# Rick and Morty -- the new animated show from Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [January 21, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380 "2014-01-21T17:43:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/481 "2017-10-03T03:30:52Z")
Sort of the point though warnt it? While he’s proving his god level powers fighting to the president he’s apparently demoted in importance and in power in his family … ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/482 "2017-10-03T07:43:30Z")
Just binged the season (didn’t get into the series until about episode 8, so I waited until it was finished so I could get the whole thing at once)…so I’m a bit behind on commenting. > [@Smapti](#): > > There’s definitely something ironic about Tommy’s dad being wrongly accused of eating him while, in Froopyworld, Tommy actually _was_ eating his children. There are two things about this that delighted me… 1. This is the sort of thing that a lot of shows, especially those in the sorta-cynical vein of R&M, would lampshade the hell out of…but they left it entirely unspoken. 2. Tommy was only _one_ kid that his dad was accused of eating…and we (and Rick, and Beth) have no reason to actually think he didn’t eat the others. So…he may well have deserved his punishment, after all. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > If he hadn’t done it before, why was he so casual about burying himself? Morty is properly freaked out by the idea. ‘Cuz he’s friggin’ RICK. Nobody cares less about Rick than another Rick. > [@magnusblitz](#): > > the action was good but the family plotline seemed a bit rushed. Disagreed - I actually felt the opposite - the family side was great, the rest was actually annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/483 "2017-10-03T08:08:33Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Could also be because the president hasn’t changed since season 2 in 2015. I wouldn’t read too much into it, they just wanted Keith David back. Maybe it could have been written back after end of Season 2, that would be October 2015, a good year left of Obama’s power. Not sure it would have worked in any similar way with Trump. Too much of a divisive character to make harmless fun from, and he’d probably be ranting about it on twitter for months… As for 10 versus 14 episodes. It sound likes Harmon held back on the improved and fun episodes, such as the cable episode and others not tightly written… It appears he’d be more likely to do them next season… ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/485 "2017-10-03T11:04:54Z")
I was genuinely surprised they made the Clone story a subplot. I thought for sure they would just make us wonder. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/486 "2017-10-03T13:45:10Z")
Has anyone besides Rick and now Beth broken the fourth wall before? cause I don’t think it’s a coincidence that now that Beth better understands who she is and what it means to be Rick’s daughter all of the sudden leads to her casually mentioning being on a TV show. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/487 "2017-10-03T14:38:09Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Has anyone besides Rick and now Beth broken the fourth wall before? Well, there’s Mister Poopybutthole, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/488 "2017-10-03T15:02:55Z")
I was sure Phoenix Person and his “wife” were going to show up in the very last scene. Kind of disappointed they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/489 "2017-10-03T15:15:10Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Well, there’s Mister Poopybutthole, I guess. You know, now that we know more about Beth’s past, I view her shooting of Mister P a bit differently. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/490 "2017-10-03T16:50:52Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I was genuinely surprised they made the Clone story a subplot. I thought for sure they would just make us wonder. To be fair, I think most people, if offered this chance under similar circumstances (and knowing Rick for what he is) would immediately wonder if they were a clone and possibly how many other clones there were in the past. I know I would. So it is in keeping with the dark tone of the series to retain this little bit of existential terror. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/491 "2017-10-03T17:59:21Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > To be fair, I think most people, if offered this chance under similar circumstances (and knowing Rick for what he is) would immediately wonder if they were a clone and possibly how many other clones there were in the past. > > I know I would. > > So it is in keeping with the dark tone of the series to retain this little bit of existential terror. Honestly I thought that was kind of weak because the whole thing is easily shut down with “if you were a clone do you think I would let you remember that conversation?”. Because it’s absolutely true, a clone would never even be aware of the possibility, that would be a huge oversight. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/492 "2017-10-03T18:01:24Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Honestly I thought that was kind of weak because the whole thing is easily shut down with “if you were a clone do you think I would let you remember that conversation?”