Mallory Archer's office art

Cutting cable was wonderful. What a good decision. Upon leaving I was offered cable for the same cost of the internet service (still the best in Denver,) that is basically free, and even that was not appealing because of all the extra nonsense and irritation that comes with it, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, advertisements, programs of pure advertising and so on. I don't want it.

I've been binge watching "Bob's Burgers" and "Futurama" and now "Archer."

One of the things that is really great about Netflix is that you can stop the action and study the background for their extra little cartoonist touches that are missed for going by too quickly to take in. For example, Bob's Burgers intro constructs the same scene of Bob, his family, the restaurant with a funeral home on the left and shop on the right, the name of the shop on the right changes with each episode to something amusing like the Bart Simpson writing on the chalkboard, "PFETA, Meat is Murder," "Trot's All Natural Fertilizer," "Meth I Can Methadone Clinic," "Extra Moist Yoga," "The Horse Renderer," and so on.  Then groups of mice run across the sidewalk and converge in front of the shop then a van speeds into the scene and stops directly in front of the burger restaurant with an amusing name on the van for an extermination company that changes with each episode, "Rats All Folks Exterminators," "Stan Vermin King of Vermin," "The Pest Pesterior," "Ratty Shack," "Chester the Depester," "The Mice Girls," "Wicked Witch of the Pest," and so on. It's fun. And completely missed without stopping to read because it appears onscreen for only half a second and very easily overlooked. I didn't see any of this until Netflix. The ending too incorporates amusing elements of the show while running credits. It's the same back of the restaurant scene with characters appearing in the service window and Bob scratching his butt, while people are dancing and singing and playing around him each time. Unfortunately, Netflix shrinks that to a smaller inset while they cue up the next episode.

I'm fairly certain that Futurama does something similar with their intro. I'll have to look at the NYC billboard that flashes onscreen for something amusing each episode while people are flashing through the transporter tube. I bet it changes each time. I didn't think to look today. Plus, on Netflix the intro doesn't show each time. It's just an additional cartoonist touch that is easily overlooked.

Likewise, the cartoon "Archer" is filled with fine touches. In season 1 episode 2, "Training Day" Archer goes into the office of the engineer who designs spy equipment, the equivalent of Q in James Bond films except entirely taciturn, he stays on his handheld device the whole time Archer is talking to him. In the background are shelves of storage bins with amusing labels, but the action must be stopped to read the labels because they appear for only a second, "Air Tools," "Poison," "Guns," "Tap & Die," "Hopes & Dreams," "Cuffs & Darts," etc.

The main character's mother is the head of the intelligence agency and the walls of her office are covered with art that I find attractive, to each their own taste. It's frameless with the canvas wrapped around the edges such as you see on design shows, and house flipping shows, and that you can buy online. I thought as I watched, "Hey! I can buy that." It's easily done. Just copy it from the show and produce it though any of the outfits online that offer this type of service. (They always offer a tremendous discount for your first order.) It's amazingly inexpensive and an impressive service, and widely used, and you can do so much with it. For a few hundred bucks you can copy the entire office. But first you must find good copies.

So I looked.

Turns out it's real art and the real life artist is suing FX for copyright infringement. This came up immediately searching [archer, art, mallory's office] They used her art without her permission. Just like I intend to do, except they did it for financial gain.

This clip shows the art fairly well but only in part. Other clips on YouTube show it better but they must be sorted though and they're all at an angle drawn in perspective and all too poor quality to use. And this is Google images showing Michel Leah Keck's work for much better copies.

I Don't Want to Hear It, Michel Leah Keck

The Best is Yet to Come, Michel Leah Keck

See? Those two actual paintings are in this key frame. No fair!

Something tells me this doesn't interest you. Something tells me you don't care for the art one single bit. Something tells me this idea is useless to you and that you find cartoons uninteresting BANG!

I just now killed the little bird telling me negative things and kicked it over the balcony.

The best thing about Netflix is it delivers on the promise that cable reneged. Cable was supposed to be subscribers pay to avoid commercials but then cable could not resist the double payment stream from subscribers and from advertisers. And now having what cable denied it is very weird switching from Netflix back to pre-cable over the air programming and being subjected to wholly unrelated advertising content interrupting its programming. It's jolting. With OTA, I go, mute, mute, mute, mute, mutie, mute, mute, until the whole effort becomes wearisome, and back to Netflix for comfort. Even though it's still mostly background chatter and and flickering lighting. Otherwise it'd be like a Zen Buddhist temple over here, not so bad, actually, but still, it's good to have something going on, connection to the world at large, some sign of life besides my own thoughts.