Rick and Morty is an American adult animated television series created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon that premiered on December 2, 2013 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block and is produced by Williams Street. The series focuses on the misadventures and domestic life of cynical and nihilistic mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his kind-hearted but troubled grandson Morty Smith, who go on absurd sci-fi adventures within various planets, dimensions, and universes using Rick's spaceship and portal gun. In the United States, the series is rated TV-14, although there are episodes rated TV-MA.
The show's first season consists of 11 twenty-two minute episodes. After airing the first six episodes, Adult Swim renewed the show for a second season, consisting of 10 twenty-two minute episodes. In 2015, the show was renewed for a third season, consisting of 10 twenty-two minute episodes that aired in the summer of 2017. During the fall of 2019, Rick and Morty returned with a fourth season airing ten episodes with the first half of the season being aired in 2019 and the second half after new years.[1] The series aired its fifth season within the summer of 2021 and its sixth season in the winter of 2022. As of the winter of 2023, the series has finished airing its seventh season.[2] The eigth season of the series is slated to premiere in 2025.[3]
In May 2018, Adult Swim announced that the series was renewed for seventy additional episodes, which renewed it to a tenth season.[4]On October 17, 2024, Adult Swim announced that the series was renewed for a eleventh and twelfth season as it will run through 2029.[5]
On January 24, 2023, Adult Swim severed its ties with Roiland and fired him from the series amid charges of domestic abuse. The series is planned to continue without his involvement and his roles were recast with Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden as Rick and Morty starting with its seventh season. [6][7]
The show was originally based on a series of crudely animated short films for Channel 101 based on a Back to the Future parody The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti created by Justin Roiland.
The series has spawned a franchise and multiple spin-offs such as the web-series Vindicators 2 and anime series Rick and Morty: The Anime which aired in 2022 and 2024 respectively along with various comic book series, shorts, video games, merchandise, and media.
Plot[]
- Main Article: List of episodes
After going missing for nearly 20 years, Rick Sanchez suddenly arrives at his daughter Beth’s doorstep looking to move in with her and her family. Beth welcomes him with open arms, but her unremarkable husband Jerry isn’t too thrilled about the tearful reunion as Rick’s arrival serves to shake things up quite a bit around the household. Rick converts the garage into his personal laboratory and gets to work on all sorts of dangerous sci-fi gadgets and contraptions. That wouldn’t be so bad if not for the fact that Rick continues to involve his grandchildren Morty and Summer in his insane adventures. With the exception of the Pilot episode, each episode ends with a post-credits scene.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Rick Sanchez (voiced by Justin Roiland (Season 1 - Season 6) and Ian Cardoni (Season 7 - present)) — A genius scientist and alcoholic whose inventions and experiments serve as the basis for the episodes. The grandfather of Morty Smith and Summer Smith, and the father of Beth. Rick was absent from the family for years, until he finally returned before the Pilot episode to live with the Smith family, much to the disapproval of Jerry. He currently resides in the garage of the Smith house where his entire laboratory is based. Here, he builds new inventions, travels to other dimensions, and tests things out on forms of alien life.
- Morty Smith (voiced by Justin Roiland (Season 1 - Season 6) and Harry Belden (Season 7 - present)) — Rick's impressionable and socially awkward teenage grandson who is often dragged along on his grandfather's escapades. Morty is a wimpy and nervous wreck who desperately tries to keep his sanity when taken on the bizarre and terrifyingly mind-bending adventures that Rick takes him on, which is already big enough of a problem as he already struggles to fit in at his own high school.
- Jerry Smith (voiced by Chris Parnell) — Morty's insecure father, whose disapproval of Rick's influence on Morty only deepens his marital troubles with Beth. Jerry constantly finds himself to be in a failing marriage with his wife as they always argue and never express the love for each other that most parents do.
- Summer Smith (voiced by Spencer Grammer) — Morty's angst-ridden older sister who occasionally joins Rick on his adventures. She only cares about her friends and social life at school and is easily annoyed by her family, though she sometimes becomes jealous of Morty's relationship with Rick.
- Beth Smith (voiced by Sarah Chalke) — Morty's holier-than-thou mother who is a cardiac surgeon for horses. Beth seems to have problems in her marriage with Jerry and usually considers leaving him for another guy.
Recurring[]
- Birdperson (voiced by Dan Harmon) — A wise human-bird hybrid and a long time friend of Rick's that first appeared in the episode Rixty Minutes. He was married to Tammy Gueterman, who was later revealed to be a spy from the Galactic Federation and shot him multiple times with a laser pistol.He was resurrected by the Galactic Federation as Phoenix Person and then restored to normal by Rick.
- Gene (voiced by Tom Kenny) - the Smith-Sanchez family's next-door neighbor who wants to get along with them and gets caught in their chaotic adventures and shenanigans.
- Jessica (Voiced by Kari Wahlgren) — A classmate of Morty's that he has a crush on. Jessica is unaware of Morty's feelings for her and it is unknown if she feels the same way. As of now, she is only a friend.
- Mr. Goldenfold (voiced by Brandon Johnson) — Morty's overzealous math teacher with severe anger issues who has some pretty negative interactions with Morty over his inability to stay focused on his work.
- Mr. Poopybutthole (voiced by Justin Roiland (Season 2 - Season 6) and Jon Allen (Season 7 - present)) — A longtime family friend of the Smith family who was shot and nearly killed by Beth during a battle between telepathic alien parasites. After the incident, he has decided to keep his distance from the Smiths until he has finished recovering.
- Principal Gene Vagina (voiced by Phil Hendrie) — The principal of Harry Herpson High School with the unfortunate, humiliating last name of Vagina, which makes him very insecure about his masculinity. He is also good friends with Mr. Goldenfold.
- Space Cruiser (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) - Rick's interdisciplinary and sentient spaceship made out of car parts that is operated by D.I.A.N.E., an artificial intelligence based on Rick's late wife Diane Sanchez.
- Squanchy (voiced by Tom Kenny) — An anthropomorphic cat-like alien who enjoys auto-erotic asphyxiation, which he refers to as squanching. He is close friends with Rick, sharing his love for alcohol.
- Tammy Gueterman (voiced by Cassie Steele) — Summer's high school friend and Birdperson's wife, who is later revealed to be an undercover spy for the Galactic Federation.
- The President (voiced by Keith David) — The President of the United States and a friend and rival of Rick and Morty.
References in other media[]
For more information about this section, visit Cameos in outside media.
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