There has been discussion among viewers about the philosophy of Rick and Morty. We want to hang out with the Doctor, we idolize the Doctor, but we don't think like him, and that's really interesting, Rick is diseased, he's mentally ill, he's an absolute lunatic because he lives on this larger scale.' He figures that the audience will only understand developments from Morty's point of view, but stated 'we don't want to be the companions.

Harmon has stated that his inspiration behind much of the concept and humor for the series comes from various British television series, such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Doctor Who. Its two-act structure places the act break at an odd location in the stages of the monomyth: after The Meeting with the Goddess, instead of Atonement with the Father. Many episodes are structured with use of a story circle, a Harmon creation based largely on Joseph Campbell's monomyth, or The Hero's Journey. In a similar interview session at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, he described each episode as being ' own point of entry.' Roiland stated his and Harmon's intentions for the series to lack traditional continuity, opting for discontinuous storylines 'not bound by rules'.

This has led Harmon to describe the series as a cross between Matt Groening's two shows The Simpsons and Futurama, balancing family life with heavy science fiction. The general formula of Rick and Morty consists of the juxtaposition of two conflicting scenarios: an extremely selfish, alcoholic grandfather dragging his grandson across space for intergalactic and/or interdimensional adventures, intercut with domestic family drama. Morty attends Harry Herpson High School along with his sister, Summer. He is the grandson of Rick and is often forced to tag along on his various misadventures. is one of the two eponymous main protagonists in Rick and Morty. He is a genius scientist whose alcoholism and reckless, nihilistic behavior are a source of concern for his daughter's family, as well as the safety of their son, Morty. Rick Sanchez is the co-eponymous main character and leading protagonist of the show. Roiland voices the series' eponymous characters, with the voice talent of Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, and Sarah Chalke providing the rest of the family. The series follows the misadventures of cynical mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his fretful, easily influenced grandson Morty Smith, who split their time between domestic family life and interdimensional adventures. Rick and Morty is an American adult animated science-fiction sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim.

Rick and morty story circle