'Rick and Morty' Season 4 Isn't Cancelled, Harmon Blames Release Date Delay on Contract Negotiations (UPDATE)

UPDATE 12:46 p.m. EDT: While appearing on Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's SModcast, Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon went into more detail on Season 4. "The reason we're not working on Rick and Morty right now ain't because I figured out that I don't need to impress you. It's because of a little something called contract negotiations and it's gotten complicated this time around." Rick and Morty Season 4 isn't cancelled, but the ongoing negotiations with Turner Broadcasting Systems suggest a season renewal isn't yet imminent.

Rick and Morty was renewed for its third season just a few episodes into Season 2. The same is not the case for Season 4. Rick and Morty hasn't had a new episode since October 2017, and there still hasn't been a peep about the show's future. The only update came from Dan Harmon last week, when the Rick and Morty co-creator revealed on Twitter that Season 4 "hasn't been ordered by a network." On Thursday, after a wave of rumors that Rick and Morty was cancelled, both Harmon and co-creator Justin Roiland offered more of an explanation behind the Season 4 release date limbo.

After announcing a new release from Squanch Games, the video game developer Roiland co-founded with former Epic Games Producer Tanya Watson, Roiland was inundated with fan demand that he get back to work on Rick and Morty Season 4. He responded, pointing to Turner Broadcasting System, the parent game of Cartoon Network and the Adult Swim programming block that airs Rick and Morty. "I'm waiting around just like you," he tweeted:

For everyone telling me to get back to work on Rick and Morty (season four) turn your attention to Turner. I’m waiting around just like you. Making some cool video games in the meantime though! @squanchgames

— Justin Roiland (@JustinRoiland) March 22, 2018

Harmon backed up Roiland's explanation for the Rick and Morty Season 4 delay, adding that there's no point in fans spending their time clamoring or otherwise agitating for a season renewal. "Suits gonna suit. The rest of us gonna wait," he tweeted:

Though it's essentially the same explanation Harmon offered last week—the series simply hasn't been renewed—Harmon and Roiland's clarification attributes the blame to decisions higher up the corporate ladder than Adult Swim.

Harmon originally revealed Rick and Morty Season 4 hadn't been renewed after a fan insulted him on Twitter. After the harasser called the Rick and Morty creator a "lazy alcoholic" (and seemed to reference George R.R. Martin's delays writing The Winds of Winter) Harmon responded:

Earlier on Thursday, Harmon also tweeted about the Rick and Morty fanbase and the show's appeal, telling a new fan that Rick and Morty is written to be "very easy to watch" and "does not require being a tool":

While neither Roiland or Harmon's updates offered hope that Rick and Morty will imminently be renewed, there continues to be no evidence that Rick and Morty has been cancelled. As Harmon says, "Nobody is unaware of the show's impact or financial value."

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