There is only one really bad thing about Archer, and that's the fact it's going to make my Thursday viewing line-up very, very full. Way to not anticipate my needs, FX. Geez.

I just sampled five episodes of FX's new animated offering, including the pilot that quietly aired a few months ago (reviewed by Jonathan Toomey here), and I already love it. There are a lot of appealing things about Archer: It's 60s-style super-spy adventures plus hilarious writing that maintains a great pace for the entire half-hour. Oh, and puns. Lots of puns.

Forgive me, Simpsons, but I don't watch you as often as I used to. I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point, watching The Simpsons slipped from an every-week ritual to catch as catch can.

I'm sure I'm not unusual in that respect. I'm sure there are people who were with The Simpsons from those very first shaky frames, who saw them adopt No. 9 and laughed at Homer botching Christmas songs on the closing credits, and faithfully watched for several years, maybe even a decade before they dropped off.

But one of the best things about the show is, you can always come back. The Simpsons never forget. Yesterday's episode and the 20th Anniversary Special that followed was a nice reminder of that. The episode wasn't the funniest I've seen, but I did realize there has never been an episode of the show that wasn't worth at least a few laughs.

The Cartoon Network's Ben Ten franchise is surprisingly good, and I had no idea what it was until Ben Ten: Alien Swarm arrived in my mailbox to review in December. It's out on DVD now, and has popped up on Cartoon Network's schedule again, as well. Here are my thoughts.

Venture Brothers, the funniest and best written show that -- inexplicably -- nobody watches, is getting its own line of toys and collectibles.

The appropriately named Bif Bang Pow!, a collectibles manufacturer, announced today a deal with Cartoon Network to make a new line of toys based on the Adult Swim animated comedy. Fans can look for a collection of action figures, bobble heads, vehicle models and other goodies.

This is a great sign for a show that deserves a lot more attention than it gets. As well-written as The Simpsons or South Park, Venture Brothers shows off spot-on parody and multi-layered jokes in every episode.

In the never ending, epic battle between TV and movies, Wired helped score another death blow for TV.

The magazine's Underwire blog named their picks for the greatest man to ever don the ab-flattering Batman costume and the man who provided the voice for the title character of the awesome 90's animated version won the top spot.

Voice actor Kevin Conroy has not only voiced Batman and Bruce Wayne for Batman: The Animated Series, but also for six animated movies, three other animated series and three video games including the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum. Anyone who is familiar with the dark, gravely voice that brought more depth and range to the character than anyone other should not be surprised that his performances have topped the list.

I'm sure it's making George Clooney grow greener with envy by the minute.

Between The Rock's bizarre guest appearance on Family Guy, and Stan's dirty deed on American Dad, it was a strange week in the twisted mind of Seth MacFarlane. But in a twist M. Night Shyamalan would be proud of, it was Family Guy's Meg Griffin who had the most memorable stand-out moment of the night. Uncomfortable, but memorable.

We also got the first episode of American Dad in the 16:9 widescreen ratio for the first time, and they didn't take advantage of the change to make any modification to the intro sequence at all, or spotlight it in any self-aware way. I still wish last week's epic could have been in widescreen, but with Family Guy now the only holdout on Animation Domination, the whole thing feels a little weird. Shouldn't the marquee show for Seth MacFarlane be in widescreen before its offspring?

(S21E09) You can always count on The Simpsons for a timely reference. Why it was only back in 1997 that Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie book came out, so it's high time we riff on it. Wait, that TV movie with Hank Azaria they referenced? That's more recent. 1999 recent!

449 episodes later, The Simpsons may no longer be the source for the most cutting edge humor, but at least they've reclaimed a lot of the heart this season that was missing early on. Next week is the big 450th episode celebration, which not-so-coincidentally is the week FOX has opted to celebrate officially the 20th anniversary of the stalwart comedy.

For those tired of Seth MacFarlane dominating the Sunday lineup, next week, it's a reversal of fortunes, as The Simpsons is joined by an hour-long special and the only MacFarlane show to make the grade is his own version of a "traditional" family sitcom: The Cleveland Show.

I don't laugh much at The Cleveland Show, but I laughed at this from last night's episode. It opened with a flashback to 1984, and the show riffed on shows and movies that do everything they can do make us understand what year it is, from having songs from that year on the soundtrack, references to things in the news, and the clothes that the characters are wearing. I ain't 'fraid of no ghost!

Wallace should be carrying a Mac though.

[Watch clips and episodes of The Cleveland Show and other shows at SlashControl.]

More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the funniest actors of the last ten years.