. Because it’s absolutely true, a clone would never even be aware of the possibility, that would be a huge oversight. Except it is a check on a potential clone. If the clone says ‘yes, I want to run away’, then you shut down the clone and replace it with another that hasn’t reached that point. On the other hand, I could see how it could change her viewpoint, as she now has a ‘way out’ that isn’t totally abandoning her family. That safety valve allows her to relax and change her viewpoint a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/493 "2017-10-03T18:54:19Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I feel like this would have been a good season 2 episode. Season 3 put my expectations a bit higher; this felt a little weak compared to episodes like Ricklantis Mixup and Morty’s Mindblowers. Still solid stuff, though. Agreed. Pickle Rick is still my favorite from this season. The hilariously over-the-top battle between Rick and Jaguar in that episode was _almost_ matched by Rick and the President’s smackdown in the season finale. > [@Smapti](#): > > “The Kennedy Sex Tunnels?” > “You’ll forget you saw them, of course. Along with, in order of national embarrassment, the Truman Cocaine Lounge, the McKinley Hooker Dump, and the Lincoln Slave Coliseum. _He didn’t free them all._” Great line. And did you notice the fake-the-Moon-landing film set in the basement of the White House? > [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I was sure Phoenix Person and his “wife” were going to show up in the very last scene. Kind of disappointed they didn’t. Good point. I’d forgotten about them. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/494 "2017-10-03T22:36:54Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Sort of the point though warnt it? While he’s proving his god level powers fighting to the president he’s apparently demoted in importance and in power in his family … Come to think of it, didn’t they just do an episode where Rick is so incredibly petty about status that he’ll cheerfully wipe Morty’s memory if the kid so much as beats him at checkers or catches him getting a word wrong? And if Beth ever reveals that she loves Summer more than Morty – well, it’s down the ol’ memory hole, right? Rick decides Jerry should forget something, and, hey, presto, done? This isn’t some obscure callback to an episode that aired three years ago; it only just got established. So wouldn’t Rick just shrug and amnesia the status quo right back into place, with him calling the shots as the head of the household? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/495 "2017-10-04T13:15:53Z")
> [@Kamino Neko](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > There’s definitely something ironic about Tommy’s dad being wrongly accused of eating him while, in Froopyworld, Tommy actually was eating his children. > > There are two things about this that delighted me… > > 1. This is the sort of thing that a lot of shows, especially those in the sorta-cynical vein of R&M, would lampshade the hell out of…but they left it entirely unspoken. How do you figure? Beth says _“Has it occurred to you that, if I did try killing Tommy, it might be because I was jealous of his family?”_ – and Rick’s spoken reply is, of course, _“Why? Wasn’t his dad, like, some kind of cannibal? Seems like it must be hereditary.”_ Beth then leaves to fetch Tommy back to save said dad from execution, and cue Tommy doing his act with the locals (_“Next item on the docket: I would like to have sex with some of you, and then eat the babies”_) right when she arrives to explain: _“Your dad, uh, people think your dad ate you.”__“So? You doy-oy! People should eat people!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/496 "2017-10-04T21:12:23Z")
That’s not lampshading the irony at all. ‘Wow, that totally makes sense’ is basically the opposite of that. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/497 "2017-10-04T21:31:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > … And did you notice the fake-the-Moon-landing film set in the basement of the White House? Yes, and also the rather impressively-large pile of human remains. ! > [@Chimera](#): > > …I could see how it could change her viewpoint, as she now has a ‘way out’ that isn’t totally abandoning her family. That safety valve allows her to relax and change her viewpoint a bit. It’s that level of psychological sophistication that keeps this show so high on the ‘essential viewing’ lists of so many. That, and the dick jokes. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/498 "2017-10-04T21:38:06Z")
There was a fake moon landing set, a Kennedy assassination set, a 9/11 set and a Washington crossing the Delaware set. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/499 "2017-10-05T03:08:22Z")
I missed all of those except the first. I should take another look! ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/500 "2017-10-05T03:35:30Z")
Keith David as the President is doubly brilliant to anyone who’s played _Saints Row III_ or _Saints Row IV_, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/501 "2017-10-05T15:13:31Z")
Does he do the President’s voice in those games? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380.md?page=26)