Chris Parnell and Amber Nash. It was created by Adam Reed.