As is usual with "Archer," the cultural references are wide-ranging and frequent, and it seems the show's writers could never commit themselves to just one. But it's interesting to watch them restrict themselves to era-appropriate jokes.

"Archer: Dreamland" is the eighth season of the animated comedy series. The basic plot is that the show's titular main character is in a coma and dreaming that he's a private detective in the 1940s. The show leads with a fairly obvious main reference: The plot begins when Archer realizes that his partner has been murdered, which automatically reminds noir buffs of Sam Spade in the classic film (and novel) "The Maltese Falcon."

The next most obvious one is the character Charlotte Vandertunt (who is the dreamworld version of the regular Cheryl character), who is herself a reference to the Vanderbilts, who made their money in railroads (like Cheryl in the future world). In the dreamworld, she's a publishing heiress, which seems to be a reference to the Hearst family. Indeed, in the second episode she says that her father "started the Spanish-American war," an accusation that has been directed at the real William Randolph Hearst.

It goes on from there. See, for example, Archer's throwaway line to Lana that "1933 called, they want their gold digger back." He's always delivered lines like these so fast and frequently that they can go over a viewer's head, which is why it's so impressive that the writers took the time to pick appropriate ones. It's a reference to the Busby Berkeley musical "Gold Diggers of 1933," about aspiring actresses, which featured the classic song "We're in the Money." 

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