Ready Your Plumbus! Morty From ‘Rick and Morty’ Joins ‘MultiVersus’ Game

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Debbie Allen and Amber Riley are moving into “The Lower Bottoms.” The two actors join the scripted dark comedy podcast — about denizens in a gentrifying neighborhood in West Oakland, Calif. — for Season 2. Also appearing in the second season of “The Lower Bottoms” is Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alice Walker, who will guest star alongside returning stars including Kelsey Grammer, Theo Rossi and Annie Ilonzeh. The show is coproduced by iHeartMedia and Will Packer Media. Season 2’s first episode premieres Monday (Sept. 12) with new episodes released every Monday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other audio platforms. The second season will have a 10-episode run, the same as the first season, which was released in the summer of 2021.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Roku unveiled a software update to its streaming operating system — OS 11.5 — that among other features will introduce a new section on its streaming devices called “The Buzz,” stocked with short-form promotional content from entertainment partners. The goal: to provide another entry point for users to discover and watch new TV shows and movies. On the hardware side, the company is launching minimal changes to its product family for the 2022 holiday shopping season, with upgraded models of the Roku Express entry-level streaming player and its wireless subwoofer (now called Roku Wireless Bass). In addition to The Buzz, Roku OS 11.5 will add two “significant updates” to its What to Watch feature — a Continue Watching option and an expanded platform-wide Save List — along with updates to Roku Voice, expanding Bluetooth private listening to be compatible with the Roku Ultra, Roku Streambar and Roku Streambar Pro; the addition of categories to the Live TV Channel Guide and a redesigned, “more visual” Roku Store section.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Game Show Network was removed from the lineups of Dish Network’s satellite TV and Sling TV streaming services late Tuesday, after the parties failed to reach a renewal agreement. “@dish and @Sling cancelled Game Show Network!” the network tweeted late Tuesday. “At Game Show Network we are working hard to make Game Show Network available to you again.” The tweet directed viewers to gameshownetwork.com/dish with information about how to contact Dish and switch providers. Dish claimed that after “months of working with Game Show Network to reach a fair agreement, they have done an about-face and forced a programming blackout on Dish and Sling customers.” The company said it “remains open to working with Game Show Network to reach a fair agreement and hopes to restore the channel soon.”

Ben Stiller and Sean Penn are among 25 Americans who are permanently banned from entering Russia.

blacklist of 25 people, Senators Rick Scott, Mark Kelley, Pat Toomey, Kevin Kramer and Krysten Sinema were also barred from the countryThis isn’t the only thing the actors have in common, however, as both Penn and Stiller made trips to Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year.Penn traveled to Ukraine to capture the crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for a Vice documentary and had a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Chris Cuomo also joined the actor in Ukraine in June as Penn worked on a “film showing the reality and helping the hurting with relief org CORE,” according to Cuomo’s Instagram.

Sean Penn and Ben Stiller today were among 25 “high-ranking officials, representatives of the business and expert communities, as well as cultural figures” banned from Russia today by that country’s foreign ministry.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer (SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Solaricks,” the Season 6 premiere of “Rick and Morty.”) “Rick and Morty” kicked off its sixth season with an even bigger reveal than it dropped in its fifth season finale: Rick Sanchez is not Morty’s grandfather — at least this Rick (C-137) is not this Morty’s grandfather. Due to an accidental “reset” in portal travelers on the Season 6 opener, “Solaricks,” rather than Rick’s intended reset of port travel after the collapse of the Citadel and Evil Morty’s escape through the Central Finite Curve blew it all to hell in the Season 5 finale, Rick, Morty and Jerry were each pulled back into their original worlds/realities.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “Rick and Morty” returns to Adult Swim this week, and a lot has changed in the multiverse since the Season 5’s cliffhanger ending. Evil Morty has escaped the Finite Curve before its ultimate destruction, meaning Rick is no longer the smartest being in the universe.

Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon has revealed plans to release a new season of the show every year.Ahead of the show’s sixth season, Harmon discussed the future of Rick and Morty in an interview with TheWrap.“This is the strangest thing I’ve ever said about the show and it still feels unreal to say it, but we’ll be doing a season a year now,” Harmon said.“I still don’t understand how that’s possible. But that’s why it never happened on my watch.

