# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/141 "2015-09-03T16:54:11Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Which is not how I personally like a main character. I like how he has been sort of riding a moral line, or just beyond it, but not too far. He sold weapons to the assassin, but took care to point out that the assassin would kill people whatever he did. He activily tried to save earth from the heads. That’s what I like to see, not the adventures of mr. evil and a kid. This isn’t the first time Rick has resorted to cold-blooded murder, of course. Just last week he disintegrated the president’s bodyguards who were just doing their job (and lied about turning them into snakes). He casually executed “Uncle Steve” before he was even 100% sure he was a memory parasite. He blew up the Zigerian flagship with hundreds or thousands of people onboard, most of whom were probably completely uninvolved in the attempt to scam him. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/142 "2015-09-03T17:05:52Z")
Yeah, “respect for or protection of sentient life” is not high on Rick’s list of priorities. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/143 "2015-09-03T17:40:52Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > This isn’t the first time Rick has resorted to cold-blooded murder, of course. Just last week he disintegrated the president’s bodyguards who were just doing their job (and lied about turning them into snakes). He casually executed “Uncle Steve” before he was even 100% sure he was a memory parasite. He blew up the Zigerian flagship with hundreds or thousands of people onboard, most of whom were probably completely uninvolved in the attempt to scam him. Yes. These are all examples that I think are interesting, and where he hasn’t lost me completely. He killed the bodyguards as a way to help save the whole planet. If there are these parasites, you are going to have to take chances. Otherwise they will spread, and possibly take over the world. The Zigerians blew themselves up. And if you fight for someone who is doing evil things, you can be treated like a combatant. Etc. But killing a whole world in order to save money on the battery. No. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/144 "2015-09-03T17:57:55Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > But killing a whole world in order to save money on the battery. No. At that point, it’s almost not even about the battery itself to Rick so much as it’s about getting one over on Zeep. Rick barely gets along with the other Ricks, so the idea of a being that he _created_ being as intelligent and cocksure as he is, and getting the upper hand on him, is intolerable. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/145 "2015-09-03T18:25:25Z")
Whatever the reason, am I really the only one for whom this event crossed a line? In all future episodes, what’s the point of moral input from Morty? If he will commit genocide under these circumstances, there is obviously nothing he won’t do. I can watch TV with some pretty bad people, such as Rick before this event, or Walter White. But this is too much! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/146 "2015-09-03T18:39:37Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > In all future episodes, what’s the point of moral input from Morty? If he will commit genocide under these circumstances, there is obviously nothing he won’t do Has there _ever_ been any point to Morty’s moral input? The very first episode of the show featured him dragging Morty out of school against his will, using him as an intergalactic drug mule, and then allowing him to slip into a suppository-induced psychosis in order to hide said drug muling from his family. Rick is, at best, a sociopath and always has been. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/147 "2015-09-03T18:53:45Z")
'fraid you’re right. But very entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/148 "2015-09-03T20:01:56Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Whatever the reason, am I really the only one for whom this event crossed a line? It didn’t cross one for me. It’s a cartoon. A dark, dark cartoon. The unreality of the medium gives it a bit more leeway to play with boundaries. I’m not always all about relating to characters anyway - I just need them to entertain me. For me at least this goes even more so for cartoon characters. And entertain **Rick & Morty** does :). I think anything _can_ be funny if done right and if it is simultaneously disturbing ( like the ship’s devastating emotional assault defense ) and makes you think that is often to the better. I’m sure the show could step over the line of funny for me. If, say, Mr Jellybean’s attempted rape of Morty or Summer’s near gang-rape by the male Gazorpazorpians had actually been successful…well…that would probably have been not so amusing. But for me at least so far they’ve successfully managed to walk the tightrope between hilariously bleak and just plain bleak. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/149 "2015-09-05T07:05:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Has there _ever_ been any point to Morty’s moral input? The very first episode of the show featured him dragging Morty out of school against his will, using him as an intergalactic drug mule, and then allowing him to slip into a suppository-induced psychosis in order to hide said drug muling from his family. Rick is, at best, a sociopath and always has been. In the Unity episode on the derelict ship he advises his grandkids if they find any facehugger eggs to give them a good shake since they are valuable. I suppose you could argue he has a way to remove the alien fetus without it killing them, and later in the episode he does sheepishly worry whether they were in the town Unity nuked. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/150 "2015-09-05T17:09:49Z")
On a completely different note. We’ve known since the first season that Rick’s surname is “Sanchez.” Neither he nor Beth look like anything but the standard cartooniverse WASP. Is there any reason I’ve missed that the creators gave Rick a Hispanic name? Could be mixed parentage, I suppose. Jerry Garcia certainly physically favored his Irish mom over his Mexican bandleader dad. A lot of Deadheads I know are surprised when they learn Jerry’s father was Mexican. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/151 "2015-09-05T17:23:12Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > On a completely different note. We’ve known since the first season that Rick’s surname is “Sanchez.” Neither he nor Beth look like anything but the standard cartooniverse WASP. Is there any reason I’ve missed that the creators gave Rick a Hispanic name? > > Could be mixed parentage, I suppose. Jerry Garcia certainly physically favored his Irish mom over his Mexican bandleader dad. A lot of Deadheads I know are surprised when they learn Jerry’s father was Mexican. You might be surprised that Jerry’s paternal grandfather was from Spain and that Jerry had no Mexican heritage. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/152 "2015-09-06T14:05:01Z")
“Maybe we’ll see Chewbacca…” has become a codephrase in the Isamu household when it’s time for nookie. I don’t know what it means, but it just might be filthy. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/153 "2015-09-06T19:30:06Z")
Neither Rick nor his daughter Beth look Latino/a in the usual animated style. Just not a dominant gene set for either of them, or maybe the appearances of one or both were changed due to something Rick did - or had done to him - in his dimension-hopping? ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/154 "2015-09-06T19:59:35Z")
I just discovered this show and am working my way through season 1, but I really love the voicework - the slight stumbling of both Rick and Morty. I literally (REAL literally, not Internet literally) had tears running down my face at Rick’s reaction to the Lucky Charms parody in “Rixty Minutes”. “Kid, when you’re selling cereal - you’ve, you’ve, you’ve got to pump the gas. Gotta put the pedal to the metal, OK?” ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/155 "2015-09-07T04:11:56Z")
The blank faces on those kids as they gutted the leprechaun is what got to me. Ye gods. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/156 "2015-09-07T16:48:05Z")
Apparently there was no new episode last night. How am I supposed to get schwifty without my fix? ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/157 "2015-09-07T19:14:25Z")
No new episode is what we in bird culture call a dick move. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/158 "2015-09-07T21:37:06Z")
ALL of Rick’s moves are dick moves! ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/159 "2015-09-08T16:18:31Z")
I watched the first two episodes, then immediately had to get my brother in on the show. We binged every episode this weekend. It is my new favorite show. Very good writing! ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380/160 "2015-09-08T18:13:07Z")
I discovered the show in late July, and sort of did a light binge until I got caught up a couple of weeks ago, and now I await a new episode each week (well, except this week.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rick-and-morty-the-new-animated-show-from-dan-harmon-and-justin-roiland/679380.md?page=9)