Latest news with #RickAndMorty
Gizmodo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
The Cast of ‘Rick and Morty' on That Mind-Warping Season 8 Premiere
Rick and Morty kicked off its eighth season last night on Adult Swim. While 'Summer of All Fears' did frame itself around why it's very important to return a borrowed phone charger, it was really about several other themes that run much deeper—in grand Rick and Morty fashion. Early in the episode we learn that Rick has imprisoned Summer and Morty in a Matrix-style simulation as punishment for taking his phone charger. It's classic Rick to use wild science to overreact to something so petty, but less expected was the fact that he accidentally left his grandkids brain-jacked into another reality for the equivalent of 17 years. On the outside world, it's been the length of a drunken Rick nap. But when Summer and Morty emerge, they've both lived those years—yes, they were virtual; yes, there sure was an awful lot of talk about phone chargers—and have the equivalent emotional damage to go with that. Morty is more haunted than Summer; his simulated life involved a prison stint, then military service complicated by a growing attachment to his squad mates. Even worse, he had to endure being repeatedly killed in battle and regenerating, with the agony of watching his friends die (and stay dead) until he was the last man standing. Summer, however, quickly figures out that to crack Rick's matrix, she's going to have to make phone chargers obsolete inside the simulated world. It takes 17 years, but she does it, and emerges from the experience feeling like a confident 34-year-old tech CEO. Beth encourages Rick to let the kids hold onto their memories when they first emerge—something he advises against—and for a good chunk of the episode, we see what happens when the siblings are restored to their teen bodies, but with their new 'life experiences' intact. Summer, who immediately recreates the short haircut she had as a thirtysomething, handles things pretty well at first. 'I love that she is able to think on her feet and that the character can adapt to any given set of circumstances,' voice actor Spencer Grammer told io9 at a recent Rick and Morty press day. 'And eventually, basically topples over Rick's intentionality in some way, right? Like she always is a foil to his evil in some ways. And also saves them too. I think that's been my favorite thing [about playing Summer], trying to play her in such a way that she feels like she is figuring it out like in the moment, but just happens to be very good at doing it. That's probably been my favorite part of her.' Though Summer and Morty have a healthy amount of sibling rivalry, Rick and Morty fans have seen over the years that they usually end up having each other's backs in the end. Harry Belden, who plays Morty, jokingly chalked that up to 'trauma bonding,' since they both get put through the wringer being part of Rick's adventures. That bond serves the characters well when Morty's lingering 'Summer of All Fears' shell shock drives him to very nearly blow up the closest nuclear power plant. Summer stops him by coming clean about just how manipulative she was of his experiences in the matrix. She had to be, she explains, because she was desperately trying to figure out how they could escape. 'Isn't that whatever great sibling relationship is—like, you've survived your parents, the experience of your parents. So somehow you are bonded in that no matter what. Even if you end up becoming very different people, no matter what you share that experience [of] trying to figure out how to be human beings,' Grammer said. 'Oddly, Summer and Morty are very capable at being adults, it seems—well, maybe not so much Morty in that episode, but he was sacrificed [in 'Summer of All Fears'] for their good. And she takes responsibility for that, which I think is the biggest thing about being a grown-up is that you do make mistakes, but you take responsibility for them and you ask for forgiveness.' She added, 'It's nice to be able to show that. It's a pretty in-depth, meaningful episode for the first episode of the season. We have some lighter ones as we go along, but [the premiere is] a pretty interesting take on what we all go through—and, you know, capitalism at large.' For Belden's part, 'I want to see the venting sessions between Morty and Summer [about] all the horrible things Rick has done to them that we haven't seen on screen.' Elsewhere in 'Summer of All Fears,' we get a new perspective on Summer and Beth's relationship. At first, Beth is thrilled by this newly mature version of her teen daughter—though that wears thin rather quickly. 'Obviously over the past 80 episodes their relationship has evolved so much,' Sarah Chalke, who plays Beth, explained. 'But I think in that episode in particular we get to see a whole new dynamic between Beth and Summer. It was really fun to play because they're sort of interacting more as peers. I think Beth really loved that and then hadn't really run the play in her head of where that could go and the downsides to that—which Rick obviously sees right away.' In the end, Chalke said, 'That eventually comes around to realizing the best part about your childhood is your childhood, in being 17 and not knowing how hard it's going to get, and wanting Summer to have the benefit of that for the rest of her life. It was a fun episode to get to do.' New episodes of Rick and Morty arrive Sundays on Adult Swim.