“Rick and Morty” fans were happy to learn in 2018 that the beloved animated series had been renewed for an additional 70 episodes, but now as creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon are about halfway through that mammoth order, how are they feeling about the longevity of the series? Optimistic would be an understatement.“I think the show could run forever,” Roiland told TheWrap during a recent interview about the upcoming sixth season. “The show could run as long as we want it to.”Harmon concurred in a separate interview, saying theoretically “Rick and Morty” could continue on for 1000 episodes — his ideal number for a good TV show.“As far as the longevity of the show, to me, it just feels infinite.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor More than 10 years after its debut, the official music video for “We Are Young,” the chart-topping hit by Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe, has surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube. The milestone marks both artists’ first entry into YouTube’s Billion Views Club. The music video, directed by Marc Klasfeld, was shot at L.A.’s David Sukonick Concert Hall. The four-minute, 12-second video shows Fun. performing in a nightclub — before a slow-motion riot breaks out among the bar’s patrons. It features an appearance by Monáe, who sings opposite Fun. frontman Nate Ruess on the song’s bridge (with the refrain “Carry me home tonight / Just carry me home tonight”).

Rick And Morty season six have just been released.New episodes of the beloved series premiere on Adult Swim on September 4 and will be simulcast on E4 and All4 on September 5.Slash Film praised the “hilarious frivolity” of the first two new episodes, adding: “As it stands, Rick And Morty is one of the most uproariously hilarious animated comedies around, and the show’s sixth season is only more evidence to support that status.”Both ComicBook and Consequence said there was little new surprise in the new episodes, with the latter saying the episodes are “up to the same standard of the show’s recent output.”To the same point, ComicBook said that “while the premiere of Rick And Morty Season 6 may not reinvent the wheel, it is a masterful mix of the series’ most pleasing fan-service element.”A change in pace was appreciated by Decider, who praised the “snappier, action-heavy adventure” in ‘Solaricks’.The review added: “Diehard fans who have repeatedly rewatched this show can feel rewarded by the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them nods to past adventures.

Ethan Shanfeld After being slapped by Will Smith onstage at the Oscars, Chris Rock says the Academy has asked him to host next year’s award ceremony. Performing a show in Phoenix on Aug. 28, Rock told the crowd that he turned down the offer, per The Arizona Republic. The comedian apparently joked that his return to the Oscars would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to go back to the restaurant,” a reference to the murder trial of O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, who left her glasses at an Italian restaurant before being killed. Throughout his 90-minute stand-up comedy show, Rock said the Oscars slap hurt, noting that Smith played boxer Muhammad Ali in the 2001 movie “Ali.”

Chris Rock will not be returning to the Academy Awards as a host. During the comedian’s Sunday night show in Phoenix, Rock shared with the audience that he was asked to host next year’s Oscar Awards ceremony, which he denied, according to the Arizona Republic. Rock, 57, made a joke to the crowd and compared returning to the Academy Awards to Nicole Brown Simpson’s death.

Arizona Republic, the “Everybody Hates Chris” alum told the crowd that going back to the Oscars would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to go back to the restaurant” where she left her eyeglasses before she killed, in a reference to the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in the case. His rejected hosting duties would’ve come a year after Will Smith, 53, walked on stage on March 27 and slapped him at the Academy Awards for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, about looking like “G.I.

Chris Rock to be emceeing the Oscars anytime soon. According to multiple eyewitness, Rock revealed during his Sunday night show in Phoenix, that he was asked to host next year's show, but refused.As many will remember, it was at the 2022 Academy Awards that Will Smith slapped Rock in the face after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith before presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature. «Chris Rock said he was asked to host next year's Academy Awards at his Sunday night show at Arizona Financial Theatre, and that he refused the offer,» the eyewitness shared. «He also noted that he was offered the chance to do a Super Bowl commercial that he also declined.»Eyewitnesses also told ET that Rock compared hosting the Oscars to returning to the scene of a crime, referencing the murder trial of O.J.

Gamescom 2022, a new hybrid rhythm-fighting game was announced in the form of God Of Rock.God of Rock will see the universe’s “greatest musicians” competing against one another in rhythmic fashion to secure the title of musical supremacy in a game that feels part Guitar Hero, part Street Fighter.Rhythm-based gameplay combines with fighting game mechanics in 1v1 matches, with a dozen unique fighters to choose from. Each fighter has their own design, attack style and mechanics to familiarise yourself with, as well as building up a “meter” by hitting normal moves accurately to the beat of the song.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Hideo Kojima, the renowned Japanese game creator behind hit titles “Death Stranding” and “Metal Gear,” will launch a weekly podcast exclusively on Spotify next month — covering a wide range of his favorite topics. “Hideo Kojima Presents Brain Structure,” premiering Sept. 8 on Spotify, will be released in both Japanese and English. According to Spotify, the new show “unravels the genius behind Kojima’s ideas and creative thinking.” The podcast will feature talk-show-style discussions on topics like games, movies, books, art, philosophy and the social landscape. Guests who will periodically join Kojima on the show will include both local and global leaders as well as top creators from business, technology and entertainment.