Adult Swim ordered 70 new Rick and Morty episodes in May 2018. The long-term agreement was announced on May 10 and was designed to keep the series in production for years.
The order followed prolonged contract negotiations involving co-creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland. Rather than commissioning only one conventional season, Adult Swim committed to a much larger batch of episodes. At the time, the deal was described as extending the show through a tenth season, although the precise release schedule and season breakdown were not yet known.
The number is often confused with later renewals or with the show’s total episode count. The 70 referred specifically to new episodes in the 2018 order, not 70 seasons and not necessarily 70 episodes released immediately. The agreement helped establish a steadier production pipeline after long gaps between early seasons. Adult Swim later renewed the series beyond that original plan, eventually extending it through season 12.