The classic archaeological analysis of collapse is Joseph Tainter's Collapse of Complex Societies. The basic definition of societal collapse that he uses, which has wide currency in archaeology, has nothing to do with value judgments, depopulations, or doomsdays: it boils down to reversion to less complex social organization, for example from a state to a complex chiefdom. And it can be a GOOD thing, especially where unsustainable city-states or oppressive top-heavy elites are things that are lost in the collapse.

And yes, Rick's parody was both accurate and hilarious.