Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (also known as Rick & Steve) is a stop motion adult animated sitcom created by Q. Allan Brocka, who also acts as director. It is a spin-off from Brocka's 1999 short film of the same name, and debuted on the LGBT-focused Logo network in July 2007 and on the Canadian Teletoon's late-night programming block "The Detour" that October. The second season debuted on November 11, 2008. As of May 2024, there are no plans for a third season.

Overview

The show follows the lives of three gay couples—the titular Rick and Steve, Chuck and Evan, and Dana and Kirsten—as they live in the fictional gay ghetto of West Lahunga Beach and interact with their friends and family. The title is ironic, as all three of the main couples have typical "couple issues"—including Steve actively seeking a three-way with Rick and another man, Kirsten and Dana deciding to have a baby with Rick's sperm, and Chuck and Evan simply trying to be together despite a 31-year age difference between them.

Characters

Main

Family

Friends

Other minor characters

Guest voices have included Mitch Morris, Mark Hamill, Jim J. Bullock, Jill Bennett, Lance Bass, Andy Dick, Jai Rodriguez, George Takei, Laraine Newman, Bruce Vilanch and Robert Gant. Margaret Cho, Liza Del Mundo and Billy West voice minor characters in addition to their primary roles, and series creator Q. Allan Brocka also contributes minor character voices.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2007)

Season 2 (2008–09)

Production and release

After the first season aired, Logo renewed the program for a second season, which debuted on November 11, 2008. The show is produced by Toronto-based production studio, Cuppa Coffee Studios. The animation of the original Rick & Steve shorts was done using Lego blocks and figures, prompting a lawsuit from the company. Though the series no longer uses Lego blocks, it still draws comparison to both them and those by Playmobil.

Home release

Reception

The show is noted particularly for its use of an adult-oriented and "politically incorrect" style of humor, similar in some respects to that of South Park and Family Guy.

Awards

A minor controversy arose in 2008 when Carlo Nardello, an executive with the Italian RAI Television network, criticized Salerno's Cartoons on the Bay animation festival for including a Rick & Steve screening in its 2008 program. However, Rick & Steve went on to win the festival's Pulcinella Award for best series of the year. Casting director Gillian O'Neill won the Casting Society of America's Atrios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Animation TV Programming in 2008 for her work on Rick & Steve.