I Can’t Sleep - Rick and Morty | Calm Bedtime Reading for Sleep

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

Unwind with this calm bedtime reading about Rick and Morty, created to ease insomnia and bring gentle rest. In this soothing episode, Benjamin explores the origins of the animated series, its eccentric characters, and the blend of science fiction, humor, and cultural commentary that made it a global phenomenon. His steady, reassuring narration turns fast-paced storytelling into peaceful reflection, helping you release stress and quiet your thoughts. There is no whispering or hypnosis, only calm, fact-filled narration designed to guide you into sleep. Press play, settle in, and let the story of Rick and Morty carry you into slumber. Want More? Request a Topic: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/request-a-topic Ad-Free Episodes: https://icantsleep.supportingcast.fm/ Shop Sleep-Friendly Products: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/sponsors Join the Discussion on Discord: https://discord.gg/myhGhVUhn7 This content is derived from the Wikipedia article on Rick and Morty, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. Read the full article: Wikipedia – Rick and Morty. Happy sleeping! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to a Glassbox media podcast. What if I told you that most of the modern day self-help advice you've been hearing could actually make you worse? The key to a better life isn't about feel-good gimmicks that sound catchy. The Mentally Stronger Podcast gives you access to a licensed therapist who shares science-backed tools that will actually change your life. Hi, I'm Amy Morin, psychotherapist, mental strength trainer, and international best-selling author. In each episode, we cover research-back strategies, like how to stop relying on willpower and start creating habits for lasting change. And the five mental strength-building exercises you can do from your couch. I also speak to world-class experts like Dr. Nicole Kane, who shares how to permanently heal anxiety by addressing the root cause.

With over 200 episodes in our catalog, this podcast is for you if you're ready to crush self-doubt, conquer challenges, become stronger than ever with therapist-approved strategies that can change your life. Listen to Mentally Stronger with therapist Amy Morin, wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster. Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled Rick and Morty. Rick and Morty is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom, created by Justin Royland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block, Adult Swim.

The series follows the misadventures of Rick Sanchez, a cynical mad scientist, and his good-hearted but fretful grandson, Morty Smith, who split their time between domestic life and interdimensional adventures, that take place across an infinite number of realities, often traveling to other planets and dimensions through portals and on Rick's flying saucer. A general concept of Rick and Morty relies on two conflicting scenarios, domestic family drama and a misanthropic grandfather dragging his grandson into hijinks.

Roy Lynn voiced both Rick and Morty, with Ian Cardone and Harry Belden taking over from him, since the seventh season. Chris Parnell as Jerry, Spencer Grammer as Summer, and Sarah Chalk as Beth, also star. The series originated from an animated short parody film of Back to the Future, created by Roylin for Channel 101, a short film festival Harmon co-founded. A seven season was confirmed as part of a long-term deal with Cartoon Network that ordered 70 new episodes, which renewed the series through to a 10th season. It was also announced that the series had been renewed through a 12th season in 2024. The eighth season is slated to be released in 2025.

Since its debut, the series has received critical acclaim for its writing, originality, creativity, and humor. It has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated program and won the award in 2018 and 2020. A series has also received two Annie Awards. At times, a series has been the most viewed television comedy for adults between 18 and 24. The popularity of Rick and Morty has made it a $100 million merchandising and media franchise. The show revolves around the adventures of the members of the Smith household, which consists of parents, Cherry and Beth, their children, Summer and Morty, and Beth's father, Rick Sanchez,

who lives with them as a guest. The family lives in a suburb in the American Midwest. The adventures of Rick and Morty, however, take place across an infinite number of realities, with the characters traveling to other planets and dimensions through portals and Rick's flying saucer. Rick is an eccentric mad scientist who eschews many ordinary conventions such as school, marriage, love, and family. He frequently goes on adventures with his 14-year-old grandson, Morty, a kind-hearted but easily distressed boy, whose naive but grounded moral compass plays counterpoint to Rick's Machiavellian ego. Morty's 17-year-old sister Summer is a more conventional teenager who worries about improving her status among her peers and sometimes follows

Rick and Morty on their adventures. The kid's mother Beth is a generally level-headed person and assertive force in the household, though self-conscious about her professional role as a horse surgeon. She is dissatisfied with her marriage to Jerry, a simple-minded and insecure person, who disapproves of Rick's influence over his family. Different versions of the characters inhabit other dimensions throughout the show's multiverse, and their personal characteristics can vary from one reality to another. The show's original Rick identifies himself as Rick Sanchez of Earth's Dimension C-137, in reference to his original universe.

