‘Rick and Morty’ Wins Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program

AdultSwim’s Rick and Morty took home an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program during the first night at the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday.

It was the first time the series was nominated for the award and it had some strong competition. The other shows in the category were Disney’s Big Hero 6 The Series, Fox’s Bob’s Burgers, Comedy Central’s South Park and Fox’s The Simpsons.

During his acceptance speech, co-creator Justin Roiland said he did not think they would win, reports Deadline.

“This is never a show that would be award-worthy,” co-creator Dan Harmon added backstage.

Rick and Morty was also nominated for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Within a Scripted Program for “Virtual Rick-ality.” However, that award went to HBO’s Westworld for its “Chaos Takes Control Interactive Experience.”

Rick and Morty was created by Harmon and Roiland. The series centers on the misadventures of mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his not-so-bright grandson Morty Smith, both voiced by Roiland. Other members of the cast include Sarah Chalke, Chris Parnell and Spencer Grammer.

The show has earned critical acclaim, inspiring AdultSwim to order 70 new episodes in May, more than doubling the entire episode count produced up until that point.

In an interview with GQ in May, Harmon and Roiland said that, despite the eye-popping renewal, the creators are “still in negotiations” because they want a contract that grants immortality, or at least “many, many, many more seasons” so they “doesn’t have to take 12 other jobs while we’re working on season four.”

However, the show was at the center of controversy in July when Harmon deleted his Twitter account after a five-minute comedy pilot from 2009 surfaced. In the parody of Dexter, the sketch showed Harmon raping a baby doll. AdultSwim later issued a statement, saying that it accepts Harmon’s apology.

“At Adult Swim, we seek out and encourage creative freedom and look to push the envelope in many ways, particularly around comedy,” the network said. “The offensive content of Dan’s 2009 video that recently surfaced demonstrates poor judgement and does not reflect the type of content we seek out. Dan recognized his mistake at the time and has apologized. He understands there is no place for this type of content here at Adult Swim.”

“In 2009, I made a ‘pilot’ which strove to parody the series Dexter and only succeeded in offending. I quickly realized the content was way too distasteful and took the video down immediately. Nobody should ever have to see what you saw and for that, I sincerely apologize,” Harmon said in his own statement.