Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Game of Thrones may dominate social media early Sunday nights, but late night and early Monday morning belongs to Rick and Morty. After over a year and a half without new episodes, the Adult Swim show is finally back with new episodes, and this past season has been its strongest and darkest yet. However, watching the show has been a bit of a struggle for viewers who may not have Adult Swim as part of their mainstream TV diet.
Rick and Morty is one of those shows that seems to have immensely benefited from the age of streaming. Even show creator Justin Roiland agrees. In between the show’s long season breaks, its already obsessive fan base has grown immensely, which is probably partially due to how easy it is to stream both on Adult Swim’s site and Hulu. For a short period to time, Adult Swim was even live streaming new episodes of the series as they aired. However, that live stream was taken down before the premiere of “Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender.” So what gives? Why was this live stream taken down? Will it ever return? And can fans expect to watch delightfully horrible show re-enactments in the live stream’s place?
Why did Adult Swim stop live streaming new episodes of Rick and Morty?
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Adult Swim said the following about the decision to end the live stream: “Adult Swim livestreamed the first two episodes of Rick and Morty to kick off the new season and will continue to offer episodes to view online after they have aired on the network.” Currently, new episodes post on Adult Swim’s site the Monday after the episode airs.
At the moment, all Season 3 episodes save for “Rickmancing the Stone” are available to stream on Adult Swim’s site, but “The Rickshank Rickdemption” is the only one that can be watched without a cable log in.
Will the live stream return?
It likely won’t. It’s not unusual for channels to stream the first couple of episodes of a highly-anticipated show for free online only to require a cable log in later. USA, Lifetime, A+E, and FX have all implemented this strategy in various ways. However, because this is Adult Swim, things are a bit less predictable. This is the network that dropped an episode of Rick and Morty unannounced on April Fool’s Day. It’s not out of the question for them to use a different distribution model without telling anyone.
Will the live stream continue to show Rick and Morty re-enactments?
Last week instead of showing the actual episode of Rick and Morty, Adult Swim aired a special featuring live actors re-enacting the episode on its live stream. When asked if this was something viewers can expect on the live stream, a spokesperson for Adult Swim said that viewers can never know what will show up on the streams. Basically, if you want to legally keep up with Rick and Morty this season, you’re going to need a cable log in.
Stream episodes of Rick and Morty Season 3 on Adult Swim's site