But this does not apply to any other member of the Smith household. For instance, in the first season, episode Rick Potion Number 9, after turning the entire world population into monsters, Rick and Morty moved to a different dimension, leaving the original summer Beth and Jerry behind. Rick and Morty was created by Justin Royland and Dan Harmon. The duo first met at Channel 101, a non-profit monthly short film festival in Los Angeles, co-founded by Harman. At Channel 101, participants submit a short film in the format of a pilot, and a live audience decides which pilots continue as a series. Roy Lynn, then a producer on reality programming, began submitting content to the festival year after its launch in 2004. His pilots typically consisted of shock value, sick and twisted elements that received a confused reaction from the audience. Nevertheless, Harmon took a liking to his humor, and the two began collaborating.

In 2006, Roylin was fired from working on a television series he regarded as creatively stifling, and funneled his creative energies into creating a web episode for Channel 101. The result was the real animated adventures of Doc and Marty, an animated short starring parodies of Doc Brown and Marty McLaugh. characters from the Back to the Future film trilogy. Harmon would later create and produce Community in NBC sitcom, while Royland would work primarily in voice acting for Disney's Fish Hooks and Cartoon Network's Adventure Time. In 2012, Harmon was briefly fired from Community.

Adult Swim, searching for a more primetime hit show, shortly afterward approached Harmon, who initially viewed the channel as unfitly. fit for his style. He was also unfamiliar with animation and his process for creating television focused more heavily on dialogue, characters, and story. Instead, he phoned Roylin to inquire if he had any ideas for an animated series. Royland immediately brought up the idea of using the Doc and Marty characters renamed Rick and Morty. At first, Roylin wanted the show's runtime to consist of one 11-minute segment, but Adult Swim pushed for a half-hour program.

Harmon felt the best way to extend the voices into a program would be to build a family around the characters, while Adult Swim Development Executive, Nick Weidenfeld, suggested that Rick be Morty's grandfather. Having pitched multiple television programs, they did not get off the ground. Roylin was initially very unreceptive to others attempting to give notes on his pitch. Prior to developing Rick and Morty, he had created three failed animated pilots for Fox, and he had begun to feel burned out with developing television. The first draft was completed in six hours on the Paramount Pictures Lod and Dan Harmon's unfurnished community office. The duo had worked out the basics of the story that day, sold the pie,

pilot, and then sat down to write. Royland, while acknowledging a tendency for procrastination, encouraged Harmon to stay and write the entire first draft. We were sitting on the floor cross-legged with laptops, and I was about to get up and go home, and he said, wait, if you go home, it might take us three months to write this thing. Stay here right now and we can write it in six hours. He just had a premonition about that, recalled Harmon.

In the beginning, Adult Swim was unsure of Royal and doing both voices, partially due to the undeveloped nature of the character of Morty. Harmon wrote four short premises in which Morty took a more assertive role, and sent it to Michael Lasso. For the first season, Adult Swim placed a tamer-than-usual TV-14 rating on the program, which was initially met with reluctance from the show staff. The network's reasoned behind the rating was that it would see, soon begin broadcasting in primetime, competing with major programs.

Many later episodes have received TV mature ratings, with the first being the episode Interdimensional Cable 2, Tempting Fate, in Season 2. The theme song for Rick and Morty by Ryan Elder was originally used in a rejected cartoon network pilot Royland made called Dog World, which was referenced in the episode Lawnmower Dog Armin is noted that the writer's room at the show's studio

bears a striking resemblance to the one used for community In comparing the two, he noted that the writing staff of Rick and Morty was significantly smaller and more rough and tumble verbally. The first season writing staff consisted of Royland, Harmon, Tom Kaufman, Ryan Ridley, Wade Randolph and Eric Acosta, while writer's assistant Mike McMahon was also given writing credit.

