About 
Trey Parker & Matt Stone's South Park made the name change to "South America" official in the new Season 29 intro - which now includes Trump.
Posted in: Adult Swim, TV | Tagged: common side effects, rick and morty
Rick and Morty: Dan Harmon Talks Adult Animation, Common Side Effects
Rick and Morty co-creator/EP Dan Harmon discussed his hopes and fears for the future of adult animation, praising Common Side Effects.
Article Summary
- Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon says adult animation is vital now, even as the format faces economic risk.
- Harmon praises Common Side Effects as a breakthrough, calling its success unprecedented for adult animation.
- Rick and Morty's Harmon argues animation lowers audience resistance and can tackle bold, human stories better.
- He also compares adult animation’s potential to prestige TV, saying it can redeem humanity in powerful ways.
Yesterday, we took a look at what Rick and Morty co-creator/EP Dan Harmon and showrunner/EP Scott Marder had to share about the future of the Adult Swim series during a recent conversation with Deadline's Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio. Joking that the next season is "being generated by Palantir as we speak," Harmon and Marder said that the tenth season is targeted for a Summer 2027 debut. But Harmon had more than the future of the Emmy Award-winning series on his mind, offering his thoughts on the current state of adult animation, why it's needed now more than ever, and how Common Side Effects' success exemplifies that.
"But now, economically, I mean, animation is a high-risk, high-yield thing. It's not slop. It's not driven by an algorithm. It takes a long time. It takes longer to make your pilot than the average executive's job is going to be secure. I don't mean that to be crass because I could say the same thing about actors, writers, everybody. I mean, Venice is sinking. So, I guess, I mean, that's my cynical fear. I should say, I hope that those things aren't true. Because we've seen 'Common Side Effects,' you know, rise up, and it is very clear its success is sort of unprecedented," Harmon shared. "Humanity that that wouldn't be possible in live-action and wouldn't even be possible in the sort of 'Simpsons' come 'Rick and Morty' come 'Bob's Burgers' sort of style that. All of a sudden, someone was able to pitch and sell and execute that show that has this completely new way to reach humans. And so that's the counter to my cynical argument."
Harmon continued, "Animation lowers the resistance in the audience. It not the way a hypnotist does. It's not a trick. It gives them an ability to uncross their arms because the show is saying, 'We know we're not totally fooling you. This isn't… we can both see this as a cartoon. So like, can you give us a second?' And it just sort of has a tendency to reach larger audiences by doing that. Then, you can quickly re-engage their cynicism as soon as it turns out, no, this is state-run propaganda. These drawings are of rats running across a map of Europe. You are being poisoned [laughs]. But during that low resistance, which you know you're not going to get watching a who's the sexiest on this island show…" At that point, Harmon and Marder joke about an island-based reality competition series, before Harmon returned to the topic at hand. "But yeah, that's why, fingers crossed, adult animation continues to be a thing because I believe that, you know, what Mike White does with 'White Lotus' can be done even more effectively in with animation. And it's a medium that has a huge use for redeeming humanity."
Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!
Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!
