Rick and Morty (season 1)

Rick and Morty (season 1)
DVD cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	11
Release
Original network	Adult Swim
Original release	December 2, 2013 – April 14, 2014

The first season of the American animated television series, Rick and Morty originally aired in the United States on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim, which premiered on December 2, 2013 with "Pilot" and ended on April 14, 2014 with "Ricksy Business", with a total of eleven episodes.

Production

Series co-creator Justin Roiland, John Rice, Jeff Myers, Bryan Newton and Stephen Sandoval served as directors, while Roiland, series co-creator Dan Harmon, Tom Kauffman, Ryan Ridley, Wade Randolph and Eric Acosta served as writers, while writer's assistant Mike McMahan was also given writing credit. All episodes in the first season originally aired in the United States on Adult Swim, and are rated TV-14. However, uncensored version of the episodes released on DVD are rated TV-MA.

The first season featured many guest appearances. Among them were Tom Kenny, Maurice LaMarche, Rob Paulsen, Alfred Molina, John Oliver, David Cross, Rich Fulcher, Claudia Black and Virginia Hey of Farscape fame, Jess Harnell, Phil Hendrie, Dana Carvey, and Aislinn Paul and Cassie Steele of Degrassi fame.^[1]

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"Pilot"	Justin Roiland	Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland	December 2, 2013	1.10[2]
Rick establishes himself as a bad influence on his grandson Morty when it is discovered that Morty has missed a semester of school in the time he's spent on adventures with Rick. Rick takes Morty to another dimension, known as Dimension 35-C, which has the perfect conditions for growing "Mega Trees", which Rick requires for his research. In order to get past intergalactic customs, Morty hides the Mega Tree seeds in his rectum, but when their cover is blown, Rick and Morty escape while engaging in a shootout with bureaucratic alien insects. Ultimately, the seeds are used to briefly make Morty highly intelligent, causing his parents to believe he is fine with his education. This, however, wastes the seeds' energy, so Rick informs Morty that they need to go back and get more, while their aftereffects leave Morty writhing on the floor.
2	2	"Lawnmower Dog"	John Rice	Ryan Ridley	December 9, 2013	1.51[3]
Jerry complains that the family dog, Snuffles, is stupid so Rick gives Jerry a device that enhances the dog's intelligence. He and Morty then go into the dreams of Morty's math teacher to persuade him to give Morty an "A" grade in class so Morty can be assigned less homework. They go from Morty's math teacher's dreams to the dreams of a strong black female TV character named Mrs. Pancake, to a centaur's dreams, and so on. This results in Rick and Morty eventually encountering Scary Terry (a parody of Freddy Krueger). Scary Terry begins chasing the two of them through multiple dreams, causing Rick to become unhinged. At one point the two come across a dream of a post-apocalyptic city where they decide to hide from Scary Terry until he gets tired. When Scary Terry eventually sleeps, Rick and Morty enter his dreams and quickly persuade him to help the duo complete their mission. Meanwhile, after watching several exaggerated infomercials on dogs, Snuffles builds an advanced mechanical suit with a translator to speak to humans. He assembles a robot dog army and proceeds to take over the human race. Rick finds Morty and gives him pills which will make his kidneys shut down. Morty is later seen lying down on a hospital bed in critical state with Snuffles by his side trying to keep him alive. Snuffles awakens (the aforementioned scenario is revealed to be a dream) and realizes that conquering Earth isn't the answer and that dog-kind must not fall to the fate of humankind with its destruction. Snuffles and Morty have a tearful goodbye as Snuffles leaves for another planet for intelligent dogs where compassion is exercised and "pet insurance is mandatory." Post-Credit Scene: Back in Scary Terry's class, the old teacher has been replaced by a new, hippie teacher named Mr. Scary Johnson, but then informs that that is what his father is called and prefers to be addressed as "Mr. Scary Glen". As he teaches the class that they can't "learn anything until they learn how to chill", Rick and Scary Terry are sitting in the back of the class smoking marijuana as Rick says his last line "This is how you dream, bitch.".
3	3	"Anatomy Park"	John Rice	Eric Acosta & Wade Randolph	December 16, 2013	1.30[4]
On Christmas, Rick sends Morty inside the body of a homeless man to save his life (a parody of Fantastic Voyage). Inside the man's body is a microscopic enclosure called Anatomy Park (a parody of Jurassic Park), which houses various deadly diseases that escape their enclosures. Back at the family home, Jerry's parents visit, and the family attempts to bond without electronic devices. Post-Credit Scene: Rick contacts Annie and her other new associates inside his new patient's body and as they talk about his "Pirates of the Pancreas" ride (much to Rick's dislike, since he is sensitive about his ride because it's his idea). Rick hangs up on them only to proceed with a rant and insults. Guest starring: Dana Carvey as Leonard Smith, John Oliver as Dr. Xenon Bloom
4	4	"M. Night Shaym-Aliens!"	Jeff Myers	Tom Kauffman	January 13, 2014	1.32[5]