Described as a very, very tiny little writer's room with a lot of heavy lifting from everybody, the show's writing staff, like many adult swim productions, is not unionized with the Writers Guild of America. Though in 2022, production staff at Rick and Morty filed a petition for a union election, with the National Labor Relations Board in a bid to join the Animation Guild. The writing staff first meets and discusses ideas, which evolve into a story.

Discussions often include anecdotes from personal life, as well as thoughts on the science fiction genre. After breaking the story, which consists of developing its consistency and logical beginning, middle, and conclusion, A writer is assigned to create an outline. Royland and Harmon do a pass on the outline, and from there the episode undergoes several more drafts. The final draft of the script is last approved by either of the co-creators.

Armin has admitted that his perfectionism can sometimes be disruptive and cause writing schedule delays. For the most part, this was the reason why the third season of the show consisted of only 10 episodes instead of 14, as was initially intended. Many episodes are structured with use of a story circle, a Harmon creation based largely on Joseph Campbell's monomith or The Heroes Journey. Its two-act structure plays the act break at an odd location in the stages of the monomith, after the meeting of the goddess instead of atonement with the father. Royland has stated his and Harmon's intentions for the series to lack traditional continuity,

opting for continuous storylines, not bound by rules. He is also confirmed that the writers avoid revisiting old tropes from the show's past, in fear of that coming off as disingenuous fan service. In producing the series' first season, episodes were occasionally written out of order, For example, Rick Potion number 9 was the second episode written for the series, but was instructed to be animated as a fifth, as it would make more sense within the series continuity. Animation for the show is done using Tune Boom Harmony, a vector-based 2D puppet software, which is a more economical option than traditional hand-drawn animation.

The post-production work is done in Adobe After Effects, and background art is done in Indobie Photoshop. Production of animation was handled by Bardell Entertainment in Vancouver, Canada, for the first six seasons, and by Lighthouse Studios in Kilkenny, Ireland, since the seventh season. Royland's cartooning style is heavily indebted to The Simpsons, a factor he acknowledged in a 2013 interview, while also comparing his style to that of Pendleton Ward, Adventure Time.

and J. G. Quintel, regular show. You'll notice mouths are kind of similar and teeth are similar, but I think that's also a stylistic thing that all of us are kind of the same age, and we're all inspired by The Simpsons and all these other shows were kind of subconsciously tapping into. John Crickfellucy's The Ren and Stimpy Show was another strong influence for Rick and Morty, which is why, according to Royland, a small W-shaped mouths that the characters occasionally make as a reference to a similar expression that W-frequently makes. Talking about the style guide, the animators of the show have to follow, season three art director Jeffrey Thompson explained that the characters are often drawn

with odd or asymmetrical features in order to avoid looking too normal to live in the Rick and Morty universe. When recording dialogue, Royland does a considerable amount of improvisation in order to make the characters feel more natural. In May 2012, Adult Swim unveiled its development date that included a Rick and Morty pilot from Harmon and Royland, which was eventually picked up to series in October 2012, as one of the network's first primetime original shows. The first season premiered in December 2013

and concluded in April 2014. It comprised 11 episodes and aired Mondays at 10.30 p.m. Eastern Time. Two months earlier in February 2014, the show had been renewed for a second season, with the press released noting that Rick and Morty consistently outperformed direct competition in its time slot. Season 2 aired Sundays at 11.30 p.m. from July to October 20, 2015 and comprised 10 episodes. In an interview with the Hollywood reporter, Royland said that Rick and Morty will remain a big priority above anything else for him in the future and expressed his intention to keep the show growing. Adult Swim renewed Rick and Morty for a third season in August 2015, shortly after a successful second season premiere.

