Animated Space Adventure Television Series Codexery

Rick and Morty

An adult animated sci-fi sitcom about a mad scientist and his grandson.

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The show centers on the Smith household, including parents Jerry and Beth, their children Summer and Morty, and Beth's father Rick Sanchez, who lives with them as a guest.[1] The family lives in a suburb outside Seattle, Washington.[1] Rick is an eccentric, alcoholic mad scientist who frequently takes his 14-year-old grandson Morty on adventures through portals and in a flying saucer.[1][2]

Making and release

Adult Swim approached Harmon in 2012 after he was briefly fired from Community, and he phoned Roiland to ask about ideas for an animated series.[3][4] Roiland brought up using the Doc and Mharti characters, renamed Rick and Morty, and Adult Swim executive Nick Weidenfeld suggested that Rick be Morty's grandfather.[5] Roiland produced a webisode called The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti, a parody of Back to the Future characters, which Harmon characterized as "a bastardization, a pornographic vandalization".[6] The debut season aired from December 2013 through April 2014, consisting of eleven episodes.[7][8]

Adult Swim placed an order for 70 new episodes across an unspecified number of seasons in May 2018.[9] October 15, 2023 marked the premiere of the seventh season, with Ian Cardoni voicing Rick and Harry Belden voicing Morty following Roiland's dismissal.[10][11]

What the cited sources add

A 2014 Vulture interview with the creators notes that the show is inspired by British-style storytelling, not "the sterile, rubber-lined room of American children's or family TV"[12] The same interview states that the characters started as Roiland's "punk-rock maligning of the Back to the Future relationships"[12] A 2015 Junkee review describes the show as "a deviously clever animated show" that grounds Back to the Future in the drama of a dysfunctional suburban family.[13] The Junkee review notes that Rick's "complete disregard for the wellbeing of his grandson allows him to throw the duo into dangerous inter-dimensional adventures"[13]

A 2021 Guardian review of season five describes the show as "funny, clever and brilliant" and points out that Morty uses a device that opens a space portal, rather than a DeLorean.[14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Roiland, Justin, "Washington state- outside of Seattle", September 3, 2016; "Rick and Morty series five review – proof that Elon Musk must be stopped!", the Guardian, 2021-06-21 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kandell, "Rick & Morty: When Did Rick Stop Burping (& is He Still an Alcoholic?)", Screen Rant, March 23, 2020; Pulliam-Moore, "Rick and Morty…This Is Heavy", Gizmodo, 2021-09-03; Cameron, "Rick & Morty: Why Season 2's Cob Planet Was So Terrifying To Rick", ScreenRant, 2022-01-12; Lebovitz, "How Rick And Morty's Summer Changed Because Of Spencer Grammer - Exclusive", Looper, 2020-11-19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Topel, "Exclusive Interview: Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland on 'Rick and Morty'", CraveOnline, December 2, 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Villarreal, "Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland talk bringing absurd to 'Rick and Morty'", Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sepinwall, "Mega Dan Harmon interview, part 3: 'Rick and Morty'", HitFix, March 24, 2014; Topel, "Exclusive Interview: Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland on 'Rick and Morty'", CraveOnline, December 2, 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Czajkowski, "Dan Harmon's Rick and Morty Premieres on Adult Swim on Dec. 2", Splitsider, November 12, 2013; Sepinwall, "Mega Dan Harmon interview, part 3: 'Rick and Morty'", HitFix, March 24, 2014; Sepinwall, "Mega Dan Harmon interview, part 3: 'Rick and Morty'", HitFix, March 24, 2014; Villarreal, "Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland talk bringing absurd to 'Rick and Morty'", Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2014; Rose, "'Community's' Dan Harmon Reveals the Wild Story Behind His Firing and Rehiring", The Hollywood Reporter, July 17, 2013; Goldman, "D en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Andreeva, "Adult Swim Puts Animated 'Harold & Kumar' In Development, Greenlights Seven Pilots", Deadline Hollywood, May 15, 2012; Andreeva, "Adult Swim Picks Up Dan Harmon's Animated Comedy 'Rick & Morty' To Series", Deadline Hollywood, October 29, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fischer, "Here's the First Episode of Dan Harmon's Animated 'Rick and Morty'", Slash Film, November 27, 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: O'Neal, "Rick and Morty Renewed for Season 4: Dan Harmon Tells Us All About It", GQ, May 10, 2018; Hibberd, "'Rick and Morty' Co-Creator Answers Our Burning Season 3 Questions", September 26, 2017; Andreeva, "'Rick And Morty' Gets Massive 70-Episode Renewal By Adult Swim; Creators Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland Ink New Deal", Deadline Hollywood, May 10, 2018; Hermanns, "Rick & Morty Future After 70-Episode Order Addressed By Creator", ScreenRant, 2022-08-19; Spry, "Here's exactly when you can watch 'Rick and Morty' Season 6 Episode 2 on Adu en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bart, "Rick and Morty season 7 will replace Justin Roiland's characters with 'soundalikes'", Polygon, July 21, 2023; Hibberd, "'Rick and Morty' Season 7 Trailer Reveals New Voice Actors", The Hollywood Reporter, 2023-09-25; Goldberg, "How 'Rick and Morty' Cast Its New Voice Stars", The Hollywood Reporter, 2023-10-16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Rick and Morty" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Macy, "Rick and Morty Season 4 Coming November 2019", IGN, May 15, 2019; Hibberd, "Rick and Morty creators give first season 4 interview", July 17, 2019; Anderton, "'Rick and Morty' Season 4 Trailer: The Disastrous Duo Returns with New Episodes in November", /Film, October 7, 2019; Goldberg, "'Rick and Morty' Trailer Teases the Final Five Episodes of the New Season", Collider, April 1, 2020; Evans, "'Rick And Morty' Season 6 Gets September Premiere Date On Adult Swim", July 27, 2022; Hibberd, "'Rick and Morty' Season 7 Premiere Date Reve en.wikipedia.org
  12. Cohen, "Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland on Rick and Morty, How Community Is Like Star Trek, and Puberty", Vulture, January 24, 2014. facts only, no text reused. vulture.com
  13. Sebastian, "The Mad Genius of Adult Swim's 'Rick And Morty'", Junkee, July 28, 2015. facts only, no text reused. junkee.com
  14. "Rick and Morty series five review – proof that Elon Musk must be stopped!", the Guardian, 2021-06-21. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Rick and Morty (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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