Geek Tyrant
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
RICK AND MORTY Season 8 Showrunner on How the Series Is Shaped by Pure Creative Chaos — GeekTyrant
That balance between completely awesome absurdity and deeper narrative threads in Adult Swims Rick and Morty is part of the show's design philosophy. And according to showrunner Scott Marder, it often starts with one undeniable spark… an idea too good to ignore. Marder, who's been steering the animated sci-fi juggernaut alongside co-creator Dan Harmon, recently shared some insight into how the sausage gets made over at Rick and Morty HQ. While they try to shape each season with both episodic standalones and serialized arcs in mind, sometimes a single pitch kicks the door down and demands its place. Marder says: 'There's just no ignoring that we could be starting off a day trying to tackle something, and then someone will throw out an idea that is so inescapable, and it'll excite Dan [Harmon], and it'll excite me so much that we don't even need to articulate that we're moving on to this for now, because it is sparking so much joy.' That spontaneous, chaotic energy is something the Rick and Morty writers' room embraces and they should. Some ideas simply hijack the day—and ultimately shape where the show goes. Marder continued: 'You didn't come in on a Tuesday expecting to hear it, and you can't unhear it once you've heard it, and suddenly that's episode eight. 'They all just sort of assemble, and then we find a method to the madness and a shape to a season that makes it feel like we broke it in the order that you're seeing it in, but it's really just finding the things that we find most attractive and most compelling and get the most sort of excitement going in a room on any given moment.' It's that mix of instinct and improvisation that keeps Rick and Morty feeling fresh even as it heads into its eighth season, which premieres Sunday, May 25, 2025. Fans can expect the usual mix of high-concept weirdness and character-driven chaos.
Geek Girl Authority
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
New TV Shows This Week (May 25 - 31)
Welcome to another edition of New TV Shows. This week, a new spin-off is coming to our screens to celebrate the legacy of a beloved TV show on TNT. Get ready because things are about to get good. Two animated series are coming back for fans that are sure to make fans happy. A new story about a group of friends is coming for a new generation of young adult viewers. And one of the longest-running groups of girlfriends is back for another season. Some exciting series, including one with Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks, are premiering this week. Here's what's new on TV for May 25-31. NEW ON TV, MAY 25-31 May 25 – The Librarians: The Next Chapter The Librarians franchise is expanding on TNT with The Librarians: The Next Chapter . This new show will focus on a time-traveling librarian and his team as they do their best to protect the world from magical artifacts and the dangers that come with them. The series premiere will take place on two different nights, immersing viewers into this new but well-known world. The Librarians: The Next Chapter premieres Sunday, May 25 at 10/9c on TNT. RELATED: Everything Coming to Netflix in June 2025 May 25 – Rick and Morty The last season of Rick and Morty aired its last episode in December 2023. 17 months later, fans can enjoy the premiere of Season 8. The show continues to tell stories in which ordinary events turn into messy ordeals that lead the main characters through life-or-death situations. The first episode finds Morty and Summer going through existential agony after not returning Rick's phone charger. Rick and Morty Season 8 premieres Sunday, May 25 at 11/10c on Adult Swim. May 27 – The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy If animated series for adults are your thing, you'll be happy to know The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy returns for another season this week. The second season of the show still finds the two alien doctors tackling anxiety-eating parasites, illegal time loops and deep-space STIs. All eight episodes come out on the same night. The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy Season 2 premieres Tuesday, May 27 at 3/2 am on Prime Video. RELATED: Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast Announces Season 3 Is in Production May 28 – Adults If series like How I Met Your Mother and Friends were your favorite because they shared the lives of a group of friends, Adult might become your newest favorite TV show. Mike Elassal, Lucy Freyer, Jack Innanen, Amita Rao and Owen Thiele are the actors behind this group of five friends living together. The friends are staying in one of their childhood homes as they navigate the anxieties of life in their 20s. Adults premieres Wednesday, May 28 at 9/8c on FX. May 29 – The Better Sister Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks play sisters on Prime Video's newest limited series, The Better Sister . Sister number one is a high-profile media executive who seems to be living the perfect life with her husband and son. Sister number two struggles to make it to the end of the month. When sister number one's husband is murdered, the sisters must