The two co-creators and executive producers expressed their delight. at the series popularity. The season premiered unannounced on April 1st, 2017, as part of an April Fool's Day prank. The remaining episodes began airing weekly almost four months later, continuing in the same time slot from season two, and the initial airing concluded in October 2017. Although it was originally intended for the season to consist of 14 episodes, As a result of production delays, it eventually comprised only ten. Following the conclusion of the show's third season,

co-creators Harmon and Royland wanted to have assurance that there would be many more seasons of Rick and Morty in the future, so that they would be able to focus on the show and minimize their involvement in other projects. Additionally, Harmon had expressed his wish for the upcoming fourth season to consist of more than 10 episodes. In May 2018, after prolonged contract negotiations, Adult Swim announced a long-term deal with the creators,

ordering 70 new episodes over an unspecified number of seasons. Royland was confident that this big renewal deal would allow the creators to minimize the gaps between seasons to no more than a year, as they would be able to schedule their time around the show and keep the machine going. In January, 2023, it was confirmed that the long-term deal had renewed the series through a 10th season. In January 2024, it was revealed that due to the recent Writers Guild Strike,

production was delayed and thus made it so the eighth season of the regular series would not be released until 2025, though an anime series would in 2024. At a New York Comic-Con panel in 2024, it was announced that the series had been renewed for an additional two seasons, renewing the show through season 12. In May 2019, the fourth season of Rick and Morty was announced to debut in November 2019. The fourth season consisted of ten episodes split across two airings. The first five episodes began airing on November 10, 2019. while the remaining five episodes began airing on May 3, 2020. The sixth season premiered on September 4th, 2022.

The show is available to watch in its entirety on Netflix in a number of countries, including Australia, while the first four seasons are available to stream in the United States on both Hulu and HBO Max. Following the conclusion of the show's third season, Adult Swim made a live stream marathon of Rick and Morty available to watch on its official website in select regions, hoping to dissuade viewers from watching other illegal live streams. In the United Kingdom, Public Service Broadcaster Channel 4 outbid Netflix

and began airing the series with Season 4, which represents its first pickup by an international television channel. Season 4 was originally scheduled to premiere on Channel 4 in January 2020. Viewer complaints resulted in the broadcaster moving the first episode forward to November 20th on E4. In Canada, the series initially premiered on Adult Swim on January 10th, 2016. In Quebec, it premiered on Teletunes Teletune-Lol-Louis block on May 18, 2018. A 10-episode third season was released on DVD, 2-disc set, and Blu-ray single B-D-50 disc on May 15, 2018. Special features include exclusive commentary and animatics for every episode,

inside the episode, the origins of Rick and Morty, and an exclusive inside the recording booth session. Uncensored versions of the show are also a, available to purchase on various digital platforms, including iTunes and Amazon, with the digital releases of each season containing bonus material. Rick and Morty has been met with critical acclaim. It holds an average approval rating of 90% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes for the entire series. David Weigand of San Francisco Chronicle described it as offbeat and occasionally coarse. The takeaway here is that it works. He praised the animation direction by James

McDermott for being fresh, colorful, and as wacky as the script, and states that the series possesses shades of Futurama, South Park, and even Beetlejuice, ultimately opining that its humor felt entirely original. Neil Genslinger of the New York Times praised the series and stated that it was grandparenting at its unhinged finest. In a review shortly after the second season premiere, Sean Sebastian of Junkie said that although the crude animation and over-the-top voice acting might have discouraged some viewers from continuing to watch, Rick and Morty is exceptionally well-made,

and that the more you dissect it, the more you find it has to say. Todd Spangler, a variety, gave the series a lukewarm review, saying that though it often seems frenetic at the expense of being witty, it represents a welcome attempt to dream just a little bigger. David Sims of the A-V club gave the series an A-minus. In reviewing the first two episodes, he praised its clean, simple style of animation and said the series has a dark-six sensibility. He praised its effort to give each character a little bit of bad,

depth and applauded Royland's voice talent. Rick and Morty has been a ratings hit since season one, with viewership doubling and tripling over their first six episodes. The third season ended with the best ratings in adult swim history, an 81% increase in overall viewers over the second season. According to a Nilsson poll, the third season was the most-watched television comedy of adults between the ages of 18-8. The president of Adult Swim said that Rick and Morty goes beyond just appealing to millennials, with statistics suggesting that people of every age tune into the show. The four seasons started relatively strong with its premiere reaching 2.33 million views. The show's average is 2.51 million.

