Rick and Morty: Good Show, m.A.A.d. fandom

September 2013 saw the end of one of the best episodic comedies of all time when Futurama aired its final episode. I was just a kid in high school at the time and my biggest hobby was turning on comedy central or adult swim and just doing homework late. Late into the night, I will always remember that the end of Futurama is such a bittersweet moment that we finally got to see the final payoff of the series' 15-year journey, but at the same time, this was the end, no one was sure if it would ever there would be. another

show

like this again luckily for us we didn't have to wait long holy shit tomorrow adult swimming presents a new comedy from dan harmon and justin roiland

rick

and

morty

premiering monday december 2nd at 10:30 in adult swim, all the kids out of the pool for adult swim I remember it was around thanksgiving when adult swim started airing

rick

and

morty

promos, a

show

that was unlike anything the chain would have produced before adult swim had always existed as a playground of artistic expression and creative experimentation.

It's a channel. Within a channel that allowed it to operate without the financial responsibilities of a major media network in the early days, Adult Swim subsisted primarily by syndicating canceled Fox network shows. They had a small but loyal viewer base that was instrumental in convincing network executives to offer programs. Like Futurama, a second chance, however, the most intriguing parts of Adult Swim can be found in its original programming. For a long time, the Adult Swim originals were characterized by extremely crude, low-budget animation and cutting-edge humor, part of the charm of shows like aqua Teen The power of hunger is that something so strange could exist on television.

This type of show earned Adult Swim the unofficial label of stoner's paradise, but I don't think it's fair to define the network by this narrow premise. Adult Swim boldly greenlit shows that could not exist on any other network, The Boondocks was a beautifully animated, brilliantly written show that offered compelling commentary on social issues, but due to its limited appeal, no other network wanted it. Adult Swim was the only network that didn't care about the marketing they delivered to artists. the reins to present his vision unfiltered and uncastrated by a rigid obligation to appease corporate overlords In many ways Rick and Morty was no different than any other adult swim show The show's origins date back to the adventures of Doc and Marty A crude parody of Back to the Future animated and voiced by Justin Roiland, the webtoon was featured on Channel 101, an online hub for experimental television hosted by comedian Dan Harmon.

Years later, the animation would serve as a model for the new series. animated swimming for adults and voila, wow! What happened there? Why don't you ask the smartest people in the universe? Jerry. If I could use one word to describe Rick and Morty. I would say it is a unique program. There is nothing like it on television. It's an unholy combination of Futurama. regular show and freddy were touched upon the show is both raw and elegant features spontaneous improvisation and meticulous attention to detail it's impressive how the writers managed to create a show like this without it becoming completely historically incoherent we have to look back at rick and morty As one of the most culturally significant shows of its decade, perhaps no other show is more connected to the zeitgeist of the 2010s, it was not only entertaining, it captured the hearts and minds of a generation of young adults. , Rick and Morty encompasses the search for meaning.

In an era of aimlessness and cynicism, it's not just a show about an antihero, it's an anti-show, what did you do? Almost every aspect of the show is designed to subvert conventional media tropes, it's a sitcom in which nothing ever goes back to normal the characters occupy a whimsical cartoon world but suffer gruesome and realistic consequences the writers intentionally interrupt a cheesy emotional moment with a ridiculous fourth wall break that erases any tension in the scene this sardonic and ironic put down is something that could only have succeeded in the internet age and it did. The first season of Rick and Morty premiered to an audience of 1 million viewers.

By the end of the season, viewership had doubled for the first time in history. People went out of their way to tune in to adult swimming on Sunday nights. The new episodes would generate memes and theories of widespread discussion in web forums. It was not uncommon at this time to get millions of views on YouTube videos. Just talk about the program. Rick and Morty was a hit with both casual viewers and critics. At one point, it reached its peak. at number 7 on imdb's top 250 tv shows on paper, it appears to be not only one of the best shows of its time, but one of the best of all time, and yet when you ask people their opinion on the show today, you'll find the responses are much more polarizing than the critical consensus would have you believe.

