‘Rick and Morty’s Jerry and Beth Are Now Canonically Millennials

Between eight seasons and an infinite number of universes, Rick and Morty fans have had to come to terms with several hard truths about their favorite show. But more so than 14-year-old Morty’s two children, their fellow fans’ historically bad behavior and the Justin Roiland of it all, there’s one fact that’s managed to leave several viewers reeling above all others: Beth and Jerry are now technically millennials. 

Rick and Morty, like the majority of animated series, is set on a floating timeline. A plot device used to prevent characters from noticeably aging throughout a show’s up-to-three-and-a-half-decade-spanning run — looking at you, Simpsons — one fan decided to crunch the numbers on the passage of time in Rick and Morty. Beth and Jerry, who have respectively remained 34 and 35-ish since the series’ 2013 premiere, have technically gone from Gen X-ers to young Millennials over the show’s nearly 12 years on air. 

“At the start of the series, Beth and Jerry were born in 1979,” the poster captioned a screengrab of the couple shared to the Rick and Morty subreddit. “But now they would be born in 1991.” 

Naturally, fans weren’t thrilled to discover Morty and Summer’s TV parents were now their peers, flocking to the comments with a whole lot of questions and existential dread. 

“Oh god, I’m Jerry’s age,” wrote one commenter, while another marveled at the passage of time. “When I started watching the show, I was Morty’s age,” they began. “I think now I’m closer to being Jerry’s age.”

Rick and Morty isn’t the only series to spark such age-related terror. Earlier this year, Simpsons fans found themselves grappling with the realities of the show’s modified floating timeline. While Homer and Marge have aged from their early 30s to their early 40s over the show’s 36 seasons and counting, these slow increases weren’t enough to save them from reaching Millennial status. “I refuse to believe I’m older than Marge,” wrote one fan deep in the throes of denial.

Of course, all of this is just the nature of things. Or to paraphrase Rick, nobody exists — or ages — on purpose.