My guess for why they withheld the replacement actors was out of concern that the more toxic elements of the fanbase might try to dox the new actors so they kept it close to the vest until the first episode actually aired and they could at least go “see it isn’t really that different.” But this was a fun premiere. Even knowing they were going for sound-alikes I was still surprised by how similar the voices sounded. Storywise, I have gotten a bit tired by the Mr. Poopy Butthole check-ins at the end of each season but it was nice to see them try to turn it all into an actual story and try to advance the character beyond “his life keeps getting worse” even if it feels inevitable we’ll check back in on him again to find him still suffering from the fade away pills or having relapsed or whatever. I appreciate that they at least waited a few seasons to bring back Squanchy even if he didn’t do much. Jackman was the highlight and it was very funny that they went the extra step of having him record a cover of Caribbean Queen. I also laughed a lot at how long and overly thought out the fade away pills explanation bit was, which felt like a good showcase for Cardoni to show that he can ramble as well as Roiland can.
Maybe I'm unobservant but I thought the voices were so soundalike that if I hadn't known about the offscreen stuff I wouldn't even have noticed. But I do like the idea of having two actors instead of one voice the titular roles because maybe it will allow them to play the characters off of one another better, which wasn't seen much in this episode. (Off course Beavis and Butthead play off each other great and they're both the same guy so maybe it doesn't matter for voice over work)
It's probably easier to "play off" yourself since my understanding is voice actors usually record separately. No idea how they do it for this show, though.
It was difficult for me, even in the context of Harmon’s spate of telling “tell-all” interviews, not to see the episode as a metaphor for the whole Roiland thing, with Mr PBH as Roiland & Rick as, we all know, Harmon.
I’m not sure “dig” is right, tho, because I don’t think Harmon is cruel or mean. After watching every Harmontown episode, the best he achieves is snide or angry.
I think it’s a purloined letter of a “writer’s secret”, which he talks about often. And Dan is so committed to meta and transparency, he *would* hide his “secret” in plain sight.
I also sort of read it as Harmon commenting on his own history. His alcoholism and general bad behavior briefly cost him Community, cost him his first wife, nearly cost him his career in total. It's very easy to imagine the Dan Harmon of the 2010s being awfully close to where Mr. PBH found himself at the outset of this episode.
Robot Ghost was probably the best bit of the episode, and I like how it actually showed Rick being a scientist by deciding to iterate and plan for the next version. Usually we don't get to see a process (probably because that would be boring), we just see the end result of his inventions, but I liked seeing that side of him, sort of like actually doing very slight detective work as Batman in the Arkham series.
I'll admit that I was listening very closely for any shades of differentiation in the character's voices at the beginning of the episode, but I completely lost track of it midway through and just enjoyed the ride, which means the new voices are working out perfectly.
The riding lawnmower in the credits gave me a good guffaw. No one can say Hugh Jackman doesn't give his all and then some for his voice work. The plot was more of a one-off with just a light reminder of what Rick is supposed to be up to this season, but that's fine with me. Overall it's great to have the show back on, still being funny and gross and everything.
Yeah outside of this being the first we hear new voices, this is an entirely forgettable, middle-of-the-road episode -- which is only disappointing due to this show traditionally hitting it out of the park with season premieres.
Hugh Jackman was a great guest. Bringing back Squanch was kinda dumb. The continuity lampshading would've been fine if he actually contributed to the episode, but he was easily the weakest link in the group dynamic tonight.
The ghost robot was not only the funniest part of the episode, but slightly interesting in how haphazardly Rick threw it together. Haven't really seen him botch an invention in a hot minute -- would be interesting if that's some sort of narrative tissue this season as he obsesses over Rick Prime.
The Robo-Ghost made me laugh out loud so hard when I realized what was going on because I was like...why is he uploading business? Wait, why didn't he finish uploading busines—omg.
I appreciate this review. You put the overall show into context as "late in the run but still doing some fun things" and don't hold it to some nostalgic standard you know it can't achieve even if you wish for that. Thank you
Yeah, I enjoyed this well enough. It was solid. I've lowered my expectations a bit, I suppose, since I definitely don't expect the show to hit the highs it hit in season 1 so consistently (I feel like we're lucky if it approaches those highs once a season and we get a few other very good episodes). This one wasn't amazing but it was a pretty good start to the season. I enjoyed the story (admittedly, I'm much more interested in Rick trying to help someone in his own twisted way than I am in his self-loathing or the family yelling at him or stories about how toxic everyone is) and I got a good kick out of a few of the jokes-- the riding mower tag, the entire concept of "Fuck You's", and I think another one I'm forgetting. Plus a few other laughs from the dialogue and stuff like the fading pills (especially Mr. Poopybutthole's reaction to them) or Mr. Poopybutthole cracking a beer while the gang was hiding from the Predator.
