Aqua Teen Hunger Force
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
Another Adult Swim cartoon, Aqua Teen Hunger Force shares Rick and Morty’s propensity for the surreal. Following the lives of a meatball, milkshake, and a carton of fries, the series is notable for its ‘anything goes’ approach to storytelling. The fast food friends get into all kinds of adventures, often featuring space aliens, time travel, and at all times, a razor sharp wit. It never shies away from displaying the dark sides that come with unregulated, boundless adventuring, a theme which it definitely shares with Rick and Morty.
There’s 11 seasons and a handful of movies to dive into, with the name of the show actually changing in some of them. Over the years it’s been known as?Aqua Unit Patrol Squad,?Aqua Something You Know Whatever, and Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1. Ultimately, it’s the show’s boundless creativity which makes it a great fit for Rick and Morty fans.
Futurama
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
Rick and Morty is a love letter for all things sci-fi. It frequently tips its cap to iconic series such as Alien, Planet of the Apes, and even Mad Max. Futurama was the king of doing the same thing when it was on the air, taking the versatility of The Simpsons and firing it off into the stars. Fans of Rick and Morty will enjoy the setting, themes, and animation of Futurama, especially the episodes which play around with multiple dimensions and time manipulation. Of course, there’s also a mad scientist in the form of Professor Farnsworth who boasts the same mastery of science as Rick Sanchez, often using it for his own selfish gain.
You can see a lot of similarities between Morty and Fry – frequently placed into situations that are completely out of their depth, armed only with a childlike optimism and a trust in those around them. There’s no doubt that there’s a lot to enjoy here for Rick and Morty fans.
Bojack Horseman
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
Rick and Morty is funny, there’s no doubting that. It also has the ability to quickly switch gears and deliver sobering, existential truths juxtaposed onto a fantasy background. Another show which absolutely nails this dynamic is Bojack Horseman. Despite the silliness cultivated by its anthropomorphic animal characters, Bojack Horseman tackles real world issues like depression, loneliness, and alcoholism with a surprising subtlety. There’s no alien-filled space romps to speak of here, but if it’s the great and salient writing of Rick and Morty that you love, Bojack Horseman is a great show to dive into.
The titular main character shares a lot of his composition with that of Rick Sanchez as well. They are both inherently unlikable and selfish characters but somehow endearing nonetheless. They both care deeply for those closest to them, even if they have a tendency to push them away. They’re both stone cold alcoholics too, giving off the impression that they really aren’t in control of their respective lives.
Adventure Time
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
Adventure Time continues the age-old tradition of filling a children’s show with messed up social commentary and jokes that will go way over their head. Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland has cited the series as an inspiration and has also voiced several characters in the show. One of the main pulls of Adventure Time is its world filled with colorful characters, something which Rick and Morty also places an emphasis on. The world of Oo could easily be the setting for a Rick and Morty episode, what with the dark messaging often housed within many of its episodes.
The two shows are definitely positioned towards different audiences but there is some middle ground for fans of surrealist and zany humor. Give it a few episodes to get eased into the more playful tone, and you’ll soon be drawn into the increasingly strange lives of Finn and Jake.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
The majority of the characters in Rick and Morty are extremely terrible people. The high-fantasy setting and humor help to disguise this but if you boil it down, Rick is not a good guy. Sharing this love of egotistical sociopaths is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which tells the story of a group of friends who own a bar together. Off the face of it, the show couldn’t be further away from the cartoonish space adventures of Rick and Morty, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find lots of common ground in the two series’ characters.
Every single character in It’s Always Sunny has a dark side, an addiction, or warped view of the world. In their opinion, they are the sane ones and it is everyone else who should follow suit. Then there’s the wacky situations the gang often find themselves in, often bulldozing expectations of what a sitcom set in a bar should be. In Rick and Morty, we see a lot of the same traits, but it’s the generally dark and adult nature to the humor that really ties the two together.
Ren & Stimpy
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
The series which inspired shows like South Park and Beavis and Butthead, Ren & Stimpy took a different, more disgusting approach to children’s TV. Creator of Rick and Morty Justin Roiland has cited the show as a key inspiration, which is easy to believe thanks to the gross-out humor the two share.
It’s remarkable that a show like Ren & Stimpy was ever even allowed to air, let alone as a kid’s show, so it’s worth checking it out from a purely scholarly viewpoint. The animation style which emphasized bodily fluids and slapstick-induced bruises clearly paved the way for shows like Rick and Morty, while simultaneously getting an entire generation of children hooked on this particularly graphic style of comedy.
Gravity Falls
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
There’s a direct link between Gravity Falls and Rick and Morty in that their creators are real-life best friends. There have been references to each other in both shows, from characters hidden in the background to shared names and voice actors. Gravity Falls is about two kids who go to live with their Grunkle Stan, who runs a tourist trap in the town of, you guessed it, Gravity Falls.
There’s a sense of adventure shared between the two series as well as the obvious similarities between Grunkle Stan and Rick Sanchez. Gravity Falls is definitely more kid-focused, but there’s a lot to enjoy in the town’s crazy characters and fantasy surroundings. There are fan theories galore regarding the connections between Rick and Morty and Gravity Falls with many suggesting that they share the same universe.
Archer
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
A hard-drinking bachelor who is way better at hand-to hand-combat and shooting than he has any right to be? No, we’re not talking about Rick here but one Sterling Archer, spy extraordinaire. The quick-witted humor and tendency to let jokes run for entire seasons will suit Rick and Morty fans excellently and the fact that the two series share a couple of voice actors too is a bonus.
Archer is graphic, profane and insanely funny, often blending elements of sci-fi, espionage, and social commentary for comedic effect. It may be a wildly different animation style and setting, but Rick and Morty fans will find plenty to enjoy here.
Bravest Warriors
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
From the creator of Adventure Time comes Bravest Warriors, a wonderful blend of Saturday morning cartoons and life-changing acid trips. Bravest Warriors is set in the year 3085, and follows four teenage heroes-for-hire as they warp through the universe to save adorable aliens and their worlds using the power of their emotions. It’s a more spacey affair than Adventure Times’s fantasy setting, but definitely shares the same sense of endearingly weird humor.
There’s a great sense of scale and creativity to the proceedings as the team bump into characters with names like Emotion Lord and Impossibear. Definitely more Futurama than anything else, Bravest Warrior should appeal to the Rick and Morty fans who love the adventures to take place on distant planets and alternate dimensions.
Venture Bros.
TV Shows Like Rick and Morty
A mad and eccentric scientist gets into all kinds of adventures and predicaments with his two grandsons and a bodyguard named Brock in this send up of Jonny Quest. The childlike innocence which the Venture boys encompass, coupled with the cynical and selfish world view of their Grandfather definitely gives off Rick and Morty vibes, and the writing is just as sharp. It’s a little more like an 80s cartoon than the modern sensibilities of Rick and Morty but there’s definitely fun to be had.
Brock is an absolute riot in every scene he’s in and the show’s antagonist, a butterfly-themed villain called The Monarch, could easily be a character on Rick and Morty. It is the longest running series on Adult Swim for a reason, and is still on the air to this day.
Published: Feb 26, 2018 09:30 pm