Morty (voiced by Justin Roiland) lives with his warring parents Beth (voiced by Sarah Chalke) – a horse heart surgeon – and Jerry (voiced by Chris Parnell) – an unemployed ad exec. Also in the Smith household is Morty’s popularity obsessed sister, Summer (voiced by Spencer Grammar) and his alcoholic scientist grandfather, Rick (also voiced by Justin Roiland).
Rick is both a genius and a sociopath with an endless taste for outlandish adventures. With his portal gun he is able to open pathways to multiple dimensions but roaming the multiverse is boring without a companion/lackey so Rick decides to bring Morty along for the ride.
When I say outlandish adventures I really mean it. From wandering into the dreams of monsters to impregnating alien sex dolls, a theme park inside a homeless man and the accidental creation of hyper-intelligent dogs, it gets crazier with every episode.
It is rude, crude and crazy and watching anxious Morty and devil-may-care Rick’s personalities clash is absolutely hilarious. There are so many layers though. Beth and Jerry’s resentment soaked, love-hate marriage is dark and brilliant to watch as is their interactions with their children and with Rick. Rick constantly confounds their lives with his inventions but they cannot resist interacting with them with horrible and bonkers consequences.
It is very easy to see how this has become a cult classic and Mr O and I binged the whole first season in under 48 hours. It is hard to describe just how creative the premise is. It is impossible to predict what is going to happen next and we found ourselves equally disgusted and amused at every turn.
Mr O described it as Futurama meets South Park but I think it’s better than both. I cannot wait to watch season 2.