Rick and Jerry are held captive by aliens in a virtual reality in this M. Night Shyamalan style episode. Rick attempts escape multiple times, only to discover that there are multiple virtual realities encased in one another. However, despite system glitches, Jerry remains completely unaware while trying to sell his advertising slogan for apples. Rick finally games the aliens by giving them a fake recipe for the concoction they were seeking to retrieve from him. The aliens send Rick and Jerry on their way and later explode from the concoction. Post-Credit Scene: Jerry debuts his new advertising slogan for apples in the real world, only to be fired on the spot for how terrible it is despite his protests that it went over well in the simulation. After Jerry leaves, his former boss wonders how Jerry could go home and sleep with his wife after what he had tried to do. Meanwhile, a drunk Rick enters Morty's room during the night. As Rick starts complimenting his grandson and showing appreciation for him, Rick quickly turns on him with a knife and demands to know if Morty is a simulation. Rick then apologizes before passing out on the floor. Guest starring: David Cross as Prince Nebulon and Radio Voice
5	5	"Meeseeks and Destroy"	Bryan Newton	Ryan Ridley	January 20, 2014	1.61[6]
Morty thinks Rick's adventures are too dangerous and so they make a deal that allows Morty to be in charge of an adventure, which leads them in to a "Jack and the Beanstalk" type scenario. At the same time, the rest of the family is having troubles with Rick's "Meeseeks Box", a cube that spawns helpful blue creatures called Meeseeks (Justin Roiland) that normally explode once they have fulfilled the user's goal. However, the Meeseeks conjured by Jerry are unable to help him improve his golf game and summon more Meeseeks to assist him, resulting in the conjured Meeseeks becoming increasingly frustrated from their prolonged existence as they resort to drastic actions in having Jerry achieve his goal. Post-Credit Scene: Two villagers discover King Jellybean's (disturbing) secret photos found in his closet. While one suggests informing the village people about it, the other orders the pictures to be burned as he prefers that the "people will get more from the idea he represented than from the jellybean he actually was".
6	6	"Rick Potion #9"	Stephen Sandoval	Justin Roiland	January 27, 2014	1.75[7]
A dance at Morty's high school prompts him to ask Rick if he can create a potion that will make his pretty classmate Jessica find Morty attractive. However, because Jessica has the flu, the potion goes haywire and becomes airborne and causes nearly the whole population of Earth to fall for Morty save for blood relatives. Rick fixes up an antidote which does not produce its hoped results. Meanwhile, Jerry becomes concerned about Beth's fidelity. Eventually both plots cross paths. This results in Rick and Morty migrating to another reality where that reality's Rick successfully cures all of Earth, but he and that reality's Morty die in an experiment allowing Rick and Morty to assume their roles. Post-Credit Scene: While the rest of the Smith family are living happily in their post-apocalyptic mutated world, two mutated versions of Rick and Morty find new life in their new mutated world where they can settle in after everyone in their world was accidentally given normal appearances.
7	7	"Raising Gazorpazorp"	Jeff Myers	Eric Acosta & Wade Randolph	March 10, 2014	1.76[8]
In a pawn shop in space, Rick buys Morty a sex robot. Soon after, the robot conceives Morty's alien hybrid child whom he names Morty Jr. Rick and Summer go to the sex robot's planet of origin, Gazorpazorp, to find better suited parents for Morty Jr. After discovering that the Gazorpazorpian females are the dominant gender on the planet, Rick and Summer discover that the males of this species mature in only days. Morty Jr.'s quick aging teaches Morty about parenting. Post-Credit Scene: Morty Jr. goes to a talk show to talk about a book he wrote called "My (horrible) Father", which, surprisingly, had become very successful. Guest starring: Claudia Black as Ma-Sha, Richard Christy as Zardoz Head and Teenage Morty Jr., Virginia Hey as Gazorpian
8	8	"Rixty Minutes"	Bryan Newton	Tom Kauffman & Justin Roiland	March 17, 2014	1.48[9]
The family is watching the reality TV show The Bachelor, and Rick is complaining about the quality of the show. Jerry asks Rick to show them his idea of good television and Rick upgrades the cable to show programming from every conceivable dimension. They come across Jerry on TV which they are eager to watch but which Rick argues is unimportant. To quell them, he gives them a pair of goggles that allow them to see through the eyes of alternate reality versions of themselves. While initially satisfying, these realities reveal some uncomfortable truths and unearth certain hostile feelings. It is revealed that Summer was the result of an unplanned pregnancy and was almost aborted. Jerry and Beth both become fixated on watching an alternate reality in which they did choose to abort Summer and never married, and they both seem to be much more successful and happy for it: Beth is a successful human heart surgeon, and Jerry is a famous actor (playing roles Tom Hanks had in our reality). Summer, believing that she is the product of her parent's distress and shaky state of marital affairs, threatens to run away. While she is packing her bags, Morty tells her that in an alternate universe, he and Rick destroyed the entire universe and that his mutilated corpse is buried in the ground (referring to the events of "Rick Potion No. 9"). He says that "nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die", so Summer should not worry. Persuaded by this argument, Summer agrees to stay. Ultimately, it turns out that Beth and Jerry's alternates are miserable in their own ways: alternate-Beth is lonely and spends her