There is nothing in this life that has taken quite so long to reach us as ‘Rick and Morty‘ Season 3.
Well, that’s a blatant lie – half the stars in the sky are already dead, probably, and their light has just taken millions of years to reach us – but no fan base is quite so vocal about their utter impatience for new content as the ‘Rick and Morty’ lot, this writer included.
When I interviewed co-creator Dan Harmon last year and admitted I was only half way through Season 2, he laughed and told me to slow down. “You’ll be waiting a long time for new episodes!” he said. I laughed and replied, “Well, maybe you should make them faster,” with absolutely no idea what kind of hellhole I was scratching at.
Oh, how times have changed.
The incredibly long wait for Season 3 (Season 2 ended in October 2015, which for those of you playing at home is just a few months shy of being TWO YEARS AGO) has fans, well, antsy. Harmon’s notoriously temperamental attitude already led to the untimely death of one beloved TV show (‘Community‘), so fans have been wondering if Harmon was in fact feuding with ‘Rick and Morty’ co-creator Justin Roiland.
Well, apparently not. Let Harmon himself clear that whole mess up for you.
A hungover thread where I address Rick and Morty devotees because I feel bad for any fan worrying about any show-threatening issue:
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
Justin and I are very regretful about the season taking way too long. I want to explain “what happened” because it’s way less dramatic
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
Than you might ever imagine. Post internet TV audiences are so used to finding out there’s an intriguing/confusing/intense reason 4 delays
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
And Christ knows if you’ve ever seen MY name on the internet I’ve only got myself to blame for an association with intrigue/confusion/drama
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
But the truth in this case is so very boring. I will put it to you as objectively as I can, though we aren’t talking about an auto plant
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
The reason S3 took long is because it took long to write, because it was S3 of a show that we were scared to make worse than S2 or S1.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
It’s a common yet odd phenomenon. Tail-chasing, perfectionism, overthinking? One prob is that any description you pick for it
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
Is going to have a falseness. If I say “we overthought” someone else could say “well, no, we thought the right amount,” it’s like talking
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
About religion or something. It feels I think, to writers, sacreligious and ineffective to open the creative process and poke and label.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
But don’t worry about the content, because, the reason overthought slows you down is, you just do way more versions of stuff than needed.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
You usually end up back where you started. So as far as I can tell, although I’m too close to it, it’s just another good season of RAM
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
That took way too fucking long to write because it just seems like the same stuff that took way less time to write. That’s it. Boring answer
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
As I speak, more articles are coming out about me and Justin fighting. Because it’s a less boring reason for a season to take long,
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
And because I’m Dan Harmon, so it’s a smart fucking first guess, it just happens to be hilariously not true even in the slightest.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
And because I’m Dan Harmon, so it’s a smart fucking first guess, it just happens to be hilariously not true even in the slightest.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
We’d be all too eager to share it with you.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
Also, that’s not what would make the show slow down! Fighting probably would have been a good idea, it might have sped us up.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
So that’s it. I shouldn’t have started a thread when i need to pack for airport, but that’s it. We took too long writing. Totes regrets.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
And we look back and we talk to each other about how we can avoid it happening again and I’m pretty sure the reason it won’t is cuz
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
It happened. That’s how it works. You do something you don’t know you’re doing and then you’re like oh I did that and then you do otherwise
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
I don’t know if any danger to the show itself that comes from you believing justin and I are fighting and the show is gone forever, BUT
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
Like I said it breaks my heart to think of some kid reading one of these clickbait pieces after all the energy that kid has put into fandom.
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
The show by my metric, which is people seeing my tee shirts and saying “I love that show” has like the craziest reach of anything I’ve been
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
A part of. So..it makes sense that when you take something that loved and delay it this long and let the internet simmer, you get this stuff
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
And we’re flattered by it and thankful to you and can’t wait for you to see S3 and also JUSTIN IS A PIECE OF SHIT I’M GOING TO FIST FIGHT
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
End of threaddddddd so hungover
— Dan Harmon (@danharmon) June 24, 2017
There ya go. RAM S3 is coming… eventually.
Photo: Rick and Morty.