‘Rick and Morty' Exec Producer Dan Harmon Is Already Thinking 2 Seasons Ahead
While fans of Rick and Morty have grown used to long wait times between seasons, executive producer and showrunner Scott Marder told io9 ahead of season eight that the team is now on a more regular schedule. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Dan Harmon elaborated on just what it feels like being on that schedule.
Currently, the show's cast is recording their parts for season nine, and season 10 is already being written. 'There's episodes of season 10 that I'm already so excited about, and that's a frustrating thing of being on schedule in animation: 'Can we fast-forward time so people can get a look at this bad boy?'' Harmon joked.
Being on a set schedule years in advance means Rick and Morty will never be able to pull a South Park and weave an entire episode around extremely current events. Harmon is OK with that, he said, and he hopes fans are too.
'I don't know if that's sad for the [viewers] to hear. They're like, 'Why are you three years ahead?' That means that you're not going to get that amazing [Jeffrey] Epstein episode. We're not going to have hot-topic stuff. We stay timeless.'
There's no premiere date yet for season nine of Rick and Morty or its newly announced spin-off series President Curtis—but 2026 seems likely for at least one if not both of those.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
I've gone viral for modeling Depend adult diapers. Now women who use them are reaching out.
"I'm the Depends lady as far as I'm concerned." Some models do the catwalk. Others do catalogs. You'll find Alyssa Alexander's work in the personal care aisle of your local drugstore. As the face (and, erm, bottom) of Depend underwear size XL, Alexander has been 'making adult diapers look good' since 2023. Thanks to a viral Instagram Reel she shared as part of the #holyfknairball social media trend, everybody knows about her gig posing for the incontinence product's packaging. Alexander wouldn't have it any other way, she tells Yahoo's Kerry Justich. Here, she shares in her own words why she's proud to represent a product that's so often stigmatized — and how she ended up modeling absorbent undies in the first place. I started [modeling] back in 2014, when I was 26 years old. I'm only 5 foot 6, and I've always been on the borderline of straight- and plus-size, so I never thought there was room for me in the industry as a shorter, curvier girl. I had a friend who was starting a photography business and was like, 'Hey, will you model for me? I want to take some photos of you.' And I was like, 'OK, I guess I'll try it.' Once the photos were posted, everyone's like, 'Oh, you're a natural at this, and you're inspiring me to have confidence at my shape or size.' Models like Ashley Graham and Hunter McGrady were also starting to pave the way for more representation. I just started using that as fuel to keep growing and keep seeing where I could take it. I was living in Kentucky at the time, where I'm originally from, and I just decided to take the leap. So I moved to Los Angeles to see if I could make a career out of this. And Los Angeles treated me well. At first, you think modeling is all about fashion and clothing. Then you come to realize that there are all these other lifestyle products out there, things that people are using or buying that need bodies to model them. Average-size women are between a size 10 and 16 these days, so I'm basically an average-size consumer of these products. Doing a deal with Depend [The brand did] a nationwide search, so they weren't able to call everybody in to see them in person in the underwear. They actually had us go out and buy a package of Depend to try on because they wanted to see how it looked on. They were looking for a particular model for each size; I just happened to fit their extra-large. They booked me, and we shot it in late 2022 in New York. Out of all of the shoots that I've done in this industry for 10 years now, this was one of my favorites. The team was mainly all women and so encouraging throughout the process. People think there's a lot of Photoshop that goes into the packaging, but they weren't allowed to use Photoshop. They had to make sure everything was looking great but also very realistic. There's no airbrushing out cellulite or anything like that. They're not even allowed to Photoshop creases in the Depends, which makes me laugh because they were sitting there ironing the Depends. The package first came out in the spring of 2023. around Mother's Day. I made a post saying [something like], 'Happy Mother's Day, Mom. You get to see me in diapers again.' Ever since then, it's been friends, family or followers sending me selfies every now and then when they see it [on shelves]. Recognizing its impact It's been two years since I saw the packages first arrive in stores, and I created a video on a whim, sharing the package using a viral trend. It's nothing that I'm trying to keep under wraps, but I did not expect what happened to happen. The video was crawling near a million views and some of the comments really, really touched me. These women were sharing their stories about [experiencing] heavy bleeding postpartum or from a surgery, ulcerative colitis and bowel issues, or going through cancer treatments and saying that seeing my face had made them feel more confident and more secure, like I helped them through these times, or I was with them on their journeys. … I heard from so many nurses and health care workers that they've memorized my face now because they're using [the underwear] on their patients. It's crazy, the amount of people that know my face. Until those comments started rolling in, I had no idea the reach and impact this had. I'm honestly floored by how many people, women especially, have been positively impacted by this. I think people walk down that [store] aisle thinking there's a stigma around [adult diapers], that it's gross. People were even confused as to why [the manufacturing company] Kimberly-Clark and Depend were putting a younger person on the package, but it makes total sense. It's normalizing that it's not just for old people who have bladder issues. There are so many other uses. I didn't even realize how many women just use them instead of tampons or pads on heavy [bleeding] days or to sleep in. I actually bought a package and tried them. And, yes, if you are