If you want to be a great comedic actor, you can never let on that you know you're being funny. Your character never knows what the joke is. That's why Rodney Dangerfield was a great, legendary stand-up comedian, and a fairly poor comic actor.

Everyone on this list excels at the comedic poker face. Steve Carell and Ricky Gervais, in their Office boss characters, don't know that most of the rest of the office is laughing at them. Or at least they don't understand why. Stephen Colbert, despite all of the attention The Colbert Report have received, may be the most underrated comic actor, because the character is so seamless, sometimes it's hard to tell it's a character. Shatner is a legend for playing campy with a poker face. And Neil Patrick Harris as a cad? A straight cad? Perfect.

Here are a few of our favorite comedic actors from the past decade, and may their characters never realize the joke's on them.

When Jane Lynch started popping up on my TV promoting Xbox 360, I was amazed how brilliant she was. She had already delighted me on Glee, so why was I surprised? There's not much Jane Lynch can't do. Well, now she's spreading her wings in yet another TV venture.

Seth MacFarland has cast Jane Lynch on The Cleveland Show. That's right; she's turning toon. On the January 10 episode of Fox's The Cleveland Show, Jane will voice the character of Ms. Eck, Roberta's new teacher. And like Coach Sue Sylvester on Glee, Ms. Eck is a forceful, in-your-face educator.

Smallville's Clark Kent isn't the only one getting a visit from DC Comics' Justice Society in 2010. A month before the classic crime fighters show up for Smallville's "Absolute Justice" event, airing Feb. 5, they'll drop by the Batcave for an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

An animated version of the 1940s superhero team will make its debut January 15 on Cartoon Network's great and goofy Batman show. We'll get to see how The Flash (the original one with the silly hat), Hourman, Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite and Wildcat influenced Batman's bad guy-beating skills. We'll also see them in action against a villain named Per Degaton. The ep, titled "The Golden Age of Justice," will also feature Bats teaming up with Green Arrow's main squeeze, Black Canary.

So you're out buying the last of your gifts on Christmas Eve, and you've just about had it. Before you pull up to the counter one last time, there's something you need for your ride home. Aqua Teen Hunger Force's Christmas album, Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas.

Yes, it is silly, downright juvenile, and even a tad obscene in places. But as holiday stress relief goes, it's hard to top "I Sure Hope I Don't Have to Beat Your Ass This Christmas," with an ungrateful Master Shake threatening poor little Meatwad (the live version of the song is above). Or Meatwad's duet with alt.country siren Neko Case on "Santa Left a Booger in My Stocking." Or Meatwad singing "Feliz Navi-wad." (If you're not a Meatwad fan, don't pick this up, he's featured on almost every track).

Every year during the holidays, we all enjoy different Christmas movies and evergreen TV specials. One that they don't run often any more but I remember with great fondness is Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. Fortunately, it's now available on DVD, and if you think you've seen the best of Charles Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge but haven't seen this one, I urge you to reserve judgment till you do. Don't laugh! I'm absolutely serious. Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol is a fantastic version of Dickens' short story.

Sure, sure, the animation is nothing to write home about. But the script and those songs are! It was 1962. NBC aired the one-hour cartoon special on December 18. It wasn't just any cartoon either. The idea was that Mr. Magoo was cast in a stage production of A Christmas Carol, so the entire enterprise had a theater angle.

Remember The Ricky Gervais Show? That hilarious podcast that featured the genius of Karl Pilkington and was the most downloaded thing in the history of the universe of everything? It's coming to HBO.

The world's most successful podcast is getting the television treatment next year starting on February 13.

So how do you turn a podcast into a TV show? That's simple. You animate it. Episodes of the podcast featuring Gervais, Stephen Merchant and the aforementioned Pilkington will be turned into cartoon creatures for the TV version. I came to the podcast very late in life and am sure that will count against me at my karma hearing in the afterlife, but this should more than make up for it.

NORAD is already tracking Santa Claus and his airborne reindeer team as it heads south from the North Pole and ignores boring Canada to give delightful Christmas presents to all the good American boys and girls. Fortunately, the U.S. Air Force apologized for that anti-aircraft missile that almost nicked Dasher. They sent a fruit basket and everything.

The point is that you don't have much time to snag holiday toys for your TV fan friends and those few kids you actually like. Fortunately, there still some popular toys out there that can serve multiple gift giving purposes.

The I Love Lucy Barbie from Mattel (right) sells for $45, so it might be more appropriate for an adult toy collector (an adult who collects TV-related toys, I mean). But, a Barbie is a Barbie, and few girls would turn one down -- even if it features Lucy Ricardo auditioning for a part in Ricky's show at the Copa.