days drinking wine and caring for a large collection of birds while alternate-Jerry has a mental breakdown and drives a lawnmower down the highway in his underwear until he arrives at alternate-Beth's house. He declares that he hates being an actor, Beth was the best thing that ever happened to him, and not a day has gone by that he didn't wonder what might have been if they had kept the baby and stayed together. Alternate Beth and Jerry tearfully embrace and kiss, causing main-universe Beth and Jerry to similarly embrace and reconcile. Post-Credit Scene: As the family watches a channel of an alternate reality where hamsters live in human rectums, they begin asking questions to Rick, who is trying to watch the TV until he becomes irritated and takes them to the alternate reality itself resulting in a family vacation to that reality. Note: This episode was released early by the network via 109 15-second videos on Instagram.[10]
9	9	"Something Ricked This Way Comes"	John Rice	Mike McMahan	March 24, 2014	1.54[11]
Summer reports to her first job in an antique shop run by the Devil. The shop sells items that are lucrative because they are free and fulfill a desire for the owner but come at a price making the item worthless essentially. The Devil gives Rick a microscope that Rick later discovers would have rendered him retarded with use. Meanwhile, Jerry and Morty are transported to Pluto due to Jerry's opinions on Pluto's planetary status. However, it is soon revealed that Pluto is shrinking due to corporate plutonium mining, and Jerry's opinions are being used to keep the citizens of Pluto in a perpetual state of confirmation bias. Jerry eventually realizes the truth and consequently he and Morty are deported back to Earth. To get back at the Devil, Rick sets up a competitive counter-business across the street that removes the curses and runs the Devil out of business. The Devil is so dismayed that he tries to kill himself but Summer finds himself in the middle of his suicide attempt and revives him. They relaunch with a new company that becomes wildly successful. As it turns out, the Devil had no plans to include Summer in reaping the profits and has her hauled off by security. Betrayed by the Devil, she and Rick build muscle mass to get physical revenge. Post-Credit Scene: Rick and Summer merrily beat the tar out of a Neo-Nazi, a bully, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, and an abusive dog owner. Guest starring: Alfred Molina as the Devil, Rich Fulcher as King Flippy Nips, Nolan North as Scroopy Noopers
10	10	"Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind"	Stephen Sandoval	Ryan Ridley	April 7, 2014	1.75[12]
When 27 Ricks in alternate dimensions end up murdered and their respective Mortys are kidnapped, the Trans-Dimensional Council of Ricks orders the arrest of Rick C137 (the show's original Rick) and accuses him of the crimes due to his refusal to participate in their affairs. Angry that he was framed, Rick escapes the Council with Morty to go after the real culprit who set him up and finds that another Rick is supposedly responsible for murdering their counterparts while stealing their Morties to conceal his presence. Meanwhile, as Morty begins to believe that he's nothing but a tool to protect Rick, Jerry begins to bond with Rick J19Z7, the kindest Rick in all of the realities. After Morty leads a rebellion of alternate Morties against the "evil" Rick, three Ricks from the Council of Ricks discover that the "evil" Rick was being mind-controlled. It is revealed to the audience that he was being controlled by his Morty. Post-Credit Scene: Jerry still misses Rick J19Z7, but when Jerry sees him from the window from across the street, the original Rick shows up to tell Jerry that the Rick he's friends with "eats his own shit", only to proceed to calling the other Ricks to make fun of him.
11	11	"Ricksy Business"	Stephen Sandoval	Ryan Ridley & Tom Kauffman	April 14, 2014	2.13[13]
Morty's parents leave to go on an overnight Titanic-themed getaway leaving the kids in the care of Rick. Disaster strikes when the ship misses the iceberg and fails to sink. Things get worse when a deranged female janitor obsessed with the Titanic movie decides to kidnap and force Jerry at gunpoint to re-enact various scenes from the movie with her. At home, Summer decides to throw a party only to find out that Rick has decided to have his own party with numerous aliens, monsters and other trans-dimensional beings. The situation escalates when Abradolf Lincler (Rick's failed attempt at creating a morally-neutral leader by combining the DNA of Adolf Hitler with that of Abraham Lincoln) arrives at the party. Later, Morty accidentally beams the entire house to another planet filled with disturbing testicle aliens who use humans as sex toys. The party is increasingly growing out of control, but eventually the trio are able to usher away the guests. With minutes to spare, Beth texts Summer that she and Jerry are just around the corner. Frantic, Morty wakes up Rick and asks for his help. Using a contraption, they freeze time with Beth and Jerry steps away from the front door. The trio clean and repair the house while time is frozen. At the end, with time still frozen, they watch Titanic and unanimously agree how terrible it is. Post-Credit Scene: Lincler survives his injuries, and as he swears revenge, he is quickly grabbed by the trans-dimensional beasts that proceed to exchange Lincler with one of the teenagers from the party that had been taken earlier with each other and more of the alien beasts. Lincler questions the teen in disgust if he's actually enjoying it, only to be replied that he does.

