People Think 'Inside Job' and 'Rick and Morty' Are Related... They're Not Entirely Wrong
Updated Nov. 4 2021, 4:51 p.m. ET
The past couple of decades have brought along brilliant animated television series for adults. From The Simpsons and Archer, to Rick and Morty and Big Mouth, creators have proven that adults love cartoons just as much as kids do (if not more). But many viewers of Netflix’s new series, Inside Job, are finding several similarities to the cult favorite Rick and Morty.
Some Rick and Morty fans have even gone so far as to call Inside Job a "cheap knockoff." At the same time, these fans seem to enjoy the series, so viewers are wondering if the two shows might be connected.
‘Inside Job’ shares some of the same creative team members as ‘Rick and Morty,’ and could be inspired by it.
A few creative team members working on Inside Job also worked on Rick and Morty.
Inside Job executive producer Alex Hirsch worked on one episode of Rick and Morty, so he got a behind-the-scenes look at the popular cartoon. And Pete Michels, who directed two episodes of Inside Job, directed 20 episodes of Rick and Morty between 2013 and 2015.
Despite this slight crossover, there is no canonical connection between the two shows (yet). Plus, creator Shion Takeuchi had zero involvement in Rick and Morty. It’s always possible they could pull a Big Mouth and do a crossover of the animated comedies. For now, between its crass humor, supernatural scenarios, and angular animation style, it’s hard not to compare the two comedies.
There are a couple reasons why ‘Inside Job’ is like ‘Rick and Morty.’
The first reason that Inside Job seems similar to Rick and Morty is the relationship between Reagan Ridley (Lizzy Caplan) and her father, Randy Ridley (Christian Slater). It’s impossible not to see Rick in Randy, another brilliant alcoholic who lives with his daughter. However, Reagan is like Beth if Beth were also a mad scientist who had trouble relating to other humans.
The other, maybe more obvious connection in the eyes of die-hard Rick and Morty fans surfaces in Episode 3, “Blue Bloods.” This episode dives into the “lizard people” conspiracy theory, positing that celebrities are “lizard people” in disguise, riffing off of an actual (ridiculous) conspiracy theory.
"Blue Bloods" is absurdly hilarious and seems to relate to the lizard people in Rick and Morty. And both play with conspiracy theories about aliens, the government, and how far technology can really go.
Of course, some might say that Inside Job is just trying to be Rick and Morty, but those people might be forgetting that art is more often than not inspired by past art. When Rick and Morty came out, a lot of people refused to watch it because it seemed too similar to Futurama.
And when Futurama came out, a lot of people thought it was just “space Simpsons.” It’s easy to find similarities between shows when we look for them… and when we love them.
Despite these similarities, Inside Job fully fleshes out its heroine, Reagan, to give her more dimensions than most other female characters in Rick and Morty. Plus, the show's serial nature gives it a much bigger purpose than its conspiracy-driven jokes. So it’s definitely worth giving the sometimes crass, sometimes witty humor of Inside Job a chance.