I wouldn't be without sympathy for workers who lose their jobs if it happens, but I see zero reason why AS can't have the exact same team make a new show (that could even be a spiritual successor) if they actually cared about their workers. So if the creative team just gets canned altogether if Roiland gets no royalties, then fuck AS, I guess.
Scrubs' new show just rolled into season 9 because it would have never worked as an actual spinoff with a different name. Cougar Town couldn't even rename after it quickly ditched its original premise because people's DVR subscriptions wouldn't have carried over. Rian Johnson had to subtitle Glass Onion "A Knives Out Mystery" over his objections because
the general audience mostly doesn't know anything about who makes what. If any company has ever somehow found broad success with a show,
the only thing the audience follows are the brand names. That's the show name and in some cases the stars -- but (1) we want to recast Rick and Morty here, and (2) nearly no one knows who voice actors are. Hell, I just read that TTRPG podcasts lose an incredible amount of listeners every time they do even a limited run of non D&D gaming. Their audience mostly doesn't actually
play D&D. But the brand loyalty is to D&D more than even the actual podcasts.
So yes, Adult Swim could make a spiritual successor show. The overwhelming odds are that it wouldn't succeed. Solar Opposites basically is another Rick and Morty (albeit without Harmon, by design) and nearly no one cares about Solar Opposites. Google estimates 148 million search results for "rick and morty" vs 1.2 million for Solar Opposites.
A show succeeding is nearly as rare as lighting striking. You can bring almost the whole team back to do almost the same thing on a brand new show and it is an absolute crapshoot whether the audience that theoretically loves this stuff will come to this new thing.
you're ignoring the crucial "IF ADULT SWIM GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THEIR WORKERS" part of the original post you two took issues with .
We're not ignoring it, we're pointing out that
this is a meaningless disclaimer. It's like saying "if a roaring furnace could actually be super cold, then ice cream wouldn't melt in it", then washing your hands of the inevitable ice cream melting.
Adult Swim employ the R&M cast and crew because R&M makes money. If your proposed new show doesn't make money,
and it probably won't, then they will stop employing those workers. You are still basically asking for them to lose their jobs, but in an absurdly complicated way. They have jobs right now that don't have to end.
Yes, bad people get paydays. Two awful NBA team owners were forced to sell in the last eight years. They didn't just contract the teams and somehow find some magic morally pure way to make sure Donald Sterling and Robert Sarver got nothing. That sucks, but
not as much as destroying the livelihoods of thousands of people just to be pure
.
deadline.com