It seems that you can no longer mention the show online without sparking a fierce debate. Nowadays there are many people who say that the show went downhill, some say the show was never

good

First of all, I remember a time when the show was universally revered, but at some point something went very, very wrong so I can understand what made people hate Rick and Morty, we have to understand what made people love Rick and Morty, well, what do you do? I love Rick and Morty, most people would say they watch Rick and Morty to see two guys have crazy sci-fi adventures.

Many like to praise intelligent and shocking comedy. Some find the raw, improvised moments charming, others relate to the show's nihilistic undertones and appreciate its commentary on the nature of society. A lot of people got involved in the story and world building and are still watching to see where the story goes. These are all valid reasons to like the show, but if you ask me, a lot of people overlook it. the only element that really makes Rick and Morty click, ask yourself what is it about Rick and Morty. You could find a million answers to this question, but ultimately, at its core, Rick and Morty is a show about a dysfunctional family, more specifically, Rick and Morty. is a show about how a dysfunctional family deals with identity, coming of age, belonging, wasted potential, mediocrity, and loneliness—all of these are predominant conflicts embodied by each member of the Smith family.

I initially compared Rick and Morty to Futurama, but thematically it has a lot more in common with The Simpsons. On a superficial level, you could describe Rick and Morty as a sci-fi comedy, but on a conceptual level the show is much closer to a drama. familiar. This is the thematic engine that drives the characters, story, and philosophy of the show, but don't just take my word for it, the answer was hidden in plain sight from the beginning, science makes sense, family doesn't, unfortunately, I feel that the majority of the audience has fundamentally misunderstood the show's overall conceit, choosing instead to focus on the much more bombastic sci-fi elements, much of the controversy surrounding the current show can be attributed to the audience basing their expectations on a sci-fi adventure rather than a family drama from the beginning, leading to numerous articles designating Rick and Morty as the smartest. show on television, this ultimately caused people to assign tremendous scientific and philosophical form to nonsensical aspects of the show.

There were people trying to dissect the broader intellectual meaning behind Mr Poopy Butthole. Rick and Morty is a very clever show, but most of the science presented by the show was more or less arbitrary. Futurama was a much more realistic show in its depiction of scientific concepts. Ken Keeler once even presented an original mathematical proof in episode form, but simply being a smart show isn't enough to carry a piece. from the media to transcendent popularity science fiction has always existed as the awkward, nerdy brother of its much more popular counterpart, fantasy, it's difficult to attract audiences with science fiction when most people don't even have a basic understanding of science, this often leads to a science fiction feeling. sterile and esoteric as they alienate the general public with complex scientific jargon to make science fiction more accessible, you have to add a grounded element that the average person can relate to for Futurema, this comes in the form of the fry Common themes, finding purpose and adapting to a strange world are somewhat universal themes that everyone can understand.

Star Wars and Star Trek were synonymous with science fiction in the 20th century. One of these franchises exploded as a ubiquitous cultural juggernaut, while the other is still generally considered a niche nerd subculture, the difference being that Star Wars had simpler, more relatable elements to help people engage with the story on paper. . The Star Wars saga is about an epic space adventure, but at its core Star Wars simply tells the story of a dysfunctional family. Rick and Morty is the story of a dysfunctional family told through the lens of science fiction. The show uses science fiction as a means to explore the dynamics of family drama.

Almost all of the show's sci-fi concepts only serve to accentuate the internal conflict between the family. members the meseek box represents the family's insecurities the interdimensional cable explores options and consequences the entire multiverse serves as an allegory for rick's inability to face his personal demons, choosing instead to run away and forget about them the show tends to focus on rick more than anyone because he's the most flawed character morty do you know what wubba lubba dub dub means oh that's just rick's stupid meaningless catchphrase ain't no nonsense in the language of my people it means i have a big pain please help me many people have interpreted the character of rick as the embodiment of nihilism and I have used this idea to define rick and morty as a nihilistic program.

Actually, I'd say that Rick's initial characterization serves as a warning against nihilism on the surface. Rick seems to be an aloof renegade who is too smart to care about the problems of the universe, listen Morty, I hate to break it to you, but what people call love is just a chemical reaction that forces animals to reproduce. However, the more you look, the more you realize that Rick's incomparable intellect has left him deeply alone. He was thinking, you know? I could watch a movie I'm not programmed for friendship now whatever you want He must stay constantly drunk to protect himself from the harsh realities of existence Rick is terrified by the fact that no matter how smart he is he will never be able to truly escape his human flaws because To be human is to be irrational.

