Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Oct 8, 2017 18:57:02 GMT -8
This is actually a very strange thing to say, since Jerry is a pretty decent guy. The joke is that he's "lame" because all he wants is a normal, peaceful life, but he's constantly getting railed by his increasingly sociopathic family members who hold him to an impossible standard. Okay, but I think we're missing the point here: the appeal of a character like Rick to the asshole R&M fan is that Rick is not what they are in reality, but what they are in their fantasy-- this is what I'd be if I wasn't restrained by social convention, if I didn't take shit from anyone. It's the same reason why I respond so strongly to Diaz from Brooklyn 99.
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Post by Zarnium on Oct 8, 2017 19:39:31 GMT -8
I've never understood why there are so many fans of characters like these who hold them up as weirdly aspirational figures. You wanna be like Rick? Ok, then as the show clearly illustrates, you'll be miserable, self-loathing, and lead your loved ones to ruin, and all your posturing of being a super-logical genius will turn out to be worthless because you have the emotional and social intelligence of an earthworm. If there's any underlying theme to the show, it's that Rick is a toxic person who you shouldn't emulate, and that's both why it's funny as well as why it's "smart." Anyone who doesn't understand that hasn't been paying attention.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 8, 2017 19:56:32 GMT -8
I think it's the idea behind Rick's character that resonates with people. Regardless of the consequences he brings about, most episodes are fueled by his seemingly unlimited genius, and the ways it gets him into and out of situations. That's the part of the show which pops out at viewers and grabs their attention.
Much like Walter White, or Don Draper, or any number of powerful TV antiheroes, Rick's appeal as a wish-fulfillment character is sparked by what he represents, rather than what he actually is.
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Post by Zarnium on Oct 8, 2017 20:21:38 GMT -8
That's true, which is why I find the mis-aimed fandoms of those shows to be so ironic. The people who want to emulate those characters are ignoring everything the show is trying to teach them.
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Post by Jay on Oct 9, 2017 10:16:16 GMT -8
I think we eventually got around to the point which I thought I was making. It's less about it being bad to be Jerry (I imagine the world needs Jerries from time to time) as much as to be Rick means to be alarmingly smart but at the same time just barely able to avoid the disasters that the same smarts bring about. For however right Rick ends up being, colossal efforts are undertaken to get things back on track because Rick misses social cues or poorly considers the consequences. Some segments of the fanbase prefer to ignore the perils in the process in favor of looking at the results, and I think that with alienation, frustration, and sundry other factors at play in today's society as brought on by unfettered access to information (not necessarily good information at that), the show ends up appealing to a lot of isolated individuals who see Rick as the fulfillment of this fantasy that "we wouldn't have any of these problems if you all would just listen to/be like ME" while sidestepping the fact that, odds are, they aren't anywhere near as smart as Rick, who can still neutralize some of the problems he creates. This makes it simultaneously smart social commentary and also kind of dangerous. Not that I'm advocating for censorship or anything (I'll probably watch a few eps eventually just to see what the fuss is about), I just worry about most people's ability to grasp satire these days.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Oct 9, 2017 12:44:57 GMT -8
For however right Rick ends up being, colossal efforts are undertaken to get things back on track because Rick misses social cues or poorly considers the consequences. Some segments of the fanbase prefer to ignore the perils in the process in favor of looking at the results, and I think that with alienation, frustration, and sundry other factors at play in today's society as brought on by unfettered access to information (not necessarily good information at that), the show ends up appealing to a lot of isolated individuals who see Rick as the fulfillment of this fantasy that "we wouldn't have any of these problems if you all would just listen to/be like ME" while sidestepping the fact that, odds are, they aren't anywhere near as smart as Rick, who can still neutralize some of the problems he creates. I think geniuses have better things to do than watch Rick and Morty. And if you don't like it at first, just watch until the Meeseeks episode.
