Animated properties, especially those on television or told in serial format, have a striking tendency to propagate cultish tendencies. The dedicated and studied fans ofThe Simpsons,Futurama,South Park,Adventure Time, and, god help me,Family Guyare feverish with facts and quotes and behind-the-scenes details about each and every episode of those shows.Bob’s Burgersenjoys a similar status, as does Adult Swim’sRick and Morty. Created byDan HarmonandJustin Roiland,Rick and Mortysports some of the most dedicated, reference-tossing fans in the modern television landscape, includingThe Walking Dead,Westworld, andGame of Thrones. And lately, this group has been mighty anxious.
After capping off their triumphant second season in 2015, the assumption was that the series would return in either late 2016 or early 2017 for its third season, with a growing fanbase hungry to take in more adventures with the titular grandpa-grandson duo. And then, silence. To this day, there’s no word as to when Season 3 will see the light of day. During a recent upfront, some rough animation work from the new season was shown, and before that there was this amazing reconstruction of a real-life court case, but no word as to when the new season would start. This week, Harmon addressed the delays on a release date andRick and Morty’s next season on the whole from Sundance, and his words, though clearly sincere, won’t ease anyone’s woes.
Here’s what Harmon said at Sundance viaSR:
“I don’t have a release date for Season 3. It’s not that I know it and I’m not allowed to say it; it’s [Adult Swim’s] domain. What I will tell you is it’s late because of us, it’s late because of me.”
“If Justin were here he’d agree. He and I would go, ‘Yeah, we f#!ed up,’ and it’s hard to put your finger on how we f#!ed up. ‘Rick and Morty’ keeps taking longer and longer to write, and I don’t know why.”
In other words, it’s late and we have no good reason for its lateness. It’s a convincing answer to the question but it’s not hard to imagine die-hard fans of the show not finding any solace in those words. For a moderate but loyal fan ofRick and Mortylike myself, the only thing that matters is that they do seem to be working on the issue and the show will return this year presumably. Harmon and Roiland are in higher demand as of recent with the swell of fame this show has given them and as much as you want to work on what drew your audience in the first time, ambitions will call you elsewhere. If they can keepRick and Mortygoing while they explore new opportunities, the clip at which they come in matters less and less to me.
