Dan Harmon is still on board, but the voice of both Rick and Morty was recast. Being an animated comedy, this was a huge deal. A major part of the characterisations came down to what is now instantly recognisable voice acting. On top of this, the dismissed voice actor and co-creator saw his part in another show drastically recast early this year. So, how did the changes stick for Rick and Morty Season 7?
Opening with old favourites and an eerie likeness
Season 7 of Rick and Morty opens by firmly establishing that the status quo of the Smith family continues. Beth and Space Beth are around the table with Summer and Jerry. Beth goes to solve an issue in the house, Space Beth leaves, Summer is indifferent to what’s going on, and Jerry can’t afford to pay the “pharmacist” for services provided. Throw in a downbeat Mr Poopybutthole, and you have a very Rick and Morty episode to hand.
Next, we follow Morty down to the basement to meet up with Rick. The voice actor for the titular characters was recast, but those who they brought in are almost weirdly similar to the original. Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden won the roles as voice soundalikes, according to the Variety article, and while they’re not exact replicas, their tone and mannerisms clearly mimic that which came before.
Even the bizarre character Mr Poopybutthole – now voiced by John Allen – seemed to fit right in as he did for the last six seasons. What could have meant a tremendous amount of restructuring and even a new direction for Rick and Morty actually only resulted in a few rather subtle changes to the viewing experience.
An important success for the hit show
Last year, Season 6 of the show managed to maintain its strong viewership and fanfare. It even moved along some storylines that fans had been craving answers to for years. Warner Bros. Discovery, the show’s parent company, even claimed that Rick and Morty had been viewed over 10 billion times across all platforms globally. So, for its first outing with new names both in the recording booth and behind the scenes to land well was a big deal.
Rick and Morty has become one of the tent-pole TV shows that’s guaranteed to get millions of viewers with each new season. It’s transcended the small screen and is even a hot pick on the smaller screen. Even at the Megaways casino in the UK, Rick and Morty Megaways is among the top games. With Pickle Rick, Federation, Vindicators, and Mystery Free Spins features, it fully capitalises on the fame of the show and some of its most beloved episodes.
In both TV circles and online slot gaming, it’s very rare for an animated show to gain such traction. Among other US-made adult animated shows, you could perhaps only talk about the longevity of South Park, Archer, and the Seth MacFarlane shows that exceed or are equal to the success of Rick and Morty.
Still, Rick and Morty wasn’t the only show that had to recast their co-creator. The alien-centric science-fiction adult comedy Solar Opposites took a different approach to Rick and Morty. Rather than cast soundalikes, the team opted to completely recast the Rick-sounding Korvo to the exceedingly British Dan Stevens, rationalising the change with a “Voice-Fixing Ray.” Strangely, the stark change worked well in the crazy show of shrunken humans, Silver Cops, and the Pupa.
Rick and Morty generated a lot of discussion before Season 7’s launch, but its opening outing seems to reinstate the status quo and that the team’s done well with the recasting.
19 October 2023