The process of creating the robot ghost was about the only thing I really enjoyed about this episode. I've been finding the show pretty tired for a while now, and this was exactly in line with the stuff that's been boring me. I mean, I'm open to the kind of thing they're going for with Poopy here, but not *with* Poopy, and Jackman's character's schtick doesn't do much for me either.
I'm not going anywhere, though, because the show still does fun and exciting and thought-provoking stuff from time to time (I think the fortune cookie and Pissmaster episodes were last season's stand-outs for me). It's just rough going from a president season finale to a Poopy Butthole season premiere; both are characters that irritate me. I hope next week is a Summer episode.
It may be damning with faint praise here, but I thought this episode was extremely solid. Hugh Jackman brought a little extra oomph as a guest star, not only being willing to lean into the absurdities, but even cover Caribbean Queen for the show. I still consistently laughed out loud at several of the jokes, basically everything with the neighbor Glenn got a laugh - starting with the lawnmower riding off into traffic, his body shot not being from a navel, through the fight with the predator and his denouement outside the Taco Tambourine with the Buddy pack. But yeah, the overall setup and focus on Mr PB was a bit... tired? Even if everything periphery to it was landing and keeping things moving.
Looking forward to the rest of the season though, and happy to hear just how spot on the new voice actors are with their delivery and intonation. Although, maybe this is just me, but now that we know they can do the voices as we knew them - I'm kind of wondering if it wouldn't be interesting to let them grow a bit more and do a bit of their own stamp on things?
My guess for why they withheld the replacement actors was out of concern that the more toxic elements of the fanbase might try to dox the new actors so they kept it close to the vest until the first episode actually aired and they could at least go “see it isn’t really that different.” But this was a fun premiere. Even knowing they were going for sound-alikes I was still surprised by how similar the voices sounded. Storywise, I have gotten a bit tired by the Mr. Poopy Butthole check-ins at the end of each season but it was nice to see them try to turn it all into an actual story and try to advance the character beyond “his life keeps getting worse” even if it feels inevitable we’ll check back in on him again to find him still suffering from the fade away pills or having relapsed or whatever. I appreciate that they at least waited a few seasons to bring back Squanchy even if he didn’t do much. Jackman was the highlight and it was very funny that they went the extra step of having him record a cover of Caribbean Queen. I also laughed a lot at how long and overly thought out the fade away pills explanation bit was, which felt like a good showcase for Cardoni to show that he can ramble as well as Roiland can.
Maybe I'm unobservant but I thought the voices were so soundalike that if I hadn't known about the offscreen stuff I wouldn't even have noticed. But I do like the idea of having two actors instead of one voice the titular roles because maybe it will allow them to play the characters off of one another better, which wasn't seen much in this episode. (Off course Beavis and Butthead play off each other great and they're both the same guy so maybe it doesn't matter for voice over work)
It's probably easier to "play off" yourself since my understanding is voice actors usually record separately. No idea how they do it for this show, though.
Rick and Morty? Toxic fanbase? Well I never 😅
The fade away pill gag was great, definitely one of my LOL moments. And I agree, good showcase for Cardoni to nail the character.
It was difficult for me, even in the context of Harmon’s spate of telling “tell-all” interviews, not to see the episode as a metaphor for the whole Roiland thing, with Mr PBH as Roiland & Rick as, we all know, Harmon.
Oh yeah when Mr. PBH was talking about his downward spiral, I deeeeeeefinitely took it as a Roiland dig.
I’m not sure “dig” is right, tho, because I don’t think Harmon is cruel or mean. After watching every Harmontown episode, the best he achieves is snide or angry.
I think it’s a purloined letter of a “writer’s secret”, which he talks about often. And Dan is so committed to meta and transparency, he *would* hide his “secret” in plain sight.
And, like clockwork, Harmon makes an “I don’t reference show drama in my shows anymore” statement. You have to scan for the specific question if they’ll reference Rooland’s firing. Technically, they did not, did they? https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/rick-and-morty-new-voice-actors-revealed-casting-process-1235618102/
I also sort of read it as Harmon commenting on his own history. His alcoholism and general bad behavior briefly cost him Community, cost him his first wife, nearly cost him his career in total. It's very easy to imagine the Dan Harmon of the 2010s being awfully close to where Mr. PBH found himself at the outset of this episode.
