Even then it's tough. Take the most recent episode. It almost entirely disappeared up its own ass, with all of the meta commentary. The writers were making fun of themselves as well as the fanboys with whom they have such a love/hate relationship. The entire idea of the story train going in a circle is ripped right from Dan Harmon's own writing style which he has talked about on many occasions. The "story circle":
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The perfect example of what I'm talking about is when they leave the train. They are physically leaving the train, but they're also leaving the story circle. That's why Rick puts the artificial time limit on Morty's oxygen supply. He even talks about how they will have to "pay a price". They have to do this to rejoin the rules of the story circle, to literally get back on the train. It's ridiculously high concept for an animated show that also spends a lot of time on fart jokes.
Not to mention all of the scenes with evil Morty, Snowball, the Meeseeks, etc, basically everything they've been showing in the trailers for this season. Morty asks if it's canon, and Rick replies "It could have been!" It's very close to a middle finger to the rabid fans who overanalyze everything about the show... sort of like I'm doing right now...
Anyway, it's a fine line to walk because they run the risk of becoming too clever for their own good. And I'm sure for many people they've already crossed that line. I'm still really enjoying it though.
