Dan Harmon Discusses Keeping Rick and Morty Going After Justin Roiland

Posted in: Adult Swim , Rick and Morty , TV | Tagged: rick and morty

Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon on why he didn't imagine continuing without Justin Roiland, and the question that changed his thinking.

With the Emmy Award-winning animated series having just wrapped its ninth season, and with a spinoff recently premiering and an animated film on the way, it's hard to believe that there was a brief time when fans, members of the production team, and even co-creator Dan Harmon believed that Rick and Morty would be canceled. But after a number of controversies and allegations surrounding co-creator Justin Roiland came to light, leading to his termination, there was a running assumption. Thankfully, the decision was made to restructure the show behind the scenes, adding Ian Cardoni ( WWE WrestleMania narrator) as Rick Sanchez and Harry Belden ( Joe Pera Talks With You ) as Morty Smith, helping set the series on a new path. During a recent interview with The Daily Beast's Obsession podcast, Harmon opened up about his reservations about keeping the show going, the question he was asked by a writer, and what led him to "rearrange my thoughts" on the matter.

Asked whether he imagined the animated series he and Roiland co-created would be shut down after the issues surrounding Roiland went public, Harmon admitted he "assumed" it would be the endgame. "I think that was a bad thing in retrospect, because my automatic assumption was we couldn't have a show without Justin. And that assumption, you know, was problematic to begin with because the idea that anyone that you're working with, for, alongside, or over can't be fired is the beginning of a problem.

Harmon continued, "That's a new thing that I've had to learn in this new world. Like the thing that makes sense, it's like power dynamic. You got to keep your eye on it. But I did assume… I mean, it was like, he's doing the voices, and really, creatively, he was the heart of the show. Like, I pride myself on being an excellent sort of engineer of character, dialogue, story. I love television, I like to think I know how to make a show good, but I don't… like, that show is Justin's vision. It is the things that draw you to it, start with him. And so, that's the other reason. It was like, why would I ever do this?"

Once the stories around Roiland began going public, Harmon noted that he assumed "we're packing it in" and headed out to a bar. "I was in a bar, and, like, 20 people from 'Rick and Morty' found me where I was, and I was like… it was like they were talking a different language. They were like, 'Well, so we're going to keep doing this show,' and I'm like, 'What?'" That was when Harmon was hit with a question that caused him to start looking at the bigger picture.

"I don't want to dox anybody. As much as I'd like to give credit to the person who said this, because I do know their name, I don't know if they want to own this quote. That's up to them, not me. But, one of the writers said, like, 'What? Why does this get to be his [Roiland] decision? I mean, what does this have to do with the show and the fans and the characters? That he gets to… now it all crumbles down like a temple around Samson. Should that be up to him? And then other people, you know, the late motif became, be the adult in the room, which was an insane and ironic thing for it to fall to me," he shared.

Harmon continued, "It was like, oh, you got to think about all these other people, think about the fans and the employees. And so, I was like, okay. And I was very… I was like, if you guys think you can do some kind of like nationwide search, I mean, this is just black magic to me. Blood magic. I mean, it feels evil in a way, regardless of, you know, opinions about Justin's quality of character or whatever, it still feels like bad sorcery to replace someone with imitations and move on. I was thinking of that as a bad thing, and I had to rearrange my thoughts about that. And so no, this is about professionalism and family and accountability, and being the grown-up in the room; like, this is what grown-ups do. They try to figure things out. But that process, it was amazing."

Here's a look back at what Rick and Morty Co-EP Steve Levy and Adult Swim President Michael Ouweleen had to share regarding Justin Roiland and how the Emmy Award-winning animated series' writing team kept the ship going (all the way to more Emmy nominations):

Levy : The pill was hard to swallow. We were shocked and disturbed by what happened. But we stuck together, and we put all our energy into the series. We decided to stay positive, and in the end, we produced the best drawings, scripts, and animations of the entire series. And Dan Harmon [the co-creator of Rick and Morty] has always been in the trenches with us every step of the way. He always has an eye on everything, and sometimes that means he asks us to rewrite entire scripts, but for the good of the series. He never walked away after Justin left.

Ouweleen : There is no guide on how to react to this kind of thing. And it's not normal to experience that. Of course, it's hard; of course, it hurts. But when a whole team works on a series, the series actually becomes more important than one person. Season 7 will be pivotal; we know it, but I think we've never done better so far .