Robot Ghost was probably the best bit of the episode, and I like how it actually showed Rick being a scientist by deciding to iterate and plan for the next version. Usually we don't get to see a process (probably because that would be boring), we just see the end result of his inventions, but I liked seeing that side of him, sort of like actually doing very slight detective work as Batman in the Arkham series.
I'll admit that I was listening very closely for any shades of differentiation in the character's voices at the beginning of the episode, but I completely lost track of it midway through and just enjoyed the ride, which means the new voices are working out perfectly.
The riding lawnmower in the credits gave me a good guffaw. No one can say Hugh Jackman doesn't give his all and then some for his voice work. The plot was more of a one-off with just a light reminder of what Rick is supposed to be up to this season, but that's fine with me. Overall it's great to have the show back on, still being funny and gross and everything.
Yeah outside of this being the first we hear new voices, this is an entirely forgettable, middle-of-the-road episode -- which is only disappointing due to this show traditionally hitting it out of the park with season premieres.
Hugh Jackman was a great guest. Bringing back Squanch was kinda dumb. The continuity lampshading would've been fine if he actually contributed to the episode, but he was easily the weakest link in the group dynamic tonight.
The ghost robot was not only the funniest part of the episode, but slightly interesting in how haphazardly Rick threw it together. Haven't really seen him botch an invention in a hot minute -- would be interesting if that's some sort of narrative tissue this season as he obsesses over Rick Prime.
The Robo-Ghost made me laugh out loud so hard when I realized what was going on because I was like...why is he uploading business? Wait, why didn't he finish uploading busines—omg.
“Make floors part of his finished business & gravity part of his unfinished.”
I appreciate this review. You put the overall show into context as "late in the run but still doing some fun things" and don't hold it to some nostalgic standard you know it can't achieve even if you wish for that. Thank you
Yeah, I enjoyed this well enough. It was solid. I've lowered my expectations a bit, I suppose, since I definitely don't expect the show to hit the highs it hit in season 1 so consistently (I feel like we're lucky if it approaches those highs once a season and we get a few other very good episodes). This one wasn't amazing but it was a pretty good start to the season. I enjoyed the story (admittedly, I'm much more interested in Rick trying to help someone in his own twisted way than I am in his self-loathing or the family yelling at him or stories about how toxic everyone is) and I got a good kick out of a few of the jokes-- the riding mower tag, the entire concept of "Fuck You's", and I think another one I'm forgetting. Plus a few other laughs from the dialogue and stuff like the fading pills (especially Mr. Poopybutthole's reaction to them) or Mr. Poopybutthole cracking a beer while the gang was hiding from the Predator.
I'm glad to have the show back and see that replacing Roiland is no big deal even if it's not hitting at the same rate it used to.
Did I miss something with the riding lawnmower? Was it connected to something in the episode? I didn't understand that at all.
Oh wait a second, it was the sober dude's thing, right?
Yeah, it was Glen the neighbor's riding mower that he lost control of when Rick and the gang picked him up.
It took me a bit to figure that out too
The process of creating the robot ghost was about the only thing I really enjoyed about this episode. I've been finding the show pretty tired for a while now, and this was exactly in line with the stuff that's been boring me. I mean, I'm open to the kind of thing they're going for with Poopy here, but not *with* Poopy, and Jackman's character's schtick doesn't do much for me either.
I'm not going anywhere, though, because the show still does fun and exciting and thought-provoking stuff from time to time (I think the fortune cookie and Pissmaster episodes were last season's stand-outs for me). It's just rough going from a president season finale to a Poopy Butthole season premiere; both are characters that irritate me. I hope next week is a Summer episode.
It may be damning with faint praise here, but I thought this episode was extremely solid. Hugh Jackman brought a little extra oomph as a guest star, not only being willing to lean into the absurdities, but even cover Caribbean Queen for the show. I still consistently laughed out loud at several of the jokes, basically everything with the neighbor Glenn got a laugh - starting with the lawnmower riding off into traffic, his body shot not being from a navel, through the fight with the predator and his denouement outside the Taco Tambourine with the Buddy pack. But yeah, the overall setup and focus on Mr PB was a bit... tired? Even if everything periphery to it was landing and keeping things moving.
Looking forward to the rest of the season though, and happy to hear just how spot on the new voice actors are with their delivery and intonation. Although, maybe this is just me, but now that we know they can do the voices as we knew them - I'm kind of wondering if it wouldn't be interesting to let them grow a bit more and do a bit of their own stamp on things?