There is no empirical scientific reason to care about others. You could live your entire life simply exploiting the

good

will of your peers as if they were an expendable resource and of no use. difference the nihilistic side of rick wants him to do just that we both know that if there is any truth in the universe it is that ricks doesn't care about morty but deep down he really does care about certain people in his family the overwhelmingly logical mind of Rick forces him to treat the universe with a nihilistic perspective, but in doing so he loses his humanity.

Break the cycle. Morty rises above. He focuses on science using science. Rick can make up whatever he wants, but he remains unable to form a meaningful connection with anyone in the universe, not even identical versions of himself. Rick's characterization provides nuanced commentary on the nature of human progress as our civilization becomes more technologically advanced. Are we losing touch with what makes us human? Why does it seem that, despite existing in the most intelligent era in human history, people are more miserable today? More than ever, Rick and Morty have a jaded wisdom that's strangely uplifting. At times, the show doesn't stop to acknowledge the painful brutality that life has to offer, but it does provide comfort as to why you shouldn't just abandon the Rick and Morty philosophy.

Morty is less about wallowing in life's dark moments and more about rescuing the meaning of those dark moments. Do I agree with Rick that nothing means anything? No, I don't because the knowledge that nothingIt doesn't matter, even if it's accurate, it doesn't get you anywhere, a predominant theme in the early seasons. is that even at your lowest point your decisions still matter rick and morty makes this evident through the importance of consequences it is a show where minor mistakes can cause lasting and permanent damage to the characters and the world morty asks rick Her making a love potion for the school dance causes the entire earth to become so inhospitable that they have to abandon their universe entirely.

Many like to point to this moment as evidence of the show's nihilism by claiming that each world in Rick's multiverse matters so little that you could just throw it away. away and start over with a new one, however, this event did matter. Morty is completely traumatized by this moment and never sees the world the same after this point. Part of the reason Rick is so miserable is that he justifies his recklessness by saying nothing of the sort. matters even though the consequences of his actions affect him in very harmful ways, Rick's predominant character arc throughout the series is one of responsibility and realizing that his actions do matter because of the consequences they bring. to the people he cares about and no other episode represents this.

More than just the season 2 finale, this is the episode where Rick finally stops running away from his problems and takes responsibility for his actions. In my opinion, this moment marks the point at which Rick and Morty peaked as a series since it aired, the show never has. It's been the same after two years and 21 episodes. Rick and Morty was about to undergo some major changes, but if you rearrange the letters in the meaning of life, it becomes the engine of a movie or, more pessimistically, the fine game of nil hello internet. here pickle rick and welcome to the movie hypothesis in today's episode we're going to get nervous as we finally solve the mystery once and for all of why rick is really depressed now you could say that rick's depression is caused by a variety of very factors. obvious that anyone could understand it by watching the show for more than two seconds, but to be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to build theories without evidence.

In episode nine of the first season of Rick and Morty, the show reveals the hidden truth of why Rick can never be happy. So, as you can see in this shot, Rick is very clearly showing the symptoms of male pattern baldness. No, jeez, he's crying. That's too bad for Rick, if only there was an amazing scientific invention that was up to 90 percent effective at reducing and stopping. symptoms of hair loss we present to you this video maintains hair loss prevention the most affordable hair loss product approved by the fda talk to a real doctor online today to have your medication sent directly to your door and think Rick could have been happy all the time if he just lived in the universe where he used to protect his hair, however to be fair you have to have a very low follicle count to be a nihilist but hey that's just a hypothesis , a cinematic hypothesis, stay tuned for the next time we discover the the mystery of jerry's erectile dysfunction visit keep.com lemon with 50 off your first order that's keps.com employmoni the suspense of the second season had generated more intrigue for the show than ever.

