April Fools' Day can be bad news for a lot of people who aren't lovers of pranks, but Rick and Morty fans got the best kind of surprise on April 1 with the unexpected premiere of the long-awaited Season 3. Only the first episode of Season 3 aired, however, with no indication of when we can expect the rest of the season. Now, we have our answer. Adult Swim has officially announced that all-new episodes of Rick and Morty will come to the small screen later this summer.
Adult Swim debuted the first episode of Season 3 without making any kind of announcement to its fanbase. The episode simply started on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on Adult Swim, then continued playing in a loop all the way to midnight. It was also available streaming, and is currently still available streaming as part of the massive Rick and Morty marathon on the Adult Swim website. Every episode is airing, including the Season 3 premiere.
The news that we'll have to wait until summer for the rest of Season 3 to kick off will undoubtedly be a bummer to any fans who were hoping that the surprise April 1 season premiere meant that weekly episodes were going to be kicking off, but considering that Season 2 ended way back in October 2015, I'd say that we can probably make it a few more months. Besides, Adult Swim isn't making it hard for us to rewatch the premiere. In addition to the April 1 loop and the website streaming option, the first episode of Season 3 will re-air every night this week at 10 p.m. ET.
The unexpected April Fools' release isn't the first time that Adult Swim has pranked Rick and Morty fans, but it was almost certainly the most satisfying. Even McDonald's got in on the excitement after the episode made a shoutout to the Mulan-era Szechuan Teriyaki McNuggets dipping sauce. Hopefully Adult Swim will soon announce an exact date for the rest of Season 3 to debut. As great as it was to see the first episode, it will be even better once we know when to prepare ourselves for more new episodes.
Of course, "summer" is kind of a broad span of time. Season 2 of Rick and Morty hit the airwaves in the end of July 2015, so it's possible that Season 3 will return around the same time. We'll have to wait and see.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news. Check out our midseason TV premiere guide for a peek at all your current viewing options and our summer TV premiere schedule for a look at all the summer series that already have debut dates set, and be sure to drop by our rundown of all the 2017 TV renewals and cancellations so far. If streaming is more your style, our 2017 Netflix premiere schedule is the place for you.
