Though Rick Sanchez implicitly lost his title of “The Smartest Man in the Universe” in Season Five of Rick and Morty, we might know who holds the superlative outside the “Central Finite Curve”: George Jetson of The Jetsons.

So how did everyone’s favorite digital index operator emerge as a contender for the highly coveted galactic title? A whole lot of tech snafus and a few gory deaths.

In Season Seven’s “Unmortricken,” a few space travelers seriously resembling the Jetson family made some ill-fated guest appearances beyond the curve, repeatedly portal-ing themselves into the multiverse only to die seconds later. “It works! Now we can visit infinite universes!” one version of George Jetson told his family upon zapping into the zone.

Despite eliciting a “hooray!” from what appeared to be his universe’s iterations of Judy and Elroy, Jane had some concerns. “Doesn’t that mean infinite other families can do the same?...