'Rick and Morty' Overtakes 'The Big Bang Theory' By Becoming The Top Rated Comedy On TV

Television ratings has always been a tough competition, especially if you're viewing figures are rapidly rising as the weeks go by. Whether it's a Drama series, a Comedy series or even a Romantic series, the writers will do everything they can to ensure their series stands out more than their competitors. With a growing audience and incredible ratings, The Big Bang Theory has remained to be one of the highest rated comedies on television in recent years.

However, someone may want to cover Sheldon's ears as this isn't good news; Rick and Morty has officially over taken The Big Bang Theory by becoming the top rated comedy on TV. But, how does a late night show become so successful?

A 'Monster Hit Show' Taking The Spotlight

The unique and mind-boggling animation was co-created by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, and has proved to become well-known and recognised despite it not being given a primetime #TV slot. The Live+7 (a combined live viewing with DVR viewing for up to 7 days) ratings for Season 2 of the cartoon, with a demographic audience of adults aged 18-35, saw a remarkable 81% jump in audience.

With that large number of people clinging onto the series for Season 3, the president of Adult Swim, Christina Miller, is confident that #RickAndMorty is successful because of it's viewers and the timing of the series release. In a statement, Miller said:

“Shows like this only come around once in a generation, and it just so happens that Rick and Morty is ours. It’s not a question of dulling [Adult Swim’s] edge, but we do have to meet fan demand in different ways."

Continuing on, Miller went on by saying Rick and Morty has 'galvanized a wider audience than ever before', even though Adult Swim's audience numbers haven't really changed.

Interacting With Fans More Than Other Shows

Even though a staggering 17 million people tuned into the debut for #BigBangTheory eleventh season, CBS struggles to interact with its fans in a different way, unlike Adult Swim. Back in 2016, a Rick and Morty mobile game was released to assist the main series. It was also released to keep fans entertained during the wait for Season 3.

The game entitled 'Pocket Mortys' became a huge hit and flew straight to the top of Apple's iTunes chart just hours after it was released. With the game becoming a sensation hit just like the cartoon, Adult Swim are updating the app weekly with new Morty versions.

Not only that, Adult Swim also then released a VR-specific game called 'Rick-ality'. This was just as successful as the show and its companion game, as it was STEAM's most downloaded game on its launch day.

If The Big Bang Theory was to do something similar, fans of the nerdy comedy will fall in love with the series just as much as the series. There's a lot CBS could do with The Big Bang Theory, some examples include creating a Sims like game in which fans can play as their favorite characters from the show, or, they could even do what the well-known series Friends did and launch a festival in which fans can walk round the actual sets.

On the other hand, CBS decided to put a lot of money into the new spin-off show Young Sheldon. Even though the spin-off was a record-breaking series, fans would've loved to see a video game released. This is due to the fans of The Big Bang Theory yet to decide what they actually think of the new spin-off show.

Final Thoughts

The battle is now on between The Big Bang Theory and Rick and Morty to see who can keep that crown for the longest. With people discovering Rick and Morty every week, the writers of the The Big Bang Theory are going to have to start thinking outside the box on how they can draw in an even bigger audience. Even if it does mean taking drastic actions.

A forth season of Rick and Morty is yet to be confirmed, but, the creator have hinted hat they're about to start work on Season 4. On the other hand, Season 11 of The Big Bang Theory continues on CBS on Monday's until November 2nd, which is when it moves back to its Thursday slot.