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Post by Jay on Oct 9, 2017 13:15:13 GMT -8
I just went to the Wikipedia page (initially looking for which ep was the Meeseeks one) and then found out, "hey wait a second, both Roiland and Harmon were part of Channel 101, with Harmon being one of the co-creators? And Roiland is responsible for House of Cosbys?" And then I realized I had drifted off into obscure territory and no one would likely know what the hell I was talking about, although look up the wiki page because man, it has launched a weird number of comedy careers. I also think that I had assumed that Cosby's legal team had permanently torpedoed the Channel 101 project because I remember the site going down for a long time after the cease and desist letter, but I guess that it still lives on? This has been one of your irregular trips through Jay's obscure fields of knowledge.
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Post by bean32 on Oct 21, 2017 20:13:32 GMT -8
If you're interested in poorly drawn cartoons....with no plot....featuring Justin Roiland screaming at the top of his lungs, then check out Tales of Railroad Times on Youtube. One of the weirder things Justin Roiland has been a part of. I nearly lost my mind watching it.
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Post by Jeremy on May 10, 2018 13:24:12 GMT -8
So. Rick and Morty just got renewed for 70 more episodes.
That was not a typo. Adult Swim has greenlit Rick and Morty for 70 new episodes, more than tripling the current count.
Given how slow the show's production can be, I expect we won't be seeing the last of these episodes till around 2032. But hey, I'm the patient type.
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Post by ThirdMan on May 10, 2018 19:59:43 GMT -8
Well, if Dan Harmon hasn't gone mad already, he will by the end of that run. I imagine making the show is mentally exhausting.
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Post by Jeremy on May 15, 2019 15:08:25 GMT -8
RICK AND MORTY IS BACK!
...in six months.
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Post by Jay on May 15, 2019 19:39:16 GMT -8
Given their patience with the production schedule for a less-popular title in The Venture Bros., yeah, not surprised.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 7, 2019 11:14:45 GMT -8
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 26, 2023 16:52:45 GMT -8
Been several years since this thread got updated (though R&M discussion has popped up elsewhere), but if there's any time to revive it, it's now.
So... Rick and Morty will be continuing - for at least four more seasons, mind you - without Justin Roiland. While Adult Swim's reasons for cutting ties with Roiland are fully understandable (just as Hulu has now booted him from Solar Opposites), I do find myself wondering: How the heck do you do Rick and Morty without... Rick and Morty?
It's not just that Roiland was the showrunner for the past six seasons and voiced the two title characters; he's also portrayed a plethora of supporting characters, often providing improvised monologues (apparently recorded while he was drunk or stoned, which... yeah, that's its own discussion) that are then written and animated into the story. Obviously the voices can be recast, but these changes go far beyond the cosmetic. His comedic personality is baked into the show, even more than Dan Harmon's was in Community - and we all know how Community looked when Harmon was (briefly) shown the door.
I say this as someone who isn't super-enamored with R&M (although I quite liked the most recent season, probably the show's best in years) - I will be very interested to see how Harmon and co. deal with this. And equally curious to see the fanbase reaction - though that's probably more predictable.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Jan 27, 2023 17:26:26 GMT -8
Yeah, this is a weird situation here, because either
1) Roiland maintains rights/royalties to the show/characters or whatever and thus profits from Rick & Morty's continued existence 2) Roiland has no rights/royalties to the show/characters and the show can go on without its creator against its creator's will
...both of which are pretty straightforwardly awful situations! I don't know, clearly the right thing to do in this case is to cancel the show, or turn it into the multiverse equivalent of The Conners, right? But I guess it's too useful an IP to let die. Harrumph.
(It's also, IMO, straightforwardly terrible when cartoons do this sort of thing - I get Jay Johnston losing his job for attempting to execute the vice president, Bob's Burgers, but if you're going to cut him from the show then maybe don't have a zombie Jimmy Pesto lingering in the background of every other episode? I'm particularly annoyed that we're probably, like, five years out from The Simpsons announcing they're going to keep the show going but replace the voice cast.)
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