For 18 months, fans speculated wild theories about what would happen next. on april fools day 2017 we received our answer welcome to the darkest year of our adventures the season 3 premiere was perhaps the boldest episode of the series that chose to completely blow up the family by having beth divorce jerry This change represented a major departure from the structure of the first two seasons, but fans were excited for the premiere and we're excited to see where the story would go. Two episodes later, we got the most infamous installment of the series. I became a Pickle Morty. m pickle rick pickle rick was the first time rick and morty really divided the audience and to this day it remains one of the most criticized episodes of the entire series.

Some viewers cite pickle rick as the moment rick and morty jumped the shark a notch. with no return from which the show's quality never recovered, so what went wrong with Pickle Rick? A lot of people realized something was wrong, but had a hard time articulating why most people just know it as that episode with the annoying meme. but the problems with the episode run much deeper in many ways, Pickle Rick betrayed the philosophy of the entire series up to that point, it did so in three main aspects, starting with the structure. Rick and Morty would always portray their conflict through the lens of science fiction.

It left a lot of room for interpretation, as the show's message was never directly stated. Everything changed when Pickle Rick had Susan Sarandon literally explain to the audience how they were supposed to interpret the show. There was nothing metaphorical or nuanced, just a normal human therapist in normal old land telling the audience how they should feel. I understand that the writers were trying something new, but this scene felt cheap after this moment, much of the overt mystique of Rick's character was extinguished and the series became As a result, it's less compelling to talk about Rick's character, this episode fundamentally alters the way Rick is written as a moving forward character to begin with.

Rick's power level from this point forward is completely absurd in the previous seasons. Rick was smart but he was still vulnerable most of the time. At that point, all Rick could do was run away and escape through a portal. The new seasons portray Rick as an invincible killing machine who can take down enemies with ease. This ruins the tension of all the action scenes because you know Rick is no longer in real life. He is in danger most of the time, he will defeat his enemies in a second with an overwhelming body boost that is never explained or mentioned again.

You know, maybe something like this could have come in handy that time a teenage girl beat him up and robbed him. Rick's new unstoppable combat ability is emblematic of a much larger change in the character's overall presentation. Rick's entire character arc of responsibility is more or less absent in season 3. Somewhere along the way, Rick transformed from flawed scientist to smartest man in the world. universe the smartest man in the universe you want him to get information from the smartest mammal in the galaxy that can make him the smartest man in the universe the show only starts calling rick this in season three at no point before did any another character I refer to Rick as the smartest person in the universe.

I always thought Rick was smart enough to see the universe in a more complex way, but he wasn't an omnipotent god. There were many other beings in the program that far surpassed any of his. abilities, but in the newer seasons, the entire universe seems to exist simply as Rick's playground when you know that nothing matters, the universe is yours, smart people have a chance to rise to the top, they take reality to heart. a twist, this caused the third season to feel very unbalanced, there are much less sincere Character Moments and much more biting cynicism. The show will present a thoughtful origin story about Rick and then discard it two minutes later as a mere plot device to get Rick out of prison.

So was he real? Did it matter? Do you do anything during the season? matter, it was as if Rick's nihilism had seeped into the tone of the entire show from this point on, most of the family members losing their defining characteristics to become more like Rick, limiting the nihilism to a single character It's okay, but when the whole program is revealing. If you say nothing matters, then the audience has to ask themselves why the show matters. I get that this is supposed to be the darkest year of our adventures, but season 3 doesn't feel so much dark as aimless.

Rick and Morty were always dark. The show was a dark comedy, wasn't it dark when Morty was raped by King Jellybean or the multiple times Rick tried to end his own life? Season 3 did not add dark moments, but rather subtracted comedic moments. Pickle Rick represents an unpleasant hanging malaise. throughout the season the characters stop developing consequences it doesn't matter so much the family has very little to do because they spend the entire season apart only to get back together at the end as if nothing had happened and by the way you know when you are when you are telling these little things stories, this is a good idea, have a point, in my opinion it would have been much more compelling if the series had chosen to separate rick from the family instead of jerry, this would have shaken up the structure while still maintaining the Rick. character intact, i have a feeling this was the original plan for season 3, but they were too afraid to pull the trigger they needed to keep rick as the direct face of the show because by season 3 the series had become marketable, you walked into a store a real honest store and bought something buy another morty consume morty pickle rick was the final step in establishing the program as a fashion brand in the coming months pickle rick would be plastered on all the posters, merchandise and other promotional material For the show, I would describe this as the point where Rick and Morty really converged with the

fandom

.

