Rick and Morty fans will be happy to learn that the ongoing writers’ strike won’t stop them from getting several more seasons of the animated sci-fi comedy. Although only six seasons of the hit show have been released, executive producer Steve Levy said the series will likely have at least 10 — and possibly many more.
In a recent interview with French entertainment magazine Premiere, Levey said season 7 is forthcoming and won’t be affected by the WGA strike. He added:
“[S]eason 8 is already fully written, and we managed to draw a good part of season 9 before the writers’ strike. So we are already talking about season 10!”
When asked whether the Rick and Morty showrunners had a finite number of seasons in mind, or if the show would continue indefinitely like The Simpsons, Levy explained:
“We could go on forever. The series is a vehicle for great sci-fi ideas, which have been around for a long time elsewhere. We obviously didn’t invent the multiverse, but we made it known to an audience that didn’t know the concept. We are inspired by great science fiction and there are still a million ideas to be exploited. And even if the multiverse is used absolutely everywhere now – to the point that it becomes tiring – we are ready to bounce back. It’s an exciting challenge. What could we do after the multiverse? So much more [that] you will see in future seasons.”
Perhaps this is where Rick and Morty fandom starts to worry. It’s generally accepted that the first 10 seasons of The Simpsons were its strongest. Although there are some great episodes in later seasons, the overall effect has been one of diminishing returns. Similarly, South Park seems to be going on indefinitely despite feeling well past its prime.
We believe Levy that the Rick and Morty writers will deliver a great new idea to eclipse the multiverse narrative, but we highly doubt that by season 20 they’ll still be nailing the perfect ratio of jokes to lore to grotesque revelations, like that universe where hats wear naked people instead of the other way around.
We’re generally wary of any showrunners pushing their luck too far, but these folks would probably just quote Rick’s famous “Luck had nothing to do with it” line back at us — and fair enough. This is, after all, one of the few series where jumping the shark is kind of the point.
