Rick and Morty is one of the funniest animated shows on the air, but some of the best moments in the series have been totally unscripted. The show was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Adult Swim and has since become incredibly popular. Roiland voiced both of the main characters for the first six seasons before being dropped from the show due to controversies, but his tenure also marked some of the best improv moments for the series.
The concept of an irreverent parody of theBack to the Future relationship between Marty McFly
and Doc Brown was originally Roiland’s idea. He went on to lead the writer’s room alongside the more experienced Harmon, which is why it made sense that he could embody the characters and riff new lines freely. These moments of improv are unusual for an animated show, but thanks to the creativity of Harmon and Roiland, and the talented artists and animators who were able to give life to the inane ramblings, it led to iconic moments for the show.
10 Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub
Rick And Morty Season 1, Episode 5, “Meeseeks And Destroy”
One of the most memorable episodes of the premiere season, “Meeseeks and Destroy” introduced one of Rick’s most famous catchphrases; “wubba lubba dub-dub.” The genius of Rick and Morty often comes from the creative’s ability to retroactively give greater meaning and purpose to throwaway pieces of dialogue. Later in the show, this nonsensical catchphrase is fleshed out to give it a deeper meaning, but as Roiland himself admitted in an interview, it was improvised in the recording booth (via Den of Geek).
9 Saturday Night Live
Rick And Morty Season 1, Episode 8, “Rixty Minutes”
Justin Roiland previously revealed that Rick and Morty episodes featuring interdimensional cable have a unique creative process that sets them apart from the rest of the show. Both “Rixty Minutes” and “Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate” feature several short snippets from shows and adverts from dozens of different dimensions. To create these snippets, Roiland and members of the writing team would intentionally improvise the segments over several hours and refine the best moments to be included in the show.
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One of these shows appears to be an alternate-dimensional version of Saturday Night Live, featuring a list of cast members that are completely alien to viewers from this dimension. However, the moment shows off Roiland’s talent for coming up with odd names, characters, and settings on the spot. The cast includes three unspecified creatures, an alien called Gar Ma Nar Nar, a piece of toast, a man painted silver who makes robot noises, and, of course, Bobby Moynihan.
8 Eyehole Man
Rick And Morty Season 2, Episode 8, “Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate”
Rick and Morty season 2 broke the tradition of focusing on non-linear storytelling and jumping from one adventure to another to bring back the popular interdimensional cable concept. In “Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate,” several ads and snippets of shows are revealed, and one of the most unusual adverts for a fictional product has to be the one with Eyehole Man. A species of unusual aliens with large pus-filled eyeballs find themselves the innocent victims of a crazed man in a hero costume. Eyehole Man suddenly drops in on a private moment and kicks their eyeholes off, before the advert reveals the popular cereal made with those delicious eyeholes.
7 Szechuan Sauce Rant
Rick And Morty Season 3, Episode 1, “The Rickshank Rickdemption”
One of the most significant real-world impacts the show made was actually caused by an improvised rant by Roiland. At the end of “The Rickshank Redemption,” Rick launches into an intense rant as he reveals dark truths to Morty. However, things take an odd turn when he starts talking about a discontinued McDonald’s dipping sauce. Rick says his motivations for his shenanigans all tie back to getting his hands on a special promotional sauce from the fast food chain which was released alongside Disney’s Mulan. While this resulted in McDonald’s bringing the sauce back for a limited time, the Szechuan sauce rant was never in the script.
6 Quick Mysteries
Rick And Morty Season 1, Episode 8, “Rixty Minutes”
Playing on the popularity of murder mystery shows, “Rixty Minutes” also featured a parody show titled “Quick Mysteries.” A host in a long coat introduces the series, and immediately it jumps to a murder scene. A cop declares how terrible it is and ponders who could have been behind the incident and a man immediately steps forward, revealing himself and resolving the mystery. This is followed by two more mysteries that increase in pace to the point that the last one occurs while the announcer is still introducing the case.
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5 The Cold Open
Rick And Morty Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot”
Improv was clearly an integral part of the series, as Roiland and Harmon incorporated it into the show from the very beginning. In the first scene of the pilot episode, the relationship between Rick and his grandson Morty is revealed in incredible detail thanks to the interaction between the two in the cold open. A drunken Rick drags Morty from his bed to fly in his newly built spaceship. Rick describes a plan to blow up the planet to get a fresh start and Morty struggles to talk him down, but ultimately the bomb activates and the show rolls its title sequence.
The absurdity and strained relationship between Rick and Morty is clear, and it all came from a loose idea of Harmon’s with dialogue improvised by Roiland. The pace, humor, and general characteristics of the two protagonists are all neatly laid out in a clip that only lasts two minutes. But in that time, Roiland and Harmon were able to riff a scene that was the perfect introduction to the duo and set expectations and an understanding that things would get really weird.
4 Ants In My Eyes
Rick And Morty Season 1, Episode 8, “Rixty Minutes”
Ants in my eyes Johnson is one of the best collaborative pieces of work between Roiland’s improv and the animators. An electronics salesman is recording a commercial for his store with low prices, but he has ants in his eyes. Roiland describes several items in the store and the fact that this guy can’t see anything, so he has no idea what is going on. As he adds layers through his dialogue, the animators create several visual gags with items being marked far lower than Johnson thinks, people stealing products, and finally, the salesman catching fire from a lit stove when he mentions not being able to feel anything.
3 Improv Song Stand-Up Comedy
Rick And Morty Season 2, Episode 8, “Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate”
The show often employs satirical humor, playing on common scenarios, and then embellishing them to make something absurd. One scene that captures this is when the stand-up comedian decides to perform an improvised song about an audience member’s job. The song is garbage and has almost nothing to do with the man’s job, but the meta of an improv stand-up show, set in a fake improv show, has to be admired. Top this off with the comedian getting a positive response, but then ordering security and demons to kill the man he just sang about, and the show leans all the way into their unique sense of humor.
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2 Man Vs. Car
Rick And Morty Season 2, Episode 8, “Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate”
Some of the best improv scenes stem from moments where Justin Roiland cracks, sometimes commenting on the absurdity of what he has just said, or laughing at the jokes. One of the best examples of this comes in the interdimensional cable show, Man vs. Car. As the title suggests, a man fights a car. And as anyone familiar with cars can guess, the car always wins. Roiland voices the commentator who half-heartedly follows the action before announcing the car is victorious, and Roiland starts to laugh at the joke. Any animated show could cut around this moment, but Rick and Morty decided to leave it, and the show is all the better for it.
1 Baby Legs
Rick And Morty Season 1, Episode 8, “Rixty Minutes”
Finally, another excellent entry from “Rixty Minutes,” the show parodies classic buddy cop stories with Detective Baby Legs. A smart detective is unable to perform his job as well as he could be due to having literal baby legs. The Chief pairs him up with an adult-legged partner and, together, they form a near-unstoppable team, thanks to Baby Legs’ smarts, and Regular Legs, well, his legs. Rick and Morty often thrives on its ability to take tiny details and moments and turn them into something worth watching, as is shown in this one-minute parody that guarantees a laugh from the audience.
