'Rick and Morty' Scores Critics' Choice Nomination

Rick and Morty has officially been nominated for a 2018 Critics' Choice Award.

Rick and Morty has been nominated for Best Animated Series by the Broadcast Television Journalists Association. This is the first major industry award nomination for Rick and Morty (it was nominated for an Annie Award in 2015 and a Teen Choice Award earlier this year).

However, the Adult Swim program will have stiff competition. Other nominees include Archer (FX), Bob's Burgers (Fox), Bojack Horseman (Netflix), Danger & Eggs (Amazon), and The Simpsons (Fox).

Rick and Morty Season Three aired on Adult Swim in 2017, beginning with the unannounced premiere of the "The Rickshank Rickdemption" on April Fool's Day. The premiere caused a huge buzz and the joke about McDonald's 1998 Mulan tie-in Szechuan dipping sauce was so thoroughly latched onto by fans that McDonald's actually brought the sauce back in limited release. The event backfired when McDonald's grossly underestimated the number of fans that would come looking for the sauce and did not supply their stores with nearly enough product, a fiasco that Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland himself has apologized for.

"It's absurd. It became a collector thing, and it's just a f*cking dipping sauce, guys," Roiland said. "I was bummed out, really, for the workers. The whole thing was bad on every side. I could see every side of it."

The rest of Rick and Morty's third season did not begin airing on Adult Swim until July 30. The season was a hit with critics, earning it a 98 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and delivered Adult Swim its highest ratings ever.

Rick and Morty has become so embedded in popular culture this year that even its fellow CCA nominee The Simpsons paid homage the series with one of its signature couch gags and the porn parody industry has finally made its contribution to the hype.

Naturally, Rick and Morty fans are eager to return after a somewhat ambiguous season finale episode that didn't deliver a resolution to the Phoenix-Person tease from the first episode. Rick and Morty released a short focused on Mr. Poopbutthole over the Thanksgiving holiday, but besides that, fans may be waiting a while for more.