If you find something entertaining you can consider yourself a fan, but when you allow the act of being a fan to take on a culture of its own then you begin to enter

fandom

, fandoms have always existed in theory but were never able to truly materialize until the advent of Before web media became much more homogeneous, there was a time when most Americans watched the same shows around the world. Same three networks, if I asked you to imagine a Seinfeld fan, you probably couldn't come up with a definitive stereotype. This is because shows like Seinfeld were so ubiquitous in pop culture that it's impossible to define them to a specific type of audience.

The Internet changed all this. By causing a massive divergence in media programming, the general audience became obsolete. Modern shows are increasingly tailored to more specific content preferences rather than a few shows being watched by many people. Now we have many programs watched by a few people. It's harder to find people who watch the same shows as you, but when you do, they're much more likely to have similar beliefs, attitudes, and interests. The bifurcation of media has ushered in an unprecedented era where every show has its own community of similar people. Minded viewers are welcome to the age of fandom, where the media they consume is now fundamentally tied to their identity.

Participating in a fandom is now part and parcel of enjoying any modern television show. Most fandoms are kept in check by the limited scope of their respective programming. but occasionally you will see one that gets completely out of control naturally with the meteoric rise in popularity of rick and morty the fandom went completely crazy manic attachment disorder antihero is a psychiatric condition i just made up where a television viewer begins to idolize and emulate to the flawed protagonist of his favorite show the rick and morty fandom is best known for two infamous events, the szechuan sauce riots and the high iq pasta copycat, although both events were somewhat overembellished, if not completely fake, still cast a pretty embarrassing shadow over the series as a whole it seemed like almost overnight rick and morty stopped being cool the fandom had caused the entire audience to be labeled as a group of pretentious and pretentious pseudo-intellectuals or a group of mindless consuming zombies, this not only made people hate the show but made fans like me ashamed of enjoying the show.

Is it really fair to judge a show by the actions of its fandom? In theory, we should be able to evaluate a media outlet in a vacuum, regardless of the actions of its disciples, but can a fandom become so unbearable that they damage the reputation of their show beyond repair, obviously it's the show that influences the fandom, but what happens when the fandom starts influencing the show? Well you get Pickle Rick, the fandom started calling Rick and Morty the smartest show on television, so the show became about the smartest man in the universe. The fandom was obsessed with the Niles theme, so Rick and Morty became a nihilistic show.

The Fandom didn't care much about family drama,so the family just faded into the background, it seems at some point. the way the writers abandoned their original vision for the series to create a more acceptable product for the fandom and the Emmy goes to Rick and Morty. Well, I can't exactly say that I blame the creators for doing this. Pickle Rick won the show and Emmy Rick. and morty certainly managed to appeal to a more modern audience, at least he did for a while. The problem with chasing trends is that they don't tend to stick around for long.

As soon as the enthusiasm starts to cool, the audience will leave you in an instant to go play with the next shiny new toy because modern people don't stick around for any reason. intrinsic appreciation for the medium, they only tune in because everyone else does, and unfortunately in Rick and Morty's efforts to maintain its Wide Appeal, they have devalued its overall design aspects. You really participated in that Game of Thrones fever. South Park did it four years ago. Morty, if Ant-Man and the Wasp can do it. I'm not interested in Gamergate. I haven't seen explosions like that. this from taco night at james earl jones' house a dad makes a bathroom look like r2d2 when he appears on the cover of reddit nowadays rick will randomly name things like reddit and gamergate these references only exist to force a cheap pop of It's hard for the audience to separate the show from the fandom when the show will interrupt building its own world to cater specifically to them, am I supposed to believe that Rick, the universe-hopping interdimensional war criminal, is worried about the cover? from reddit oh, do you agree, huh, do you like that red? grumpy reference well guess what i made up, you really are your father's children, think for yourselves, don't be sheep like the characters on the show, rick and morty are suffering from an identity crisis, the show these days doesn't seem to have any . definitive sense of direction, they will introduce serialized elements but will not reward them in a satisfactory way.

