Although Rick & Morty’s season 6 release date is great news for fans of the show, it will cause the Adult Swim hit to run into one surprising problem the series has not yet faced. Rick & Morty is not like the majority of its competitors. According to its fans, Rick & Morty is more innovative, ambitious, and intelligent than many animated adult sitcoms, but even a more objective look at the series proves that Rick & Morty has effectively differentiated itself from its competition at this point in its life cycle.
Although feature-length specials like the Streaming Wars mean South Park is now diversifying its release schedule, until recently, almost every major adult animation series aired conventional network TV seasons. This means that shows like Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy almost always release seasons that consist of between 15 and 25 episodes between September and June before going on hiatus for the summer. Unlike these conventional shows, Rick & Morty has had a more erratic release schedule.
However, the show’s tendency to release shorter seasons in less predictable periods is now set to change with the upcoming Rick & Morty season 6 premiere. The critically acclaimed series will return to screens on September 4th, 2022, and unless Adult Swim releases Rick & Morty season 6 in monthly (rather than weekly) airings, the show will now directly compete with other adult animated sitcoms. Until now, Rick & Morty’s brief 10-episode seasons have avoided direct competition with rivals like The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers by releasing the show’s episodes at unusual times throughout the TV season. For example, Rick & Morty season 1 began airing in December; season 2 started in July, season 3 in April, season 4 in November, and season 5 in June.
Will Rick & Morty's Season 6 Release Date Be A Problem?
It is tough to tell whether or not Rick & Morty season 6 will see the show shoot itself in the foot by releasing new episodes at the same time as other comparable shows. On the one hand, Rick & Morty's fanbase might be torn between which shows to watch, resulting in lower ratings. On the other, Rick & Morty has broken its own rules before with great success, and the series already risks flooding the market with its sister series Solar Opposites and the upcoming Rick & Morty spinoff, the superhero satire The Vindicators.
As such, moving to a September release might not be a problem for Rick & Morty season 6. This move could allow Rick & Morty to stage a longer season 6, closer to a full conventional TV season, which would undoubtedly be appreciated by the show’s massive fanbase. However, even if Rick & Morty season 6 simply releases ten episodes weekly between September and November, this will still likely be enough to keep the fanbase sated. After all, most viewers are more likely to care about Rick & Morty season 6’s villain and the new characters who will soon be introduced than the show’s airdate. As such, this risky new arrival time shouldn’t do too much damage to the outsized popularity of Rick & Morty when season 6 lands.