'Firefly Lane's Kate Might Seem Very Familiar to 'Rick and Morty' Fans

Viewers of Netflix's new show Firefly Lane might find Kate Mularkey's voice a bit familiar, especially if you're a fan of Rick and Morty. Actress Sarah Chalke is known to Netflix fans for playing Kate in Firefly Lane, but she also provides matriarch Beth Smith's voice on Rick and Morty. For the most part, that is pretty much where the similarities between the two hit series end.

Firefly Lane is based on a novel by the same name, written by Kristin Hannah. It stars Chalke and Katherine Heigl as long-time friends, both dissecting their intertwined pasts to better understand their presents and their futures. The show premiered on Netflix on Wednesday, Feb. 3, and while fans are desperately waiting for Rick and Morty Season 5, it might be just the thing to fill the time.

Chalke has the perfect voice for the scathing deliveries of Beth on Rick and Morty, though it is far from her best-known role. Chalke broke into the mainstream on Roseanne in the 1990s, when Lecy Goranson left the series. However, Goranson later returned to the show and took her role back from Chalke.

From there, Chalke moved to the NBC medical sitcom Scrubs, where she played Dr. Elliot Reed, while simultaneously appearing in movies. However, fans may not realize that it was in these early-2000s years that she first got on her path to Rick and Morty.

Chalke appeared in several short sketches and films for Channel 101 — a digital media contest created by Dan Harmon. She famously co-starred in one long-running sketch there called The 'Bu, created by Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. Harmon would go on to co-create Rick and Morty, and it makes sense that he chose Chalke to play his favorite character.

When it comes to Rick and Morty Season 5, Chalke's statements in interviews over the last year are one of the biggest clues as to when the series might come out. in an interview with Inverse back in December, Chalke explained how she struggled to put together a makeshift recording booth at home when the coronavirus pandemic first hit. However, as reality set in and she realized she would be working this way for a while, she invested in some real equipment.

Chalke did not say much about the show itself but hinted that she has worked on Season 5 already. Harmon, meanwhile, told fans at the virtual Adult Swim Festival 2020 that the writers may be as far ahead as Season 6 or 7. Still, no official premiere date for Rick and Morty Season 5 has been revealed.