FX has hit in animated 'Archer'

FX appears to have an instant cult hit with the new animated "Archer" series.

The adult spy comedy cartoon debuted to good ratings last Thursday night and has generated a lot of positive chatter online and in the media.

With a kind of retro '60s stilted animation style that recalls the loopy "Space Ghost" talk show that aired on Cartoon Network, "Archer" is a deadpan satire that is clever, silly, sexy, vulgar, politically incorrect and laugh-out-loud funny all at the same time.

College frat boys are gonna fall in love with this one.

The series follows the misadventures of self-absorbed super spy Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin). He's a handsome, skirt-chasing, booze-loving man who is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

He works for his mother Malory Archer (Jessica Walter of "Arrested Development") who is head of the spy organization ISIS.

Most of the story takes place at the spy headquarters where Archer's co-workers are about as goofy as the characters on "The Office."

Bumbling through each day along with Archer are is his long-suffering butler Woodhouse (George Coe), his buxom ex-lover and fellow spy Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), his nerdy co-worker Cyril Figis (Chris Parnell of "Saturday Night Live") and the office secretary and gossip Cheryl (Judy Greer). With strong profanity and sex jokes that push the boundaries of bad taste, "Archer" is not for everyone.

But FX has established itself as the place for the most adult programming on basic cable with series such as "Nip/Tuck," "The Shield," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Rescue Me" and "Sons of Anarchy."

It's definitely a "guy channel" and "Archer" is like an animated, oversexed version of "Get Smart" if that comedy was being made today for HBO.

Created by Adam Reed, whose credits include Cartoon Network's "Sealab 2021,'' the show is basically a workplace comedy about a dysfunctional crew.