FX orders Season 4 of animated comedy "Archer"

FX has ordered Season 4 of its Emmy- and Annie Award-nominated animated series Archer, and FX Productions closed an overall production deal with the series' executive producers, Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, and their animation studio, Floyd County Productions, it was jointly announced Thursday by Nick Grad, executive vice-president of original programming for FX, and Eric Schrier, executive vice-president of FX Productions and head of series development for FX.

Archer was created by Reed and Floyd County Productions, and is executive produced by Reed and Matthew Thompson. The show is produced by FX Productions. Four all-new episodes of Archer remain in Season 3, with the season finale slated for 10 ET/PT on Thursday, March 22.

"It was an easy decision to order more Archer," said Grad. "Adam, Matt, and our amazing voice cast are delivering one of the funniest and smartest shows on television. It has deservedly grown beyond its initial cult following to become both a critical and ratings success. It is a true asset to the FX comedy roster."

FX has ordered 13 episodes for the series' fourth season.

Reed said, "We are insanely excited that FX Productions has committed to a multi-year deal for Archer and Floyd County Productions. They're fantastic to work with, and we hope to keep making good shows for FX for as long as they'll have us."

Thompson added, "I am over the moon excited about the trust and faith FX has placed in Floyd County Productions with this deal. We have over 100 extremely talented artists that amaze me every day with their talent and work ethic. We hope to build on this, growing into a giant animating monster that will eventually take over the world."

The overall deal with FX Productions is for two years, with an option for an additional two years that will keep Reed and Thompson with FXP for any additional seasons of Archer and any new projects they develop. The overall pact also includes Reed and Thompson's animation studio, Floyd County Productions, to continue as animators on Archer, along with FX's second animated comedy series, Unsupervised, and any new animated series produced by FX Productions or developed by FX. This is the second overall deal for FXP.

"Adam and Matt are incredibly gifted producers, and we're proud to have them and Floyd County under the FX Productions umbrella," said Schrier. "Archer has been an incredibly successful title for FXP, from ratings to DVD sales, iTunes, merchandise and even its best-selling book. They've done an outstanding job of animating Unsupervised. This is a great deal for FXP as we continue to expand the studio, and it affords us the ability to aggressively pursue new animated projects."

Archer, an animated, half-hour comedy, revolves around the spy agency known as the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and the lives of its employees. Although their work of espionage, reconnaissance missions, wiretapping and undercover surveillances is daunting and enigmatic, every covert operation and global crisis are actually unmitigated occasions for the ISIS staff to undermine, sabotage and betray each other for personal gains and selfish pleasures.

The series features the voice of H. Jon Benjamin as highly skilled yet incredibly vain master spy Sterling Archer, a role which garnered Benjamin an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 2010. The ensemble voice cast also includes Aisha Tyler as fellow agent provocateur Lana Kane; Jessica Walter as Sterling's domineering mother and the rapacious CEO of ISIS, Malory Archer; Chris Parnell as the easily intimidated comptroller of ISIS, Cyril Figgis; Judy Greer as Maloy's loquacious secretary, Cheryl Tunt; Amber Nash as the discordant director of human resources for ISIS, Pam Poovey; series creator Adam Reed as the gay voice of reason at ISIS, Ray Gillette; Lucky Yates as ISIS's possibly mad scientist, Krieger; and George Coe as Archer's elderly and always exploited butler, Woodhouse.

The Archer franchise expanded this year with the January release of the book How To Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written. Currently in its seventh printing, How To Archer was written by Reed under the pen name of Sterling Archer and is a New York Times best-seller. The book is published by It Books.