Rick and Morty has quickly become a cultural icon, pushing the boundaries of comedy, storytelling, satire, and sci-fi to create a show that seemingly knows no bounds. While many of the show's concepts are kind of out there conceptually (but work thanks to excellent writing), the two interdimensional cable episodes are defined by being completely off the rails creatively.
Thanks to the exceptional Justin Roiland's drunken improvisations and the almost compulsive storytelling instincts of Dan Harmon, a new genre of TV was born that left us all aching for some Crystallized Xanthenite. But could these remarkable TV concepts hold up in the real world?
10 AMAZING: Baby Legs
As a short parody, "Baby Legs" works perfectly, but the premise seems too silly to sustain a whole movie. Unless the baby legs are the only conceit in an otherwise gripping detective drama.
With say, Gary Sinise as Baby Legs, Ryan Reynolds as Regular Legs, and Forest Whitaker as the Captain saying lines like "That's why I'm partnering you up with (points) Regular Legs here..." with the utmost sincerity, you could end up with a memorable addition to the genre, where you remain fully invested in the protagonist. Reynolds proved in Deadpool 2 that we can give actors baby legs. We have the technology.
9 IMPOSSIBLE: MAN VS CAR
The match we saw was a little one-sided, but in this age of strongmen and driver-less cars, such a show isn't necessarily ridiculous. Cars are lifted or dragged to demonstrate exceptional human strength already. Tugs-of-war against cars are also not uncommon. And in a caged arena, it seems unlikely a car could accelerate enough to run someone over.
If it was like sumo, with the car manufacturer dictated by whoever's willing to sponsor, it might work. The problem would be insurance. It would be difficult to get coverage for any kind of aggressive behavior towards a moving vehicle.
8 AMAZING: Two Brothers
It was delicious in the show and helped define interdimensional cable early on, but with the insane action dictated by the iconic trailer, a live-action adaptation would be ambitious. The concept has been compared to Bad Boys, but you'd have to go further to pitch cat monsters, tornadoes, a Mexican armada with weapons made of tomatoes, old women and the moon as antagonists.
Cue Terry Crews and Isaiah Mustafa from the iconic Old Spice commercials. With their unflinching charisma and infinite street-cred, it's hard to picture the 2 name-taking brothers as anyone else. They could effortlessly carry and be heard above the ridiculous premise and give us a 90-minute action extravaganza.
7 IMPOSSIBLE: Starring Jerry Smith
The interdimensional cable episodes were not without a story. In both Jerry got to be the star in his universe and ours, different circumstances... but in 'Rixty Minutes' we got to see Jerry Smith the movie star (the less said about his choices once he was given the directorial reins the better). Chris Parnell is a beloved actor, and in a live-action adaptation, he'd be perfectly cast once again.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood contained a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio was superimposed into Steve McQueen's role in the Great Escape, so it is possible to insert Jerry into classic movies if you can afford it, but there's a chance the Oscar will glitch out of existence while you clutch at it in vain...
6 AMAZING: Lil' Bits
If everyone has massive heads with tiny faces, it makes sense to serve normal food except everything's really tiny so it fits right in. Though one could argue pizzas aren't designed to be bite-sized in the first place, at least not without some serious folding that would perplex a series 9000 Brainalyzer.
Even if not born out of practical need, the concept seems like a nice idea. Novelty food is all the rage. You don't need a tiny mouth to want to try a tiny pie. Making pies even smaller is perfectly natural following the current trajectory of pie evolution. A restaurant that specializes in tiny versions of traditional food could prove very popular. It would also solve the problem of choosing between the lasagna and the homemade burger...
5 IMPOSSIBLE: Garblovian Olympics
AGGA BLAGH? Garblovians are adorable, whether working a menial desk job at some dead-end spaceport or filming themselves playing "Ten Tuesdays At Tinkles". Their tendency to spontaneously explode into nutritious goo before outstaying their welcome makes them great entertainers as well as desirable pets.
Any Garblovian-centric channel would be great fun to watch but there is currently no evidence to support such a creature's existence. You could C.G.I. them, but then why even bother with live-action? Not that "Detective Garblovian" wouldn't be preferable to Detective Pikachu, but it would be expensive and would wear thin faster than the universe where every proper noun begins with 'Schlmuh'.
4 AMAZING: Jan Quadrant Vincent 16
Cloning your main actor is popular these days: Michael Fassbender in Alien: Covenant, Hugh Jackman in Logan, Will Smith in Gemini Man... And the setting seems simple enough for some fun conceptual action.
Many peg Tom Cruise for the titular character, but the millennial audience, in particular, may be surprised to learn that Jan-Michael Vincent was a real actor - best known for starring in Airwolf - who sadly passed away in 2019. Cruise's Top Gun cred still makes him a good fit, but he's not the only option. Whoever you cast, you could start with 'Jan Quadrant Vincent 16' then prequel your way backward. It could be an interesting way to tell the story underlying the action without a bunch of vague flashbacks slowing everything down.
3 IMPOSSIBLE: Quick Mysteries
It's unclear whether "Quick Mysteries" is fictional or a real crime, considering the broad selection available on interdimensional cable. In the real world, it wouldn't work as fiction. It would remain firmly in the comedy bracket and would hold up for less time than it did in Rick and Morty. As real crime, you'd have to get murderers to show up and incriminate themselves. You can't summon them just by making that the premise of your TV show but with a little coaxing such a thing might be possible, and legal.
In To Catch a Predator potential pedophiles are lured to a location online by young actors, then arrive having incriminated themselves, whereupon they are humiliated by Chris Hansen and arrested with force. It usually makes for a tense and emotional watch. "Quick Mysteries" could just catch a different sort of predator. Although To Catch a Predator has already faced armed contestants and has a host of law enforcement, such instances still disrupt the show's dialogue and the contestant is arrested sooner. This would surely ramp up if you were taking on murderers. People would watch it but it's not a sustainable concept.
2 AMAZING: Ball Fondlers
The magnum opus of Interdimensional Cable: Four humanoids who are basically The A-team on acid, reveling in non-stop over-the-top action set to thrash metal. The writers set it up to be the epitome of great TV and considering what we're shown it's hard to disagree. It may seem like wishful thinking to assume a live-action adaptation could live up to the source material. Would an R-rated A-team stand out in the age of Netflix and superheroes?
If you commit to the stylization of the animated version, with say 10 stand-alone 20-minute episodes in different action-ripe settings, dialogue-free save for grunts and exclamations, with long-take action set to generic thrash metal, a different boss villain each episode, and have the whole thing created and performed by stunt people, you could honor the original and create a show that stands on its own 2 feet.
1 IMPOSSIBLE: How Did I Get Here?
It's always quality entertainment when it's happening to someone else, but the legal implications of kidnapping people and putting them in dangerous situations for the purpose of entertainment don't bear going into.
The original didn't show the bit at the end where the host smiles at the contestant and points at a camera, but in the real world, this move seems to let you off the hook no matter how angry your victim is. Someone would sue you though, especially if they fell off the street light.
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