After first being released in 2013 to little fanfare, through sheer quality and word-of-mouth, Adult Swim’s Rick And Morty has morphed into an absolute pop cultural phenomenon.
And in addition to being a pop culture fixture, Rick And Morty has also become one of the funniest shows on television — cartoon or otherwise. Between its mind-bending plot lines, mile-a-minute jokes, or gorgeously creative animation, Rick and Morty is simply a step ahead of its competition. The only problem is, despite its success, it has yet to be renewed for a fourth season.
But how? How could it be possible that Adult Swim still hasn’t renewed one of the biggest shows on television amongst a key demographic? I’ll tell ya how, the same thing that always gets in the way of things happening: money.
via Uproxx:
…Co-creator Dan Harmon tweeted, “It can be challenging, especially with crippling lazy alcoholism, to write a show that hasn’t been ordered by a network.” The show’s other mastermind, Justin Roiland, provided some necessary context, though. “For everyone telling me to get back to work on Rick and Morty (season four), turn your attention to Turner,” he wrote. “I’m waiting around just like you.” Cartoon Network (and therefore, Adult Swim) falls under the Turner Broadcasting System umbrella, so it’s less about “lazy alcoholism” and more to do with, as Harmon explained on Kevin Smith’s SModcast, contract negotiations.
“The reason we’re not working on Rick and Morty right now ain’t because I figured out that I don’t need to impress you,” the Community creator (who wants to do 14 episodes, instead of the usual 10, next season) said. “It’s because of a little something called contract negotiations and it’s gotten complicated this time around.” There’s only one man who can settle this contractual dispute.
While I’m relatively confident that both sides will be able to figure out the contract and get the show back into production, there’s always that little part of me that worries about super successful shows suffering the same fate of Chappelle’s Show — when the creator is asked to give up creative control in exchange for more money and they end up walking. That’s what scares me.
