Jun 7, 2017 · 52m · y-combinator
Rick and Morty Writer: Ryan Ridley · Y Combinator
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In this Y Combinator podcast interview, Rick and Morty writer Ryan Ridley discusses his career trajectory from stand-up comedy to prime-time animation, explaining the writing room mechanics, trope subversions, and visual design behind the hit show. He also offers practical storytelling advice for emerging writers and outlines his future creative ambitions in television and digital media.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The partners as informed peer 1.4 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 0.3 The partners pushing back 0.4
speaking balance: gold is the partners, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 39:26 Defending Meeseeks VR concept against host's counterpoint
Ryan doubles down on his critique of the Rick and Morty VR game after Craig pushes back that players naturally want to be Morty.
Hardest push from the partners ▶ 39:26 Host challenges guest's VR game critiqueCraig questions Ryan's critique of the VR game mechanics by pointing out that audiences expect and want to play as Morty rather than a Meeseeks.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 50:09 Educating host on House of Cosbys and pupil art styleRyan explains the origins of the iconic hand-drawn pupil style and reacts in shock when Craig admits he has never seen Justin Roiland's seminal project House of Cosbys.
The partners hold their own ▶ 5:32 Steering guest back to the core interview topicCraig interrupts Ryan's digressive monologue to firmly point out that he skipped the actual story of getting hired onto Rick and Morty.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The partners as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The partners pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Ridley's Background in Comedy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Craig introduces the interview and prompts Ryan to share his comedy backstory. Ryan gives an extensive monologue detailing his upbringing around his father's comedy club and his early stand-up career. | |
| The Dream of Animated Sci-Fi Comedy | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Ryan details moving to Chicago and Los Angeles to get involved in Channel 101. Craig keeps the narrative structured by reminding Ryan he skipped over how he specifically landed Rick and Morty. | |
| Sci-Fi Influences and Trope Mashups | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Craig asks how the writing team generates sci-fi concepts. Ryan explains their reliance on sci-fi history and how episodes like Total Parasites remix Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Thing. | |
| Episode Mechanics and Concept Origins | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Craig and Ryan discuss the mechanics of episode plots like the microverse in 'The Ricks Must Be Crazy'. Ryan discusses the challenge of avoiding tropes already used by South Park and The Simpsons. | |
| Reimagining Tropes and Previewing Pickle Rick | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Craig and Ryan discuss adapting classic cinematic subgenres like The Fugitive for the Council of Ricks. Ryan previews Pickle Rick as an homage to survivalist films like 127 Hours and Gravity. | |
| Technology, Alien Design, and Meeseeks Origins | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Ryan explains the visual design process, highlighting his passion for alien anatomy over technological gadgetry. He recounts the writers room split over whether Meeseeks were human-sized or Smurf-sized. | |
| Script Rewrites and Animation Challenges | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Ryan talks about rewriting scripts deep into animation and the painful logic breakdown during the Season 2 premiere. He admits the writing staff are story scientists rather than actual mathematicians. | |
| Character Continuity and Season 3 Arcs | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Craig shares an audience question regarding whether the writers will make the game 'Roy'. Ryan riffs playfully before discussing continuity and character stakes in Season 3. | |
| Behind the VR Game and Meeseeks Pitch | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Ryan clarifies that digital spin-offs are managed by Adult Swim, though he critiques the VR game for using clone Mortys instead of Meeseeks. Craig offers counter-logic by noting players naturally prefer playing as Morty. | |
| Developing New Projects and Writing Advice | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Ryan talks about developing original pilot scripts and his ambition to make comedic videos addressing climate change. Craig and Ryan banter playfully over satirical denialist humor. | |
| Writing for an Audience of One | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Ryan gives writing advice to create for an audience of one and analyzes why Rick and Morty resonated globally. He educates Craig on Justin Roiland's breakout Channel 101 animation 'House of Cosbys'. |
Statements from this episode (15)
Rick and Morty has a darker sensibility than Futurama ever possessed
“Rick and Morty is like, it's sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, and it's dark, as dark as my sensibility is, which featurama never really was, as dark as I think ultimately I liked to write, and then just doing it with your friends.”
Dan Guterman is a key ingredient to Rick and Morty's greatness
“Dan Gooderman, a writer, producer on Rick and Morty, and one of the biggest ingredients of making that show great in the last two seasons.”
Ryan Ridley gave Kumail Nanjiani his first acting role in a sketch
“I gave Kumail Nanjiani his first role. In fact, I confirmed that. I hung out with him a couple weeks ago, and I was like, was Vive, this video Danny and I made, was that your first acting role? He's like, yeah. So you can look that up.”
Rick and Morty writers consider Anatomy Park one of their weaker episodes
“Anatomy Park is, is, you know, is considered maybe one of the weaker episodes, at least by us, because it's just a Jurassic Park spoof meets a Fantastic Voyage trope spoof that's been done a thousand times.”
The Ricks Must Be Crazy originated from a dipping sauce pitch
“Justin had this idea of That Rick had some machine that it would, he would liquefy an entire civilization because it was the only way to create this incredibly delicious dipping sauce he loved.”
Rick and Morty writers did not know Marvel's Council of Reeds
“People did say, did you guys rip off the Council of Reeds, which is a storyline from the Fantastic Four, which is a bunch of Reed Richards from different parallel realities in the Marvel Universe formed a Council of Reeds. No, we didn't know about that.”
Justin Roiland wanted to base the Citadel of Ricks on Halo
“I think that Justin wanted to base the Citadel of Rix off of something from Halo.”
Rick and Morty writers debated whether Mr. Meeseeks was human-sized
“And Justin, and it was, I'm not kidding, it was the blue dress, gold dress of the writers room, because half the people reading the same script and crew imagined them life-size, and half imagined them as tiny little gremlin things, or smaller than gremlins.”
Unlike Futurama's staff, Rick and Morty writers have no science backgrounds
“Admittedly, unlike Futurama, none of us on the staff have, we are barely educated. We're not mathematicians. We don't really know that much about science. We're writing from the point of view of tropes and genre stuff, and we want to tell good stories.”
Meta fourth-wall breaks work when viewers stay emotionally invested
“I think that's one of the funniest parts of the show is that you can weave in and out of the fourth wall, but still, you're still invested in the story.”
Virtual Rick-ality contains a knockoff Roy Easter egg
“I think in the virtual reality in the virtual reality game, virtual Rickality, I think it's called I think Justin told me there's a scene, there's an Easter egg where you play a knockoff version of Roy.”
Creators must make content specifically for an audience of one
“That's the number one advice, is just make the stuff that you want to watch, and you really, you have to just make it for an audience of one, and of course hope that, that ends up resonating with an audience of millions”
Hand-drawn pupils are Justin Roiland's signature aesthetic from early cartoons
“That's absolutely Justin's signature aesthetic. Because he, I think from the early days of his cartoons, he did that.”