“Rick and Morty” arrived on Adult Swim on December 2, 2013, and ran 13 years to its final episode on July 26, 2026. That is nine seasons and 91 episodes for a cartoon about a drunk scientist and a nervous kid, and the show earned most of that run.
Trailer, via Adult Swim.
Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland’s Back to the Future Sketch
Justin Roiland made a Back to the Future parody for Channel 101, the short film festival Dan Harmon co-founded, in 2006. The eponymous duo of Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith grew out of that sketch. Six years later it became a half-hour prime time series for Adult Swim.
That origin explains the show’s engine. Rick is a sociopathic genius scientist. Morty is his inherently timid grandson. Rick drags the boy across the universe, and the comedy comes from the gap between them.
A Mad Scientist, a Timid Grandson, and a Flying Car
The series centers on the misadventures of cynical mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his good-hearted but fretful grandson Morty Smith. They split their time between domestic life and interdimensional adventures, traveling to other planets and dimensions through portals and Rick’s flying car.
Different versions of the characters inhabit other dimensions throughout the multiverse. Their personal characteristics vary from one reality to another. That mechanic lets “Rick and Morty” reset its own stakes without ever losing the family at the center.
Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke, and the Smith Household
The voice cast holds the domestic half together. Chris Parnell plays Jerry Smith, Spencer Grammer plays Summer Smith, and Sarah Chalke plays Beth Smith. Ian Cardoni voices Rick Sanchez and Harry Belden voices Morty Smith in the later run. Lil Pump appears as Gucci Morty.
The household scenes are not filler between adventures. Jerry’s neediness, Beth’s ambition, and Summer’s impatience give the portal trips something to cost.
Nine Seasons and 91 Episodes
The run began December 2, 2013, and closed July 26, 2026.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Series premiere | 2013-12-02 |
| Final episode | 2026-07-26 |
The franchise earned two Annie and Emmy Awards. It also pulled in hundreds of millions of dollars across merchandising and media. Spin-offs, comic books, musical releases and video games all followed the television series.
What the Multiverse Actually Buys the Show
The best argument for “Rick and Morty” is that it never treats its own premise as a gag. The show keeps asking what infinite realities cost the people who live with the man who can reach them.
The original series remains the anchor of the franchise:
- The television series, which does the character work everything else borrows.
- The spin-offs, which depend on the parent show’s reputation.
- The comic books, which extend the multiverse.
- The video games, which take the setting.
- The musical releases, which trail the rest.
None of that would exist without the half-hour series. That is not a knock on the side projects. It is a measure of how much the original built.
The Score
The published critical score is 9.0 out of 10, with a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That number is fair. “Rick and Morty” is funny, mean, and more emotionally precise than its premise suggests. The franchise received universal acclaim across all seasons, which is rare for a show that runs this long in adult animation.
The weaker stretches come when the show leans on its own cleverness. The multiverse can excuse almost any plot turn, and a few episodes use that excuse. But the domestic scenes keep pulling it back, and the Jerry, Beth, and Summer material is why the later seasons still land.
Nine seasons is a long time to keep a joke about infinite realities from going stale. “Rick and Morty” mostly did it. 9 of 10.
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