Rick and Morty is one of the best shows currently on television and is almost certainly the best written. Dan Harmon's master storytelling fused with Justin Roiland's off-the-rails and often drunken improvisations make for a show that is unique in terms of both quality and character, and the sci-fi setting lets the show go in many different directions.

RELATED: Rick And Morty: The 15 Best Episodes So Far (According To IMDb)

This list wouldn't dare suggest what the show could do better and instead explores which of the show's existing staples are endearing to the audience and making the show more immersive, and which ones are being overused and starting to slow the show down.

Less: Meta

Rick and Morty and Rick in particular love to get a little meta, or rather a lot meta. The show does meta like no other, with Justin Roiland's charming fourth wall breaking or corpsing at his own line readings, as well the show's clever and often deviant jabs at pop culture.

The problem is when the show gets too meta, which sucks the audience out of the show, and now in the midst of season 4 (5/14/20) with 2 episodes in a row having Rick and Morty promise they're going to 'get back to the basics' or 'go back to normal' the show's this gimmick is growing a little tiring. While season 4 has brought one or 2 of the best episodes yet, it's also spent far too much time wallowing in self-dissection and the audience's expectations instead of getting on with it and pumping out new world-beating episodes.

More: Story-Driven

While it's fun when Rick and Morty gets meta, it's better in small doses instead of consuming entire episodes. The show is at its best when taking the characters on a bizarre but linear adventure, with the story driving the characters and the characters driving the story. Such episodes remain the most iconic and beloved, and also fair better upon the first viewing given how eagerly anticipated each new episode is.

Less: Cynicism

You can't have a non-cynical Dan Harmon protagonist given they are extensions of himself (Check out his surprisingly satisfying podcast Harmontown for reference) and given Rick's untouchable intellect his attitude makes a lot of sense. But these days Rick will often jump on something he hates and spend an entire episode moaning about it, which makes him less fun to watch. "One Crew Over The Cuckoo's Morty" for example probably would've been better as a Harmontown rant than a Rick and Morty episode.

More: Summer

Given the show's name and the origin of the principal characters, the show can be forgiven for frequently giving two penises all the agency. But Spencer Grammer's Summer Smith has been straight owning her screen-time since her character started to become more involved right out of the gate in season 2.

RELATED: Rick and Morty: Summer's 10 Best Quotes

While Roiland's Rick playing off Roiland's Morty is priceless, throwing Summer into the mix and the adventure never hurts the dynamic and arguably improves it. Her adventures with Rick have turned her into quite the bad-ass, yet the season 4 pilot's ending suggested she'd lost her place in the show's inner circle.

Less: Pandering

Does pandering still count as pandering when that pandering is all meta and hypothetical, shoving the audience's face in it and saying "Is this what you want?!" Yes. Yes it does. Mr. Meeseeks seems to get more screen-time than Beth, Summer, and Jerry these days, and no matter how expertly you subvert the audience's expectations - like in the Evil Morty/Jesus scene in "Never Ricking Morty" - it still sometimes comes off a little cheap and becomes less special every time it happens.

More: Depth

Toning down some of the cynicism and fourth wall breaking wouldn't just let the storytelling flourish, but it would also allow for exploring Rick's character and conceptual science in more depth. "The Old Man and the Seat" got real, but lost some of the comedy in the process, and besides the Ernest Hemingway parody, we've seen little exploration of Rick's character. Classic episodes such as "Auto Erotic Assimilation" manage to get real whilst batting the storytelling and comedy out the park.

Less: Crudity

It's not the burBELCHping. No one's suggesting we lose the burping, and as the show pointed out there's nothing wrong with a tasteful amount of gaspassery. But the toilet is a well the show is returning to more frequently, often going out of its way to be gross for no reason.

RELATED: Rick And Morty: 10 Scenes That Call Rick's Genius Into Question

Rick and Morty characters unashamedly soiling themselves has become a cliche by this point, maybe even enough times for a Screen Rant list article on the subject, and everyone saw the egg-laying punchline in "Promortyus" coming from a mile away since it's just recycling a joke from "Mortynight Run" and once again placing it in Rick and Morty's post-adventure banter at the end of the episode.

Celebrity cameos may seem like a superficial aspect to judge a show on, but given the extraordinary variety of talent drawn to the show, and the extraordinary variety of aliens and other beings at the show's disposal, Rick and Morty's utilization of big-name characters is usually perfectly executed, but season 4 seems to be giving their cameos any old part with little or no gravitas surrounding it. While Jeffrey Wright and Taika Waititi got their due, many might be surprised to learn they've also witnessed cameos by Paul Giamatti, Sam Neill, and Alan Tudyk this season.

Less: Non-Sci-Fi

While Rick and Morty has a strong parody game, the show isn't as seamless and magnificent at it as Community was. And when the story being parodied has nothing to do with sci-fi it often feels like a different show altogether. "Look Who's Purging Now" ultimately landed even though it felt unnecessary but things are getting out of hand. If your show has a sci-fi premise then dragons and heist movies shouldn't really enter into it and feel a bit off.

More: Sci-Fi

Season 4 also brought with it some appropriate sci-fi parodies in "Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat" and "Rattlestar Ricklactica", giving us some of the most memorable moments of the season so far and potentially two of the show's greatest episodes. While the show's format lets the writers go in infinite directions, the best episodes are pure sci-fi: taking a concept, turning it on its head then knocking it out the park.

NEXT: The 10 Worst Episodes Of Rick And Morty (According to IMDB)