They portray Rick as an arrogant, all-knowing gladiator who always wins at everything, but he still wants us to feel sympathy for his plight and as much as the show likes him. to attack the media establishment, Rick and Morty are no longer the swimming underdog adults, they are a dynasty, fan reaction to Pickle Rick, I will always have a fraud complex because we made fun of it at Comic-Con and everyone who loves Rick. and morty knows that you have to wait very, very, very long periods of time. It's hard to say what exactly caused Rick and Morty to stray so far from its original premise, but the change is most likely related to the staggered production of the third season. harmon decided to hire four female writers to balance the gender ratio of the staff.

Some people use this to claim that women ruined the show, but I think adding four new writers of any gender would still have disrupted the show's momentum. Writers need time to develop chemistry and I suspect that reforming the teenager to this point was more of a creative setback than they anticipated. The third season experienced numerous delays and only managed to ship 10 of the planned 14 episodes. Dan Harmon blamed the slow production on his perfectionism and the new pressure to conform to greatness. Season 3 of Standards was meant to be the most ambitious yet, but they ended up biting off more than they could chew and the season ended up feeling sloppy.

Some of the blame for the show's recent struggles can be laid at the feet of swimming. for adults. The network had never achieved mainstream success like Rick and Morty before and seemed unprepared to handle the show's red-hot momentum. Adult swimming followed the late release. of the third season by leaving the show in limbo for eight months before finally ordering new episodes in May 2018, this delayed the premiere of the fourth season until November 2019 and, for some baffling reason, they decided to release the season in two halves five months apart. It probably didn't help the production process that Justin Roiland was devoting a lot of his attention to a completely new series that is basically just Rick and Morty with extra steps between the end of Season 2 and Season 4.

Rick and Morty only managed to launch 20 episodes in In a span of four and a half years, whatever enthusiasm there was for the show has long died out. Rick and Morty had lightning in a bottle and they blew it by the end of season 4, more than half of the audience had stopped watching. I wonder what happened to Rick and Morty. Maybe it's better that Rick and Morty is no longer popular despite all the problems I just described. I still think Rick and Morty is a good show. The new episodes continue to be entertaining both to watch and to repeat.

Watch it, which is more than I can say about almost anything else on television. Rick and Morty is a good show, but it could have been a great show. The magic of those first two seasons is something that may never be replicated again. One has to wonder how it was possible. The show could have turned out if they had stuck to their guns and excluded the fandom noise, regardless Rick and Morty made the mistake of believing their own hype and now has to face the consequences right now, the series is at a crossroads important. Viewership has dropped to the level of the first season, so maybe it's a sign that the show should go back to basics or maybe they could do the opposite and blow the show wide open with experimentation.

I've always admired how the show is never afraid to change. formula and keeping things fresh Now that the hype has cooled, contestants are no longer burdened by the wild expectations of a delusional fandom, and as a largely episodic series, they don't have to worry about pigeonholing each episode into a complicated story. People are leaving the show for dead, but I actually think Rick and Morty could be resurrected, maybe because I'm not a big nihilist. People forget that other adult animated comedies like South Park and The Simpsons didn't produce their best work. Until long after they reached their peak of popularity, maybe Rick and Morty can do the same until then, at least we can remember the good times.

I will always remember staying up late on those Sunday nights knowing I would have to drag myself to school. the next morning and it was nice to forget about my problems for just half an hour and get lost in a show like no other on television. It was a program that taught me a lot and made me see the world in a different way than I once did. the show began to see itself in a different way and we both went into our own downward spiral looking back, both the show and I came away deeply altered for better or worse.

I know it's a dumb meme, but that meme To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty. On the one hand, that's emblematic of the bad elements of the fandom, but on the other hand, it makes me proud that it's a show that is clearly loved by so many others. Some of the most creative, fun, and intelligent people available. People like to trash the crazy Rick and Morty fandom, but ever since the second season ended, it's safe to say the entire world has gone a little crazy. Will season 5 come out before the imminent collapse of civilization?

We'll have to wait and see, but as the universe around us continues to feel more dysfunctional and bleak, I'm glad I can at least find meaning in a cartoon about adult swimming, everyone else can say what they want about it, except I. Rick and Morty will always be a good show with a crazy fandom.