Copyright Screen Rant
While Rick and Morty might seem irreplaceable to fans of the Adult Swim hit, there have been plenty of attempts to imitate the show by various creators in the years since the series began. There are a few animated comedies better than Rick and Morty, but the anarchic cartoon sitcom is still one of the funniest shows on television. The best episodes of Rick and Morty are among the most ingenious sci-fi parodies ever made, and the show’s character comedy is often as strong as its razor-sharp satirical deconstruction of TV tropes. It’s tough to imagine how any series could replace Rick and Morty, given the show’s unique blend of character drama and absurd comedy. One of the greatest strengths of Rick and Morty is the show’s ability to bounce between goofy absurdity and existential angst. Characters will playfully break the fourth wall and acknowledge the fact that they exist in a TV show, but the next scene will see them genuinely heartbroken, and this meta-humor only makes the emotional devastation more intense. Farzar Few shows can bounce between tonal extremes with such a deft touch, something many of Rick and Morty’s imitators have struggled with over the years. However, this has never stopped them from trying to replicate the show’s appeal. Rick and Morty began airing in 2103, and there have been a whole host of shows that tried to replicate its appeal since then. Perhaps the most critically reviled of these shows was 2022’s Farzar, created by Brickleberry and Paradise PD masterminds Waco O’Guin and Roger Black for Netflix. A scatological parody of scale operas, Farzar was named after the titular faraway planet where its story was set. Farzar followed Prince Fichael, a space warrior tasked by a villainous czar with protecting his city from an equally evil alien attempting to reclaim the kingdom. In this hopeless task, Fichael was assisted by a predictably motley crew of rejects. This predictable premise generated few laughs and fewer thrills, and Farzar was canceled after one season. Solar Opposites Of all the Rick and Morty replacements, the critically acclaimed Hulu series Solar Opposites had the most impressive pedigree. For one thing, the show came from one of Rick and Morty’s co-creators, Justin Roiland, and starred the voice actor as its lead character, the fastidious alien Korvo. Roiland was replaced by Dan Stevens in season 4 when allegations of domestic abuse came to light, but Solar Opposites continued to enjoy critical success after his early exit. The show followed a family of aliens, Korvo, Terry, Yumyulack, and Jesse, as they crash-landed on Earth and attempted to acclimate to its strange society and culture. Obscene, absurd, and always playful, Solar Opposites felt like a lighter, goofier Rick and Morty for much of its six seasons. This did mean the show lacked stakes, but its two long-running subplots, Silvercops and The Wall, added some dramatic heft to the otherwise goofy series. Canceled after six seasons, Solar Opposites remains a rare, worthy successor to Rick and Morty. Haunted Hotel Like Solar Opposites, Netflix’s Haunted Hotel had some creative blood in common with Rick and Morty. Former Rick and Morty writer Matt Roller created this supernatural comedy, which follows Eliza Coupe/s overworked Katherine, the owner and operator of the eponymous haunted hotel. With help from her deceased brother, a shiftless ghost, her awkward teenage son, her creepy niece, and an affable demon named Abaddon, Katherine attempts to keep the many ghosts of the Undervale Hotel under control while also attracting enough customers to keep the lights on. This premise works fine, but it’s also pretty familiar. If viewers noticed a similarity to CBS’s Ghosts, now in its fifth season, they wouldn’t be alone. Since that live-action sitcom has a very similar premise, and Haunted Hotel’s comedy style borrows heavily from Rick and Morty, many reviews considered the series too derivative to be truly inspired despite a handful of laughs and some clever plots. Final Space When Final Space was first announced, the series sounded like a straightforward attempt to mash up Rick and Morty’s success with the premise of Futurama. The storyline followed a well-meaning but dimwitted astronaut and his alien friend as they attempted to save the universe along with a crew of mismatched supporting shipmates. With a cast that included David Tennant, Steven Yeun, Ron Funches, and Keith David, Final Space didn’t lack star power. However, the show’s humor didn’t land for everyone, with many critics calling the series too silly and lightweight. Interestingly, this issue became less of a problem as the show continued. Final Space gained a smalll, but loyal fan base as the show continued, eventually developing a more emotionally resonant narrative arc. Like Adventure Time, Final Space was a two-hander that started out silly and grew more ambitious as it continued, and its final season is still seen by some critics as an unexpected highlight for a series that was underrated in its time. Krapopolis Like Solar Opposites and Haunted Hotel, Krapopolis has a major Rick and Morty connection. Rick and Morty’s other co-creator, Dan Harmon, came up with this Fox series about a family of gods, mythical monsters, and long-suffering humans who attempt to build civilization in a raucous spoof of Ancient Greece. Richard Ayoade’s deadpan performance as Tyrannis is typically fun, and a strong supporting cast, including Matt Berry, Hannah Waddingham, and James Adomian, ensures this show is well worth a watch. However, unlike most of the shows listed, Krapopolis airs on network TV and falls foul of all the limitations that format implies. As such, Krapopolis has never been able to pull off the sort of edgy, R-rated humor that makes Rick and Morty feel so unpredictable, something Solar Opposites and Haunted Hotel could indulge in on Hulu and Netflix, respectively. Despite this, it’s still a solid watch for fans of Harmon’s earlier animated comedy. The Midnight Gospel Adventure Time predates Rick and Morty by a few years, and the largely family-friendly show isn’t all that similar to the edgier later hit anyway. However, creator Pendleton Ward’s Netflix follow-up The Midnight Gospel shares a lot more creative DNA with Rick and Morty, for better and for worse. The show follows a space podcaster who exists on an unfolding ribbon planet, interviewing characters from various imaginary universes as they fade in and out of existence. If that stop sounds trippy, that’s because it is, and this eight-episode mind-melter never goes out of its way to explain this bizarre central conceit. As such, most of The Midnight Gospel's loosely defined plot sees this space caster talking to various guest stars about life, the universe, and everything before narrowly avoiding various apocalyptic events. Undeniably fun, The Midnight Gospel is also the sort of strange trip that could never have been green-lit without the success of Rick and Morty’s weirder episodes. Inside Job Although Solar Opposites lasted a lot longer, Netflix’s Inside Job remains the best Rick and Morty replacement out there. Created by Gravity Falls writer Shion Takeuchi, Inside Job’s lone season followed an engineer who worked with her eccentric super-genius father to run Cognito, Inc., a secret government department devoted to covering up conspiracies. In the world of Inside Job, almost every conspiracy theory was true. This meant the show’s long-suffering heroine had to corral the Illuminati, lizard people, robots, a dolphin-man, and assassins together in her attempt to keep Cognito, Inc. from falling apart.
