It feels like we’re in the golden age of incredibly fast-paced television shows. But which show is currently doing it best? We’re running a tournament to find out. Keep up with all rounds of the tournament with the Fast-Paced Tourney tag. And make sure to vote below!
On the surface, these two animated comedies don’t have much in common besides their shared medium and genre. One is about the adventures of incompetent employees at the world’s worst spy agency and the other is about the adventures of a ragtag group of the world’s most foul-mouthed elementary school children.
I think what ties these two together are three basic elements: (1) a cast of insane, colorful characters who have no desire to overcome their inherently flawed personalities; (2) the ability to pull off incredibly offensive jokes; and (3) their lack of hesitancy in venturing into the realm of absurd for the sake of creating comedic situations.
In terms of size, it is impossible to beat the cast of South Park, which includes not just our four main boys, Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Cartman, but also their classmates, parents, school’s staff, and various townspeople. Archer meanwhile features “world’s greatest spy” Sterling Archer, his mother and boss, Mallory Archer, his ex-girlfriend, Lana Kane, accountant Cyril Figgis, secretary Cheryl/Carol (yes, you read that right), Tunt, HR rep Pam Poovey, resident scientist Dr. Krieger, and eternally sassy, singularly competent intelligence agent Ray Gilette, who often has to serve as the voice of reason, much like Stan on South Park. But what Archer lacks in cast size, it more than makes up for in terms of character craziness levels. Much like in South Park, nearly every character has exhibited some sort of psychotic behavior at some point in time, and several almost continuously. Alcoholic Sterling Archer is one of the most selfish and narcissistic men to ever be on TV, matched only by his alcoholic mother, both of whom would give Cartman a run for his money. Dr. Krieger claims he’s “not a serial killer” and Pam’s extracurricular activities include beta fish fighting and drift car racing with local Yakuza members. In this category, I have to give the winning point to Archer because, while both casts include multitudes of crazy characters, fire-setting, glue-sniffing, choke-sex having Cheryl/Carol could out-crazy the entire town of South Park just on her own.
As far as humor style goes, both shows like their running gags. South Park had its random Chef musical numbers and, of course, “They killed Kenny!” Archer likes to have recurring jokes about Lana’s “monster hands” and recently started a tradition of paralyzing Ray. However, South Park’s humor, while often immature, is often geared more towards pointing out the absurdity and hypocrisy in our society. Archer, on the other hand, is stylistically more mature, often featuring incredibly clever references and witty repartees, but less inclined to discuss social issues (though it has touched on environmental radicalism and illegal immigration). Neither show is afraid to make rather offensive jokes. Mallory Archer regularly makes racist and homophobic comments. South Park has offended every religion from Christianity, to Judaism, to, of course, Mormonism (which resulted in the voice actor for Chef leaving). In terms of actually pulling off offensive jokes, I have to give the point to Archer. I feel like higher level of maturity and technical delivery makes Archer better than the over-the-top style of South Park.
The last category, absurd situations for comedy, is pretty much inarguably in favor of South Park, but I will make a case for Archer anyways. Archer has episodes that feature the following:
- A three-episode arc featuring Sterling Archer as a Somalian pirate king
- A two-episode arc that takes place on Mars
- Archer’s reoccurring nemesis Barry, who is a rival special agent turned bionic robot turned head of the KGB
- Dr. Krieger’s reoccurring virtual anime bride who is “so real that the state of New York is allowing him to marry her”
- Woodhouse, Archer’s heroin-addict, long suffering valet, turns out to be a doppelgänger of the Pope and has to take his place after Pam accidentally suffocates the actual Pope
Of course, South Park is the king of the absurd with episodes where Walmart takes over the adults of the town, Jesus becomes a town member with his own talk show, and all the beings created by human imagination escape Imaginationland. In this category, South Park is the winner.
With its advantage in the first two categories, Archer edges out South Park as the better fast-paced animated comedy.
Winner: Archer
Now it’s your turn to weigh in. We’ll be running our tournament concurrently with a public opinion poll. So which show do you think is doing fast-paced best, Archer or South Park?
You may vote as many times as you’d like. This poll will close when we begin our quarterfinals rounds. Up tomorrow: Awkward. versus Veep.
Monika is a senior in college, double majoring in biology and business economics. She works in a library, has a TV addiction, and loves superheroes. Monika dreams of one day being a doctor/published author. In the meantime, she likes to overdress for class and waste away in front of tumblr. Favorite shows include Archer, Workaholics, Shameless (US), Boardwalk Empire, Arrested Development, The Inbetweeners, Mad Men, The Vampire Diaries, Community, Boardwalk Empire, and Happy Endings. Firefly is the best show of all time.