Casey Willis (‘Archer’) discusses addressing Jessica Walter’s death on the show [Exclusive Video Interview] - Gold Derby

After the shock of Jessica Walter's death last year, "Archer" showrunner Casey Willis found himself having to find a way to address it in the show, even though she had recorded her lines for the season. "I think we had an idea of her retiring and then soon, we were like, we should put Ron in there as well and see the two of them happy and doing what they want," he tells Gold Derby during our Meet the Experts: TV Animation panel (watch the exclusive video interview above). Having Walter paired with her late husband Ron Leibman, made several of the others writers become emotional as well. "When I described it to a couple of people, they started to cry just over the phone when I was describing it, so I was like, okay, I think this going to be the right thing."

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FXX's animated espionage comedy is going into its 13th season. The show has long been a favorite of both critics and audiences, with the show being the network's highest rated comedy at one point. The show's Emmy track record started out very rocky with the show only getting a nomination for Best Voice-Over Performance for H. Jon Benjamin in the titular role during the first season. The show finally broke into Best Animated Program with its fifth season in 2014 and would win the prize two years later. The show has also claimed the Critics' Choice TV Award for Best Animated Program four years in a row (2012-15) and the Gold Derby TV Award in the same category for two years (2013-14).

When thinking about the arcs of the show's characters over the past 12 seasons, Willis is able to single out one that he feels has had the most remarkable journey so far. "I always talk about Pam and how much I feel like she has grown as a character, but also at her heart has maintained probably one of the only good-hearted people on the show." He added that the upcoming 13th season will feature some major changes for other characters as well. "Hopefully, if we get to do this again next year, I might have a different answer because I think we've got some cool stuff coming up."

Willis was also really happy with the returning guest stars that included Stephen Tobolowsky as Lana's husband and Pamela Adlon as a UN liaison. "I think one of the great things working with excellent voiceover talent is having your ideas of what you think is going to happen but then being open to all the great things that they're going to bring." He also gave a lot of praise to Eric Andre for what he brought to the character of Colt. "A lot of the stuff that we see him in seems wild and chaotic but he's so professional in the booth and just came with so much great energy and ideas and it was really fun to work with him."

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