Despite Justin Roiland being the primary voice of the series, and therefore the de facto star, Rick & Morty’s man behind the curtain has long been Dan Harmon (Community). Harmon’s got very strong feelings about things like story and character and, despite all the wonderfully juvenile humor, there is actually a heart underneath it all so even as the future of the show could be called into question given recent events, there's no reason to abandon the whole series altogether.
To be clear, the creation of Rick & Morty was a collaborative effort between Harmon and Roiland on something they were both passionate about. Harmon was between stints as Community showrunner at the time, and Roiland was his buddy who he called to talk ideas. Before long, the production of Rick & Morty was in full effect and the cast was filled out with Sarah Chalke as Beth, Chris Parnell as Jerry, and Spencer Grammer as Beth. The silly idea became a widely acclaimed season of television in no time and the demand for more was palpable. The series then soared to new heights over the next several years, and everyone lived happily ever after. Well, maybe in one of the alternate realities, but in this one that was definitely not the case with Roiland. At all.
'Rick & Morty's Brain and Voice Stopped Communicating
The beginning of something isn’t always how it remains, though, and soon into the series, as far back as Season 2 per the recent Rick & Morty behind-the-scenes tell-all, Harmon and Roiland became less of a team and more a case of conflicting ideologies sharing the stage. Eventually, even doing that was too much, and — as long-time fans of the series may have already suspected before that recent deep-dive into the behind-the-scenes atmosphere of the show made it public — Roiland reportedly disassociated from everything. The pandemic surely played a part in his absence, but it became clear to those in his orbit that, COVID or no COVID, Roiland was pretty much done with showing up.
According to accounts via The Hollywood Reporter, Roiland hasn’t had any real creative influence on the series for the bulk of its run by this point and has mostly been phoning it in, quite literally (if not technically), with only the occasional office pop-in that didn’t usually involve much work of any kind. It was probably easier for all parties involved to just deal with Roiland’s strange behavior rather than address the possible alternative, especially considering Rick & Morty received a massive 70-episode order to follow through on. As for how much anyone else knew of Roiland’s domestic violence-based legal troubles (which were sealed by court until January) or his out-of-office activities, that’s something each viewer will have to come to a conclusion about for themselves–or there’s always just deciding not to make a decision as ignorance is bliss, after all. That last option seems like a Jerry choice, though.
As for the series going forward, the first thing fans would probably have to accept is that Harmon’s creative juices and devotion to storytelling have been the backbone of Rick & Morty for most of the show’s run up to now, for better and worse. There can’t be any waving away of one thing as a Roiland contribution or another as a Harmon (which is a popular kind of discussion at places like Reddit), as evidently, the stories have all been pretty Harmon-approved for years. So, make peace with the slut dragons and Chutbacks of it all since it’s entirely possible another storyline will inspire similar feelings one day. Abed said it best on Community, Harmon’s other excellent series: “It’s TV. It’s comfort. It’s a friend you’ve known so well and for so long you just let it be with you. And it needs to be okay for it to have a bad day or phone in a day, and it needs to be okay for it to get on a boat with LeVar Burton and never come back. Because eventually, it all will.” Except for Rick & Morty, that sea voyage (which is surely the last place Rick ever wants to find himself again) doesn’t have to be now.
'Rick and Morty's Future
There’s no doubt that whoever is responsible for filling the Rick and Morty-shaped holes in the series is considering all options. They have a solid supporting cast in Grammer, Chalke, and Parnell that could certainly be utilized a bit more, but realistically the show is called Rick & Morty for a reason, and trying to do it without those characters as they’ve come to exist to this point would be a dealbreaker. They could go with an impressionist kind of recast and not mention anything, aside from a sly wink at the audience here or there, which would probably be the easiest option story-wise. Considering all the shenanigans they’ve gotten up to over the years, however, it wouldn’t be impossible to go with slightly different voices and make a storyline out of it. That’d probably involve some kind of meta-acknowledgment of the real-life mess, which doesn’t sound like something Harmon wouldn’t do. Everyone surely has their own version of what would be best, but ultimately, as long as whatever makes it to air works for the show, then it will have been the right choice.
All the recent news concerning someone who has been a primary reason for the enduring popularity of the series has been troubling and upsetting, without a doubt, but TV is an ongoing collaborative effort. If something’s not working anymore, like Roiland as Rick and Morty, then cut the problem loose and forge ahead. Things will either work out or they won’t, but Harmon and everyone else behind-the-scenes are surely doing their best to continue the Rick & Morty fans have come to know and love — so they at least deserve a shot to right the ship.