reunite to untangle their family history. The Better Sister premieres Thursday, May 29 at 3/2 am on Prime Video. RELATED: Animal Control : 7 Questions We Need Answered in Season 4 May 29 – Dept. Q If The Queen's Gambit was your cup of tea, its writer/director is coming out with a new series on Netflix. Dept. Q follows the story of an Edinburgh-based police department where a brash and brilliant cop must lead a group of misfits to solve crimes. The series includes Matthew Goode, Kelly Macdonald, Alexej Manvelov and Mark Bonnar. Dept. Q premieres Thursday, May 29 at 3/2 am on Netflix. May 29 – And Just Like That… Everyone's favorite group of girlfriends is returning to MAX for its third season this week. While fans continue to tune in to see what happens with Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda, they are also intrigued by the amazing actors who have guest-starred in past seasons. For Season 3, the show is bringing Rosie O'Donnell, Patti LuPone, Cheri Oteri, Jackie Hoffman and Ryan Serhant to portray new characters who will complicate everything. And Just Like That… Season 3 premieres Thursday, May 29 at 9/8c on MAX. RELATED: Star Trek : Tracing the Holodeck's History May 30 – A Widow's Game A new Spanish movie comes to Netflix this week with a cast that includes Ivana Baquero, Carmen Machi, Tristán Ulloa, Joel Sánchez, Álex Gadea, Pablo Molinero and Pepe Ocio. The film tells the story of a man who was found in Valencia in 2017 with seven stab wounds. As the Homicide Group looks into his murder, all evidence points back to the widow. While on the outside she seems sweet and serene, she might be hiding a terrible truth. A Widow's Game premieres Friday, May 30 at 3/2 am on Netflix. May 31 – Mountainhead For most fans, Jesse Armstrong is the brilliant mind behind MAX's Succession . While that is a tremendous title to be known by, Armstrong continues to expand his imperium with new projects. This time, he is making his directorial debut with the movie Mountainhead . The film follows tech billionaire friends who reunite in the middle of an international crisis. The cast includes Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef. Mountainhead premieres Saturday, May 31 at 8/7c on MAX. Check back next week for What's New on TV for June 1-7. Geek Girl Authority Crush of the Week: SUSAN IRELAND By day, Lara Rosales (she/her) is a solo mom by choice and a bilingual writer with a BA in Latin-American Literature who works in PR. By night, she is a TV enjoyer who used to host a podcast (Cats, Milfs & Lesbian Things). You can find her work published on Tell-Tale TV, Eulalie Magazine, Collider, USA Wire, Mentors Collective, Instelite, Noodle, Dear Movies, Nicki Swift, and Flip Screened.
Forbes
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Eight Seasons & Two New Voices Later, ‘Rick And Morty' Is A ‘Well-Oiled' Multiverse — And It's Not Going Anywhere!
'Rick and Morty' Courtesy of Adult Swim A little over a decade after it first debuted on Adult Swim, Rick and Morty has finally settled into a smooth production cycle under the auspices of showrunner/executive producer Scott Marder. Through his tight leadership that began with the fifth season, delays became a thing of the past, unceremoniously banished to the farthest reaches of the Central Finite Curve. 'We're on schedule now, thanks to Scott and a new technique we found called being three seasons ahead,' says executive producer and former showrunner Dan Harmon (he also co-creator of the animated sci-fi hit with Justin Roiland) ahead of the Season 8 premiere. 'That's very much a difference. Our schedule is kind of predictable and … we look a little more like a real, healthy TV show.' 'We've become more of a well-oiled machine, [and] that's certainly something that pays dividends,' Marder affirms. 'The episodes hold across the process in a stronger way, so that artists can make them prettier, directors can direct them better, and writers can write them better … It's a better end result for everyone and [leads to] higher morale.' That high morale is certainly felt by regular cast members like Spencer Grammer, voice of Summer Smith, who reveals they've already started recording episodes for the ninth season (Adult Swim renewed the show through Season 12 last year). 'In the beginning, there were these long pauses between seasons as they would get the writers' room together. But now that just goes [smoothly] and we come in,' she explains. 'That really makes our lives a lot easier as actors and also just as human beings who can rely on getting paid through the year … Rick and Morty has always been this lovely thing that I can rely on and also one of the things I'm most proud of in my life." 'We're 80 episodes in and it's never boring,' agrees co-star Sarah Chalke (Beth Smith/Space Beth). 'It's always exciting to get the new Rick and Morty script in your inbox and see what you get to do that week … Every episode is still so different because of the nature of the show, the fact that it can go to any dimension anywhere and the characters could really be at any stage. It gives you the opportunity to have a fully new relationship with a character that you've been doing [scenes] with for a decade." Chris Parnell (Jerry Smith) echoes that sentiment: 'They keep surprising us with different scenarios, and then different versions of our characters that we get to play.' Having been a part of the show since the very beginning, Grammer, Chalke, and Parnell enjoyed a front-row seat to Rick and Morty's meteoric rise from offbeat cartoon to an essential piece of the pop culture landscape. 