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Fans, get ready to play: 'Archer' hits the reset button -- again -- for Season 7

Archer has rebooted itself so many times, it would be a surprise if it didn't continue to do so.

Fans won't be disappointed for the Season 7 premiere, which looks nothing like the Season 6 finale. Archer premieres on FX at 9 p.m. Thursday.

Our gang is now a group of private investigators in Los Angeles, after the CIA black-listed them at the end of last season. One hiccup for the rest of them, who are used to a certain pecking order, is that agency accountant-general lackey Cyril Figgis' name is on the door because, as he rubs it in, he's the "owner, CEO and fully licensed private investigator." The others can only get a license if he signs off on it.

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And that leaves former boss Malory Archer up to her eyeballs in zingers in the premiere episode, written by creator Adam Reed.

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The only thing Malory likes about LA is that you can buy liquor at the grocery store.

On the move to investigation instead of black ops, a line delivered by the always amazing Jessica Walter with a sneer: "This is safer than being a librarian."

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Of course, some things never change. Sterling Archer is still under the delusion that he's the world's greatest spy. He's still driving ridiculous cars. He's still highly inappropriate, as are his compatriots. And he's still the thirstiest man on the planet.

He offers a client a drink. "It's 9 o'clock in the moring," she says.

"I'm still on Eastern time," he answers. "It's lunchtime there."

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And Lana still tolerates him. S/N: Good on the animators for adding some softness to Lana, it seems. It's only appropriate since she's had a baby. And, is that a weave I see? Bygones ...

The first couple of episodes function less as LOL-funny. But some running jokes are in rare form and the scholarly and less-than-scholarly references are still there.

Think of them as more teeing up than hitting the long ball. One thing fans know about Archer, though, and that's when the setup is long, the payoff is good.

As he says, "How awesome is it to be back doing what we're best at?"

References to Charlie's Angels, A-Team and Magnum P.I. pepper the episodes. Slight spoiler here if you haven't been paying attention: When it opens with our hero floating face-down in a pool followed by a card that says, "Six months earlier," you've got to be ready for the long haul.