Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

FX sets 'Lights Out,' 'Archer' premiere dates

Boxing drama, animated spy comedy airing in January

By Alan Sepinwall Tuesday, Nov 30, 2010 1:35 PM

Holt McCallany in "Lights Out."

Credit: FX

"Sons of Anarchy" wraps up its third season tonight, "Terriers" concludes its first (and hopefully not only) tomorrow, and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "The League" are close to finishing their respective seasons, as well. ("The League" on Dec. 9, "Sunny" on Dec. 16.) So FX is gearing up for its next wave of programming, announcing January premiere dates for its new boxing drama "Lights Out" and its returning animated spy comedy "Archer."

"Lights Out" is about an aging former heavyweight champ (Holt McCallany) struggling for both a direction and a way to pay the bills after some bad investments - as written by former "In Treatment" showrunner Warren Leight, it's like the plot of "Rocky V" only, you know, good. (I saw the pilot before summer press tour and liked it a lot.) It debuts Tuesday, January 11 at 10 p.m.

"Archer," starring H. Jon Benjamin as the world's cockiest secret agent in the world's most dysfunctional spy agency - and featuring a terrific supporting cast including Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter and Chris Parnell - will be back Thursdays at 10 starting on January 27. I enjoyed that show a lot last year, and the premiere is very funny.

After the jump, trailers for the upcoming seasons of both shows:

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Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: Archer, Lights Out, Alan Sepinwall

Ed W

Nice to see Archer is returning. I liked season 1 of Archer but felt like it could have been better if it pulled back a bit on the crudeness. Also, it wasn't clear when it was set. It had the look of the 60s but they made modern references sometimes.
November 30, 2010 at 2:45PM EST Reply to Comment
PotatoSolution

Yay for Archer appearing in the "Always Sunny" time slot. Hopefully some of the audience will carry through.

I'm interested to hear what people say about "Lights Out". I trust FX to deliver a quality drama, but I find boxing (and boxing movies) paralyzingly boring. We shall see.
November 30, 2010 at 2:49PM EST Reply to Comment
- Ben so ur the person who finds rocky 1-2-3-4 boring. good to know
  November 30, 2010 at 3:38PM EST
- klg19 Yeah, I'm the other person.
  December 1, 2010 at 7:20PM EST
Manton

I'm diametrically opposite to Ed over here. Archer's a great show, and I'd love if they went a bit further in their general craziness and more towards that Frisky Dingo vibe. Regardless, very excited for its return and really interested in Lights Out
November 30, 2010 at 2:50PM EST Reply to Comment
goFX

glad to see archer coming back, really enjoyed the first season.. been waiting for it to come out on dvd which i don't believe it has yet. lights out looks good too, fx has been on a roll more than any other network lately.
November 30, 2010 at 3:41PM EST Reply to Comment
Joseph

I'll give both a shot based on your recommendations. But I wish FX would just go ahead and give the green light to the show based on Bendis' "Powers" comic already.
November 30, 2010 at 3:46PM EST Reply to Comment
Zach L

Never really seen Archer and no idea who the main guy is in Lights Out, but I've been watching FX straight for about a year now with Justified, Rescue Me and Always Sunny on a constant loop, so I'll be checking out Lights Out as well.

I know the interview went up yesterday, and sorry if you mentioned this already, but has a second season premiere date been set for Justified yet? I'm assuming its after Lights Out ends its first season run?
November 30, 2010 at 3:57PM EST Reply to Comment
Archer's illegitimate son

I would say Archer is the current funniest animated show on tv.

Yes, that includes Family Guy, South Park, Simpsons, etc.
November 30, 2010 at 4:02PM EST Reply to Comment
- Fireflame94 At this particular point, I agree whole-heartedly with that statement, thought the Venture Bros. is pretty close to Archer in terms of quality.
  November 30, 2010 at 4:24PM EST
- r1pvanw1nkl3 Venture rarely delivers the same laughs as Archer though. They're very different shows.
  November 30, 2010 at 5:32PM EST
- I'd say Archer is definitely the funnier of the two, but Venture Brothers is probably the best written half-hour on television, animated or not.
  November 30, 2010 at 6:01PM EST
- r1pvanw1nkl3 I dunno about that... Venture is a very unique kind of program. To me it plays out more like a serialized action-comedy rather than a sitcom. Comparing it to other half hour shows (animated or not) is like comparing apples to oranges. Although if you wanna use self referential humor as a benchmark you could compare it to Arrested Development and Community.
  