'You see the growth of the show through the eyes of Comic-Con,' Chalke says. '[When we went the first year] Parnell, meanwhile, points to the Szechuan Sauce craze as the moment he knew the series had deeply resonated with viewers. The sauce mania came out of the Season 3 premiere ("The Rickshank Redemption"), which singlehandedly revived an obscure McDonald's movie tie-in condiment from the '90s. 'I knew from what I'd heard that even out of the gate, the show was received really well. But then when the Szechuan Sauce thing happened and I was like, 'Wow, this is quite a cultural connection for so many people,'' he shares. 'It was very cool.' 'Rick and Morty' Courtesy of Adult Swim Despite such runaway success, the multiversal misadventures of Rick Sanchez, aka the smartest human in the universe, and his anxiety-prone teenage grandson, Morty Smith, were somewhat derailed in 2023 when Adult Swim severed ties with Justin Roiland — series co-creator, executive producer, and voice of the two titular characters — following charges of domestic violence. There was absolutely no way the network was going to cancel its biggest television hit; one that spawned a cultural phenomenon and a lucrative multimedia franchise to go along with it. So what did Adult Swim do? They put out a casting call, of course! Following a six-month audition process, Roiland, who still retains creator and executive producer credits, was ultimately replaced by two soundalike actors — Ian Cardoni (Rick) and Harry Belden (Morty) — both of whom weren't revealed until the Season 7 premiere two years ago. 'It's been crazy,' admits Belden. 'I've felt every emotion possible as we've gone through this whole thing — from the elation of finding out we were going to be playing these roles, to the then almost-immediate panic of, 'Oh my gosh! I have to step into this iconic role and hope everybody's okay with it and the show can continue.' I still wake up most days being like, 'Okay, that is real. This is what I'm doing now. This is my job.'' 'It's been really fun to bring more of myself to the role and really try to own it while honoring this iconic character that we've all of grown to love for many years,' adds Cardoni. 'I think we've got some great adventures to come, and it's fun to be along for that ride.' The biggest obstacle for the two newcomers was staying true to the spirit of the iconic characters without having the voices become hollow impressions of Roiland's performance across the first six seasons. 'The challenge every day is to not see it as a listen and repeat," Cardoni continues. 'It is more getting inside these characters and making sure that you can motivate. The difference comes through vocally if you're really committed to a character's mindset and emotional life. That's what motivates a scream, a 'Wubba Lubba dub-dub!', or a burp. It comes from a real place, and that's a lot of fun to play.' Belden notes that he was very much encouraged to put his own spin on the voices during a Zoom callback. 'I did one of the lines and replicated the cadence of the original line,' he recalls. 'And they were like, 'That sounded great. Now please do it as your own. Don't feel locked into the way it was done.' And I was like, 'Of course! They're looking for someone who can breathe life into the character and isn't just replicating things.'' 'Rick and Morty' Courtesy of Adult Swim In terms of plot, Harmon and Marder say that Season 8 is all about the characters 'living in a post-Rick Prime world' after Rick killed his arch-nemesis last season. Where does the eponymous nihilist with a drinking problem go from here now that he has no concrete endgame? 'We're hyper-aware of the choices we've made, and we see people dealing with the ramifications of that," stresses the showrunner. "I'd say Season 8 is putting a little bit of a spotlight on Rick and the Beths. [Rick is] Harmon chimes in: 'If there's a theme to Season 8 … it might be that people are running out of other people to blame for what's happening to them. And that comes with a whole new challenge. Rick solved this supposed problem with his fists, but then that trickles down to everybody. [For example], Morty doesn't have the the crutch anymore of claiming that his grandpa is dragging him everywhere against his will and Rick doesn't have the crutch of saying, 'You guys don't matter.' Jerry and Beth have long since stopped blaming each other for the lack of fulfillment in their careers and things. The stories in Season 8 continue that theme in a linear way.' The cast also chimes in on the topic of what we can expect in the latest episodes, with Belden stating that Rick, Morty, and Summer are 'all sort of doing their own thing in a way" this season. 'I think that's probably indicative of healing," he muses. Cardoni, on the other hand, is excited for fans to see Rick grow as a character. 