You really do need to get into the mindset of the friend atheist Redditor to understand why this show is so popular. These people have never heard of adult animation in their lifes that wasn't stuff like Family Guy, it was completely alien to them. And they can't laugh at these shows because they consider these shows stupid. They want a show that isn't necessarily smart or funny or well-written, but that appears to be to appeal to their surface-level taste. Because these people live for that mindless self-validation. They don't actually understand what makes for good writing or good comedy, nor have they ever picked a book about physics. They want to pretend they do so and circlejerk themselves, that's what matters. Rick and Morty is just perfect for its demographic: these same college-age self-important Bernouts who "loving love science". The entire foundation of the show is built upon the dichotomy between "silly sci-fi humor and references" and " things are super deep and tragic bro". This pseudo-intellectual "nothing even matters, I'm insecure about existence, we are all going to die" bullstuff that R&M stuffs out in almost every episode is what appeals to it's audience. The show doesn't actually have the tact to even begin to offer an interesting presentation and discussion of any philosophy, so it spouts these edgy teenage catchphrases. Nevermind the bean-headed, noodle-limbed unexpressive character design, or how the story is non-existent and only comes up when the writers beg you to feel something for these characters so devoid of substance, or how the entire show is a trendy forgettable scenario of the week memefest with just enough sci-fi references to trick kids into thinking they are smart for understanding them, or how the characters have somehow been reduced to even more obnoxious caricatures than before, none of these things matter. What matters is that it appeals to the millenial redditor audience, and that's what's selling Rick and Morty.
