Rick and Morty fans have criticized the Adult Swim animated series in the past about its lack of serialization on an episode by episode basis, and one of the executive producers behind Rick and Morty explained why there aren’t more of these longer story threads with more frequent revisits to characters like Evil Morty and Rick Prime! As Rick and Morty fans have seen in the latest seasons of the series especially, there have been greater efforts to expand on the overarching story and the connecting threads for Rick and Morty’s multiverse. But it usually is limited to a couple of episodes per season so far.
Rick and Morty Season 6 teased fans further about Rick Prime and set up a potentially longer storyline for this new villain, but it seems like the focus for the animated sitcom moving forward will still be on its episodic stories with only plans for a few serialized events per season. As Rick and Morty executive producer Steve Levy explained in an interview with Premiere during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, it would be “too hard” to keep finding ways for the Rick and Morty characters to develop through a longer serialized narrative. And it would make it less rewarding as a result.
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Why Rick and Morty Isn’t More Serialized
“Dan Harmon, the co-creator of the series, grew up watching the sitcoms of the 70s and 80s, where each episode operated independently of the others. Nothing was ‘serialized’ and that allowed a series to last much longer,” Levy explained (as translated from French). “I don’t see us writing a series with a red thread to follow every week, it would be too hard. Imagine ten seasons of this on Rick and Morty! We would end up making episodes just to make episodes and feed the story as best we can. We would put a ball on our feet. The concept has always been to go from one adventure to another.”
Levy also emphasized that the times they choose to incorporate serialized elements would mean more if they were rarer, “On the other hand, we had to feel the characters evolve, and that’s where these somewhat special episodes on Evil Morty or Rick Prime come in. But always in small touches, otherwise we would risk saying too much and we would have nothing more to say! The rule is that there must be at least one episode each season evoking the ‘big story’. That way people are rewarded for continuing to watch the show. By the way, we have some very cool things in stock for season 7…”
What kinds of stories are you hoping to see in Rick and Morty Season 7 and beyond? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!
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