Rick and Morty Season 4 marks best E4 launch in five years
David Farnor | On 23, Nov 2019
Rick and Morty finally arrived in the UK this week, and the result was a smash hit for E4.
The irreverent, dark, twisted, dark, hilarious, dark, disturbing, dark animated comedy, which was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, follows the misadventures of an alcoholic scientist and his grandson. The series has been one of Adult Swim’s most popular shows in the US, and has since found an equally large following internationally. Season 4, though, has jumped from Netflix to E4, with Channel 4 snapping up the rights to the show.
Airing in two parts of five episodes, the season boasts such guest stars as Paul Giamatti, Sam Neill, Kathleen Turner and Taika Waititi, and is now airing weekly on E4 in the UK. Episode 1 premiered on 20th November at 10pm.
It averaged 284,000 viewers, up 42 per cent on the slot’s average. 77 per cent of them were viewers aged 16 to 34. The result was E4’s best launch of a new series since Young Sheldon in February 2018 , and its best 10pm launch of a series since Troy in 2014.
Missed it? Episodes are available to stream on All 4 for 30 days after their broadcast.
Watch: Rick and Morty return for Season 4
7th October 2019
Update November 2019: Rick and Morty Season 4 will premiere in January 2020. Click here for more.
Rick and Morty are returning for Season 4 in the very near future, and a new trailer gives us an unexpected but welcome first glimpse of what’s in store.
The irreverent, dark, twisted, dark, hilarious, dark, disturbing, dark animated comedy, which was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, follows the misadventures of an alcoholic scientist and his grandson – think Back to the Future, but with more time-travelling, universe-hopping portals, aliens and rude jokes. The series has been one of the adult animated channel’s most popular shows in the US, and has since found an equally large following internationally.
As well its twisted brand of humour, the show also has a reputation for lengthy gaps between seasons, and Season 4 has been no exception. Fans will not have to wait much longer, though, with Adult Swim set to debut the programme’s fourth run on 10th November.
The new trailer teases five new episodes next month, which would make up half of the 10-episode order given by Adult Swim. Whether that means a Christmas break for the show’s broadcast, or a longer hiatus between two parts, isn’t yet clear. What we do know is that Paul Giamatti, Sam Neill, Kathleen Turner and Taika Waititi are confirmed as guest vocal stars. And that in the UK, Season 4 will premiere exclusively on Channel 4.
Stay tuned for an exact release date for British viewers. And until then, here’s the new video:
Comic-Con: First clip and details drops for Rick and Morty Season 4
20th July 2019
The first clip and details have dropped for Season 4 of Rick and Morty.
The irreverent, dark, twisted, dark, hilarious, dark, disturbing, dark animated comedy, which was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, follows the misadventures of an alcoholic scientist and his grandson – think Back to the Future, but with more time-travelling, universe-hopping portals, aliens and rude jokes. The series has been one of the adult animated channel’s most popular shows in the US, and has since found an equally large following internationally.
Last year, after Adult Swim renewed the programme for another 70 episodes, E4 snapped up the UK TV rights to the show’s fourth season, which is set to air later this year. Now, we know our first details of what’s in store from the show’s return.
Harmon and Roiland have confirmed that 10 episodes have been ordered, with the Meeseeks set to return. Paul Giamatti, Sam Neill, Kathleen Turner and Taika Waititi are also confirmed as guest vocal stars.
We’ve also got our first taste of what the latter will be like, with a video unveiled at Comic-Con featuring Glootie, an alien voiced by Waititi, who is encountered by Jerry and Morty. Here’s the clip:
Rick and Morty gets bumper renewal for 70 episodes
11th May 2018
Rick and Morty has been renewed in a big way by Adult Swim, with a bumper order given for another 70 episodes.
The irreverent, dark, twisted, dark, hilarious, dark, disturbing, dark animated comedy, which was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, follows the misadventures of an alcoholic scientist and his grandson – think Back to the Future, but with more time-travelling, universe-hopping portals, aliens and rude jokes. The series has been one of the adult animated channel’s most popular shows in the US, and has since found an equally large following internationally – Netflix UK is now the exclusive home of the comedy on British soil, with Season 3 arriving last year hot on heels of its American broadcast.
“It has surpassed new heights of surreal comedy,” we wrote in our review of the third season. “Production belches aside, Rick and Morty is still the most wildly imaginative sitcom going and even while the season overall veers between the ridiculous and the sublime, it always looks good and gets laughs doing it. At certain points, it looks as if they can’t all be winners, but in the main, it’s only getting better and better.”
Now, fans have another 35 hours to look forward to, with Adult Swim’s renewal commissioning more than double the number of episodes that already exist. The order marks a long-term deal, though, as Roiland and Harmon have resisted the urge to rush out episodes, with long spaces between each season, in which case you can expect Rick and Morty to be around for another 10 years – not quite the 97 years that some may wish for, but certainly a run that’s rare in today’s competitive, cancellation-heavy TV landscape. Indeed, the news arrives as some of the small screen’s best comedies – Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Last Man on Earth – have been given the chop.
#RickandMorty @danharmon @JustinRoiland pic.twitter.com/BuGrv5yDwm
— Rick and Morty (@RickandMorty) May 10, 2018
Rick and Morty Season 1 to 3 are available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.