Home release

The first season was released on DVD (Region 1) and Blu-ray on October 7, 2014.^[14] Before its release, Roiland had confirmed that it would contain uncensored audio tracks.^[15]

References

1. Dan Harmon (co-creator); Justin Roiland (co-creator) (July 29, 2013). SDCC 2013: Rick and Morty Panel. San Diego Comic-Con International: Turner Broadcasting System.
2. Pucci, Douglas (December 10, 2013). "Adult Swim Weekly Ratings Scorecard (December 2–8, 2013)". TV Ratings. TV Media Insights. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
3. The Futon Critic Staff (December 10, 2013). "Monday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: Monday Night Football, Voice Continue Reign". Ratings. The Futon Critic. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
4. Kondolojy, Amanda (December 17, 2013). "Monday Cable Ratings: Monday Night Football Leads Night + Monday Night RAW, Black Ink Crew & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
5. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 14, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: Monday Night RAW & Love & Hip Hop Tie for Lead + Single Ladies, Archer & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
6. Bibel, Sara (January 22, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: Love & Hip Hop Wins Night, WWE Raw, Single Ladies, Klondike, The Fosters & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
7. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 28, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: Monday Night RAW Tops Night + Love & Hip Hop, Fast N Loud, Single Ladies & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
8. Kondolojy, Amanda (March 11, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: 'Monday Night RAW' Leads Night + 'Swamp People', 'Bates Motel', 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
9. Bibel, Sara (March 18, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: 'WWE Raw' Wins Night, 'Fast N Loud', 'Teen Wolf', 'Bates Motel', 'Switched at Birth' & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
10. Lowensohn, Josh. "Adult Swim splits up 'Rick and Morty' episode into 109 Instagram videos". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
11. Amanda, Kondolojy (March 25, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: 'Monday Night RAW' Leads Night + 'Basketball Wives', 'Single Ladies', 'Fast N Loud', 'Teen Wolf' & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
12. Kondolojy, Amanda (April 8, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: 'Monday Night RAW' Tops Night + 'Basketball Wives', 'WWE Hall of Fame', 'Bates Motel' & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
13. Bibel, Sara (April 15, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: 'WWE Raw' Wins Night, 'Basketball Wives', 'Bates Motel', 'Archer', 'Dallas' & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
14. Lambert, David (July 11, 2013). "Rick and Morty - 'The Complete 1st Season' on DVD, Blu-ray: Date, Cost, Extras". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
15. "Justin Roiland on Twitter". Twitter.