  It's a shame that Alan never was able to get into Venture. It takes a while to fall in love with and it's hard to do that with shows that are on the obscure side.
  November 30, 2010 at 8:24PM EST
Very exciting news. The lack of H. Jon Benjamin in my life in Archer's absence was very disheartening.
November 30, 2010 at 6:03PM EST Reply to Comment
Carrie

If anyone wants to catch up on season 1 of Archer it is on Netflix streaming right now. Danger Zone!
November 30, 2010 at 11:19PM EST Reply to Comment

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Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

FX sets 'Lights Out,' 'Archer' premiere dates

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Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Ed W Nice to see Archer is returning. I liked season 1 of Archer but felt like it could have been better if it pulled back a bit on the crudeness. Also, it wasn't clear when it was set. It had the look of the 60s but they made modern references sometimes.

PotatoSolution Yay for Archer appearing in the "Always Sunny" time slot. Hopefully some of the audience will carry through.I'm interested to hear what people say about "Lights Out". I trust FX to deliver a quality drama, but I find boxing (and boxing movies) paralyzingly boring. We shall see.

Ben so ur the person who finds rocky 1-2-3-4 boring. good to know

klg19 Yeah, I'm the other person.

Manton I'm diametrically opposite to Ed over here. Archer's a great show, and I'd love if they went a bit further in their general craziness and more towards that Frisky Dingo vibe. Regardless, very excited for its return and really interested in Lights Out

goFX glad to see archer coming back, really enjoyed the first season.. been waiting for it to come out on dvd which i don't believe it has yet. lights out looks good too, fx has been on a roll more than any other network lately.

Joseph I'll give both a shot based on your recommendations. But I wish FX would just go ahead and give the green light to the show based on Bendis' "Powers" comic already.

Archer's illegitimate son I would say Archer is the current funniest animated show on tv.Yes, that includes Family Guy, South Park, Simpsons, etc.

Fireflame94 At this particular point, I agree whole-heartedly with that statement, thought the Venture Bros. is pretty close to Archer in terms of quality.

r1pvanw1nkl3 Venture rarely delivers the same laughs as Archer though. They're very different shows.

I'd say Archer is definitely the funnier of the two, but Venture Brothers is probably the best written half-hour on television, animated or not.

Very exciting news. The lack of H. Jon Benjamin in my life in Archer's absence was very disheartening.

Carrie If anyone wants to catch up on season 1 of Archer it is on Netflix streaming right now. Danger Zone!

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Ed W

Nice to see Archer is returning. I liked season 1 of Archer but felt like it could have been better if it pulled back a bit on the crudeness. Also, it wasn't clear when it was set. It had the look of the 60s but they made modern references sometimes.

PotatoSolution

Yay for Archer appearing in the "Always Sunny" time slot. Hopefully some of the audience will carry through.

I'm interested to hear what people say about "Lights Out". I trust FX to deliver a quality drama, but I find boxing (and boxing movies) paralyzingly boring. We shall see.

Manton

I'm diametrically opposite to Ed over here. Archer's a great show, and I'd love if they went a bit further in their general craziness and more towards that Frisky Dingo vibe. Regardless, very excited for its return and really interested in Lights Out

goFX

glad to see archer coming back, really enjoyed the first season.. been waiting for it to come out on dvd which i don't believe it has yet. lights out looks good too, fx has been on a roll more than any other network lately.

Joseph

I'll give both a shot based on your recommendations. But I wish FX would just go ahead and give the green light to the show based on Bendis' "Powers" comic already.

Archer's illegitimate son

I would say Archer is the current funniest animated show on tv.

Yes, that includes Family Guy, South Park, Simpsons, etc.

Carrie

If anyone wants to catch up on season 1 of Archer it is on Netflix streaming right now. Danger Zone!

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