'I think we see him take some emotional risks as a result. But that growth is not always linear, so you're going to get messy moments, too.' And then there's Grammer, who 'can't wait for it to all fall apart again,' as things usually do for the dysfunctional Smith family. 'It might happen this season, it might happen next season," she teases. "Because I think that's the cycle. All of our lives are sort of cyclical. We go through periods of great growth and change. We [also] 'Rick and Morty' Courtesy of Adult Swim While four more seasons are confirmed, Marder is of the mindset that Rick and Morty can run in perpetuity. For him, there is no 'end in sight at the moment.' After all, Marder is no stranger to long-running TV shows, having worked on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (currently nearing its seventeenth season). But where Sunny's limited location began to seriously challenge the writers to come up with new scenarios for the Paddy's Pub crew, Rick and Morty is a lot more freeing from a narrative perspective. 'It can be so standalone and so anthological, that I find the show is breaking just as easily in eight, nine, ten as it was in four, five, six,' says the showrunner. "So to me, it does not feel like it's slowing down at all.' 'You've got a maximum of two seasons to tell a planned story,' Harmon concludes. 'We're blessed and cursed with a completely different paradigm. We've been at it for so long, that if we were planning something for Season 20, we would be guilty of playing a game that we couldn't win with an audience that is so sophisticated, they would guess whatever payoff was coming … We owe it to the audience to continue to figure out new stories to take place in a limitless world.' Season 8 of Rick and Morty premieres on Adult Swim this Sunday — May 25 — at 11:00 p.m. ET
Gizmodo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Dan Harmon Explains Why ‘Rick and Morty' Is Obsessed With Clones
Voice actor Sarah Chalke also weighs in on what it's like playing both Beth and Space Beth on the Adult Swim hit. Rick and Morty season eight arrives May 25, and while io9 got an advance peek at four early episodes, one fan-favorite character didn't appear in them: Space Beth, the badass clone of Rick's daughter, Beth. However, Adult Swim's trailer revealed Space Beth will definitely be back—and in io9's recent interview with Rick and Morty cast and crew, we learned just how important she will be. And to backtrack quickly before it gets too confusing—Space Beth might actually be Rick's real daughter, and 'our' Beth might in fact be the duplicate. It's a question that's hung over the characters since Space Beth first appeared back in the season four finale. And it plays into one of Rick and Morty's recurring fascinations. 'For me, it's always been like, 'Well, who are you?' It's a nature versus nurture thing,' Rick and Morty executive producer Dan Harmon told io9 when we asked about the show's affection for clones. 'Notably, we don't know if it's Space Beth or domestic Beth that is the clone. I like the Schrödinger's cat [idea]—things that explore uncertainty as an empirical concept, which is what the Schrödinger's cat model is. It's this idea that a thing can be neither true or untrue, or it's one of two things, and you'll never know which it is.' He continued. 'That's a little forced with the Beths, but that's what clone-related stuff—and multiversal [stuff], which is essentially a clone of you—is for me. The question of like, who are you? What makes you? Is it a bunch of hormones? Is it your pancreas? Is your brain a pilot in a Voltron that you're steering around? Is it because your parents were mean to you? Nathan Fielder is exploring that on this season of The Rehearsal, which is amazing to watch because he's got my number there. It's just like 'What if you control every detail, and what is it that makes this thing this thing?'' Showrunner and executive producer Scott Marder jumped in to tease how important that will be in the upcoming episodes, especially after the events of season seven. 'Season eight, in its biggest arc, is Rick having the sort of—now that Rick Prime's out of the way, he's got a more or less deal with the ramifications of that mess he's made with the Beths the most. Now that he's got nowhere that's authentically pulling him away, he's really got to make sense of that mess.' For Rick and Morty star Sarah Chalke, the addition of Space Beth has been an exciting challenge. 'I love voicing Space Beth. I was so pumped when Space Beth became kind of a part of the family and it wasn't just a one-off episode,' she said. 'It's really fun. When we do an episode with both Beths, we'll record Beth first in its entirety, and then do Space Beth, so if they're in a scene together we're not going back and forth,' she said. 'And I'll do Space Beth second so that my voice is more raspy—and if it's not doing that on its own, I'll try and drop down a little bit so it's in the deeper register, because she has more of an edge.' 'I just try to walk that line [of] them feeling like they're the same person but completely different characters, because they have a different view of the world and of each other, and of Rick and of Jerry. One of my favorite things about being on the show has been trying to figure out that dynamic and how to make them unique from each other.' Rick and Morty season eight begins May 25 on Adult Swim.