However, interest soon appeared to taper off after the network decided to split the season in half, causing a steep drop in the season's second half, about a 40% drop in viewership from the third season. The fourth episode of the fourth season saw 1.62 million viewers, which was noted to not be impressive in its own right, but in that it showed consistent viewership, especially when competing against shows like The Walking Dead in the same time slot. The season 5 premiere episode was posted on YouTube

and had 1.7 million views within the first 12 hours. The television premiere saw 1.9 million views. The premiere of Season 6 was shown on September 4th, 2022 and saw the highest ratings in telecasts for women ages 18 to 24 and 18 to 34 and non-sports telecast for male viewers ages 18 to 24 and 18 to 34. The episode was also the number two most viewed non-sports program overall for viewers age 18 to 49. Several former Rick and Morty storyboard artists and crew members proceeded to develop their own shows or work on major new productions. Creator Justin Royland and showrunner Mike McMahon have gone on to co-create solar opposites,

an animated sci-fi sitcom that has been frequently compared to Rick and Morty. McMahon also went on to create Star Trek Lower Decks. Writer Michael Waldron would go on to write for Loki, Dr. Strange in the multiverse of madness, Avengers Doom Day, and Avengers' Secret Wars, and has said that he and his colleagues are cashing in on our Rick and Morty Street crib. Show alumnus Jeff Loveness became a writer, for Ant Man and the Wasp, Quantum Mania. Eric Hayes, the show's storyboard writer and director,

went on to work for Netflix, Big Mouth. Gravity Falls, creator Alex Hirsch, who worked on the episode Big Trouble and Little Sanchez, would become an executive producer of Inside Job, another show that has had comparisons drawn to Rick and Morty for being similarly themed. Pete Michelle's, director of Overestown, 20 Rick and Morty episodes was also a director of two episodes of Inside Job.

Show creator Justin Royland said in 2019 that he would love to make a Rick and Morty feature film. In June 2021, producers Scott Martyr confirmed that the creators and crew hoped to eventually produce a feature film was Roylin stating that it is more of a question of when rather as an if. In 2022, American filmmaker Zach Snyder expressed interest in directing a Rick and Morty Science fiction movie. On May 20th, 2021, Adult Swim announced a short spin-off series centered on the Vindicators team, previously seen on the episode Vindicators 3, The Return of World Ender, to be in development, alongside spinoffs from other adult swim shows like Aquitaine, Hunger Force, and Roboc Chicken. An episode series, Vindicators 2, was released in July 2022.

On May 18, 2022, Adult Swim announced there would be a full spinoff series based on the anime Shorts, Rick and Morty, the anime, directed by Takashi Sano. Rick and Morty, both voiced by Royland, have a cameo in 2021 Space Jam, a new legacy, as they claim to have experimented on the Tasmanian devil that say they were disgusted by the results. Thus, they voluntarily gave him back to LeBron James in the Looney Tunes by dropping him off on their rocket's windshield. Rick and Morty were featured in the couch gag at the beginning of Masleet's Feet, the final episode of the 26th season of the Simpsons. On April 1st, 2015, a Rick and Morty comic book adaptation debuted with its first monthly issue entitled,

BAM. The series was initially written by Zach Gwerex. and illustrated by C.J. Cannon. Artist Tom Fowler wrote a multi-issue story arc that began in March 2016. Using the television series established premise of alternate timelines, the first two volumes of the comic book expressly features the Rick and Morty and supporting cast of a different timeline, allowing the comics to tell stories without conflicting with the canon of the show. From the third volume onwards, with the departure of Gorman as writer and his replacement with Kyle Starks,

the series switched focus to display the off-screen adventures of the specific Rick and Morty of the television series, keeping in the canon of the show, with the ricks and morties of different timelines, forming the bases for backup stories. On August 29, 2018, a four-issue crossover comic with the fantasy tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons was released. A series titled Rick and Morty versus Dungeons and Dragons is co-written by Jim Zubb and Patrick Rothfuss, an art by Troy Little.

A sequel miniseries titled Rick and Morty versus Dungeons and Dragons Chapter 2, Painscape, was published in September 2018. It was written by Jim Zub and Sarah Stern with art by Troy Little. The Rick and Morty versus Dungeons and Dragons Deluxe Edition by Rothfuss, Sub, and Little, was nominated for the 2022 Best Graphic Album Reprint Eisner Award.