Alterego-X said:
I'm tired of so much of western animation being visually grotresque, mean-spiritedly ironic absurdist comedy, from kids' shows to adult ones.
MLP was good, but we could use a bit more New Sincerity, thank you very much.
Long story short, when Pokemon took over in the US, the 'second golden age' ended. This left us with a lot of 'designed by executives and focus test' series taking place of the Kids WB/Nick/Cartoon Cartoons. The pessimism and propensity for weird visuals are a direct rejection of this by cartoon makers.
Further elaboration follows, it'll get long.
However, certain people *cough*Nickelodeon who were around this stuff before it became normal didn't realize when it can work. That's how Spongebob's shuffling zombie corpse works (meanness, bad visuals instead of writing and characters)
When it does work though, the harshness of the world and visuals increases the effect of the happy moments. It's part of the "uncanny valley" effect, where the human-like things about a non-human make it seem more human. Absurd humor in western animation is something you just have to get used to, since it's always been there and isn't going away.
We also get the "Family Guy" effect, where mean-spirited stupidity overpowers the good portions of a show. It's pretty much infected all of the Fox Shows except "Bob's Burgers", with once real characters losing everything that made them remotely relatable because the network doesn't understand their own formula.
If we use this show, a surface glance just says 'mean jerk show with nothing but in-jokes'. Watch it, and it's the story of a seemingly irredeemable man actually finding redemption with his family. If you take your eyes off of Rick and Morty it WILL punch you in the gut. It's funny, but there's substance behind it.
It's also perfectly valid to want a more restrained but optimistic 'popcorn' cartoon, with not a lot really going on plot-wise but a decent ride in the vein of Tiny Toons or KND. We don't have any of those right now (except maybe Clarence. I still don't know what to think of that show)