With Rick And Morty being one of the highest-rated shows on IMDb, with a massively dedicated fanbase, few other current animated shows can compete with it. The show is best known for its too-clever-for-its-own-good narratives, time travel and alternate universes, and a mad scientist that just wants to watch the world burn, which makes it strikingly similar to another animated sci-fi show.
Though it’s much more streamlined and less nihilistic, Futurama has a lot in common with the Adult Swim comedy. Professor Farnsworth and Rick are both lab coat-wearing madmen who invent devices that could end the world in an instant, and each episode sees the characters visit strange new worlds. Though the comparisons don’t end there, both shows are great in different ways.
Rick & Morty: Alternate Universes
Futurama has actually been known to delve into alternate universes quite frequently, most notably in “The Farnsworth Parabox,” which is one of the most memorable episodes of the whole series. But the alternate universes in Futurama don’t hold a candle to the inventiveness of Rick And Morty’s multiverse.
Whether it’s Dimension C-137, which is filled with Cronenbergs, Blips And Chitz, which is one giant arcade, or even a world where chairs sit on humans, the worlds in Rick And Morty are a perfect mix of random for random’s sake and completely fascinating.
Futurama: Set In The Future
Though Rick has a box labeled “Time travel stuff” on a shelf in the garage and there have been episodes based in alternate dimensions in the future, the show has never delved as deep into the future like Futurama.
As Futurama is set in the year 3000, the whole world is filled to the brim with fascinating and creative futuristic inventions, whether it’s robots or travel tubes, which has even inspired Elon Musk. The futuristic setting in Matt Groening’s passion project makes way for tons of thought-provoking concepts, and though Rick And Morty is thought-provoking too, it’s significantly lacking when it comes to how it portrays the future.
Rick & Morty: Tackles Philosophical Issues
While Futurama has had buckets of fun playing with time travel and messing around with the Grandfather Paradox in ingenious ways, it rarely goes deep into the rabbit hole of philosophical questions, at least not to the same depths that Rick And Morty does.
Whether it’s the sanctity of marriage or the insignificance of man, no other show animated or otherwise has so bluntly and tellingly conveyed existential dread and the dark truths of life like Rick and Morty has.
Futurama: More Optimistic
Sci-fi shows are great for creating allegories for real-life situations, whether it’s discrimination or the economy, as the genre has been the vessel to deliver serious issues in an entertaining way ever since Star Trek: The Original Series. The two shows are similar in many ways, as they tackle the same subjects, but the approach they have to the same issues is where they differ the most.
One thing about Rick And Morty is that it’s so nihilistic and depressive, and though that’s part of the show’s charm, there’s barely ever a moment that depicts any of the characters in a good light. On the other hand, Futurama is so heartfelt that it has even made fans cry on several occasions, and it tackles serious issues, just like Rick And Morty does, but in a more optimistic way.
Rick & Morty: Gets Disturbing
While Futurama is generally a family-friendly show, Rick and Morty gets brutal, disgusting, and outright filthy. The animators aren’t afraid to get creative with the ways in which aliens are mercilessly killed, and the writers aren’t afraid to conjure up the most outlandish lines of dialogue for Rick’s many tirades.
And it seems as if there aren’t many studio notes coming Dan Harmon’s way either, as it’s only getting dirtier with each season.
Futurama: The Ensemble Cast And Recurring Characters
Though Rick and Morty always run into bizarre creatures on all of their adventures, from Mr. Poopybutthole to the Slut Dragons, there are very few recurring characters, and outside of the titular characters, there are few others that are particularly noteworthy.
However, Futurama has a resounding amount of recurring characters that are so interesting and have their own backstory, whether it's the Captain Kirk parody Zap Brannigan or Calculon, a robot soap-opera actor. Even the main characters are a wild range of depressive robots, one-eyed mutants, and 1000-year-old humans.
Rick & Morty: More Movie References
Unlike its big brother, The Simpsons, which is littered with movie references in almost every episode, Futurama looks forward not backward and it’s surprisingly lacking when it comes to movie references.
With the exception of The Slurm Factory and Slurms McKenzie, who should get his own spin-off, there are few memorable movie references in the show. Conversely, Rick and Morty’s very foundation is the satirization of sci-fi movies. The show has parodied Inception, Mad Max, and many others, and the very character design of Rick is even modeled after Doc Brown from Back to the Future.
Futurama: Different Types Of Inventions
Rick Sanchez is a great scientist and an incredible inventor, and the portal gun is the key to many of the mind-bending universes fans love, but there are few other inventions under Rick’s belt compared to Professor Farnsworth.
Farnsworth has a vast array of inventions, and though he has a morbid streak that runs through his head just like Rick, as he has a penchant for creating doomsday devices, there are some bewilderingly brilliant inventions in Futurama. From the smell-o-scope to the electronics hat, which turns monkeys into geniuses, Farnsworth is by far the best inventor of the two scientists.
Rick & Morty: More Memorable Adventures
There’s a reason why Rick And Morty is the greatest animated show according to IMDb. Each and every episode follows the grandfather and grandson not just travel to memorable alternate dimensions, but go there in order to retrieve some random MacGuffin or hunt down an evil rick.
As Futurama sees the Planet Express employees deliver a package to a different planet each episode, there’s very little room for creativity. However, whether Morty hides giant seeds up his butt when going through an alien customs or Morty escapes prison with a mysterious blue cat-like creature called Chachi, there are so many hilariously dark adventures Rick has forced Morty on.
Futurama: Better World-Building
The world-building in Rick and Morty is one of the major flaws that fans choose to ignore, as the Citadel of Ricks ultimately makes no sense whatsoever, and other series-long arcs, such as Rick’s depression and Evil Morty, don’t seem to be going anywhere.
But Matt Groening created one of the most lived-in worlds from the very first episode, and built on it exquisitely with each episode, whether it was the economics of New New York or the inner working of the space federation. And unlike Rick and Morty, it all made perfect sense.