How Poopy Got His Poop Back

The seventh season of the American adult animated television series ''Rick and Morty'' premiered on October 15, 2023 and concluded on December 17, 2023. It consisted of ten episodes.

The season was ordered before the fourth season of the show finished airing, in May 2020, as part of an order consisting of 70 episodes. It is the first season not to feature Justin Roiland providing any voice work, following his dismissal from the franchise in January 2023, though he and his company, Justin Roiland's Solo Vanity Card Productions!, are still credited. Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden were hired to replace him as the voices of Rick and Morty respectively.

Voice cast and characters

Main

* Ian Cardoni as Rick Sanchez C-137, one of the show's two lead characters and Morty's grandfather, often shown as drunk while seeking to track down Rick Prime, a version of himself from a parallel universe who killed his first wife and daughter.
* Harry Belden as Morty Smith Prime, one of the show's two lead characters and Rick's grandson, often shown as nervous, unsure of himself and doubtful about Rick's extravagant adventures, in contrast to "Evil Morty", a version of himself who left the Central Finite Curve behind.
* Chris Parnell as:
** Jerry Smith, Morty and Summer's father, Beth's husband, and Rick's son-in-law.
** Tom, a news anchor who criticizes the President with his co-host Shonda.
* Spencer Grammer as Summer Smith, Morty's older sister and Rick's granddaughter.
* Sarah Chalke as Beth Smith, Morty's and Summer's mother and Rick's daughter.

Recurring

* Tom Kenny as:
** Gene Gilligan, the Smith family's neighbor.
** Squanch "Squanchy", one of Rick's oldest friends.
** Gul'Karna, a Yautja private investigator from the ''Predator'' franchise whom Wayne hired to follow his ex-wife Amy, only for him to instead date her.
** Mr. Stabby, a sword-limbed talk show host who often accidentally kills his audiences when trying to take questions from them.
* Kari Wahlgren as:
** Diane Sanchez, Rick's deceased wife.
** The voice of the A.I. behind Rick's Space Cruiser and Garage.
** Jessica W., Morty's sometimes-date and a "time god".
* Keith David as Andre Curtis / The President, the President of the United States and a rival of Rick's.
* Susan Sarandon as Dr. Helen Wong, the therapist to Rick and the Smith family.

Guest

Episodes

Production

Development

The season is a part of a long-term deal between show creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon and Adult Swim, confirming 70 new episodes would be released over an unspecified number of seasons. Thirty of those episodes were aired as part of season four, season five and season six, leaving forty episodes remaining.

Casting

After charges of felony domestic abuse, which were subsequently dropped due to a lack of evidence, Justin Roiland was removed from the show prior to the seventh season. Adult Swim hired two new voice "soundalike" talent for the show's titular characters, announced as unknown actors Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden on the season premiere. Cardoni was cast first due to his Rick impression, which, series writer Scott Marder mentioned, was difficult to cast as "everyone sounded like Macho Man Randy Savage or like a cousin of his. No one sounded exactly like Rick". Belden was cast much later "after exhausting every possible resource".

Mr. Poopybutthole/Wayne P.B., who was previously voiced by Roiland, is voiced by actor Jon Allen. Marder said Allen's role provided room for some of Roiland's other replacements to focus on the main cast. Starting with the episode "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie", the character Magma-Q, another character that was previously voiced by Roiland, is voiced by rapper Ice-T.

Release

The seventh season premiered on October 15, 2023. The episode titles for season 7 were released through social media on August 31, 2023.

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, season 7 has a 75% score based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 6.30/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Recasting its titular pair with fairly seamless results, the famously unpredictable ''Rick and Morty'' settles into a holding pattern that nevertheless still yields plenty of amusing invention." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 73 out of 100, based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Reviewing the first two episodes, Alan Sepinwall of ''Rolling Stone'' noted that the characters who had new voice actors sounded virtually indistinguishable from their appearances in previous seasons. Jake Kleinman for ''Inverse'' agreed, finding the voice swap did not impact the show, but did describe the writing and trajectory of the series as disappointing. Alison Foreman, writing for IndieWire, was disappointed that the creatives chose to "maintain the status quo" rather than taking the show in a new direction even after Roiland's removal from the series.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Predator

2023 American animated television seasons
Rick and Morty seasons