a heavy bleeder at night, they are great. Just having these conversations and seeing those comments is also helping other people realize that it's OK to wear these. My future with Depend Normally, for this type of job, you have a session fee that you're paid for the day, but then there's also a usage fee for a certain amount of time that they're planning on using the packaging or the imaging. For this one, I believe it started at three years. So come next spring, they have to decide if they're still going to be using the same packaging and imaging, and they'll do what's called a renewal for another period of time. It could be another year; it could be another three years. I would love to continue this. Depend actually has commented and seen the video, so I'm hoping that the positivity that they're seeing in the feedback will help keep my image on the packaging for longer. If Depend ever decides to do more commercials or have a spokesperson, I am totally open to that. After seeing all of these positive comments and how this has impacted women, I'm like, let's keep the conversation going; let's keep normalizing this so people aren't weird about it. Now when people see that package, they know that's a real person. Hopefully they look at me as a genuine person who's there with them. … I'm the Depends lady as far as I'm concerned. This has been edited for length and clarity.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
FIRST ON CNN: Fighting early-stage Alzheimer's with intensive lifestyle changes works, study finds
As her memory faded from Alzheimer's disease in her late 50s, Tammy Maida began to lose track of her life. Car keys, eyeglasses and her purse disappeared multiple times a day. Key characters in novels she was reading were forgotten. Groceries were left in the garage. Keeping the books for the family's businesses became impossible. 'I honestly thought I was losing my mind, and the fear of losing my mind was frightening,' Maida told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the 2024 CNN documentary 'The Last Alzheimer's Patient.' After 20 weeks in a randomized clinical trial designed to drastically change her diet, exercise, stress levels and social interactions, Maida's cognition improved. She was able to read and recall novels and correctly balance spreadsheets again. A blood test even found levels of amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, were retreating in her brain, according to the study published in June 2024. 'I'm coming back. It was really good — like I was prior to the disease being diagnosed,' Maida, now 68, told a researcher on the study. 'An older but better version of me.' Maida's cognition showed additional improvement, however, after she completed a total of 40 weeks of intensive lifestyle changes, said principal investigator Dr. Dean Ornish, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and creator of the Ornish diet and lifestyle medicine program. Ornish gave a study update on Tuesday at the 2025 Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto. While not everyone in the 26-person interventional group benefited, 46% showed improvement in three of four standardized tests, he said, including one that measures changes in memory, judgment and problem-solving as well as the ability to function at home, practice hobbies and practice personal hygiene. 'An additional 37.5% of people showed no decline in cognition during those 40 weeks,' Ornish said. 'Thus, over 83% of patients improved or maintained their cognition during the five-month program.' The new findings mirrored those of other studies on lifestyle interventions, he said, including the recent US POINTER study, the largest clinical trial in the United States to test moderate lifestyle interventions over two years in people who are at risk but do not yet have Alzheimer's disease. 'Our study complements these findings by showing, for the first time, that more intensive lifestyle changes may often stop or even begin to reverse the decline in cognition in many of those who already have Alzheimer's disease, and these improvements often continue over a longer period of time,' Ornish told CNN. And unlike available medications for Alzheimer's, he added, lifestyle changes have no side effects, such as bleeding and swelling in the brain that may occur with the newest class of drugs. EmblemHealth, a New York-based insurance company, announced Tuesday that it will be the first health insurer to cover the Ornish lifestyle medicine program for patients who have early-stage Alzheimer's disease. 'Eat well, move more, stress less and love more' The lifestyle intervention Ornish created — which he calls 'eat well, move more, stress less and love more' — has been tested before. In 1990, Ornish showed for the first time in a randomized clinical trial that coronary artery disease could often be reversed with nothing more than diet, exercise, stress reduction and social support. The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, declared in 2010 that Ornish's program for reversing heart disease was an 'intensive cardiac rehabilitation' and that it would be eligible for reimbursement under Medicare. Additional research has shown the same four-part program can lower blood sugars and heart disease risk in patients with diabetes, reduce prostate cancer cell growth, improve depression and even lengthen telomeres, the protective caps of chromosomes that are worn away by aging. During the Ornish intervention, one group of people consumed a strict vegan diet, did daily aerobic exercise, practiced stress reduction and engaged in online support groups. The rest of the participants were in a control group and were asked to not make any changes in their daily habits. Therapists led hour-long group sessions three times a week in which participants were encouraged to share their feelings and ask for support. Meditation, deep breathing, yoga and other ways to reduce stress took up another hour every day. The program also encouraged participants to prioritize good-quality sleep. Supplements were provided to everyone in the intervention group, including a daily multivitamin, omega-3 fatty acids with curcumin, coenzyme Q10, vitamin C and B12, magnesium, a probiotic, and Lion's mane mushroom. In addition to online strength training led by a physical trainer, people in the intervention attended hour-long video classes on vegan nutrition hosted by a dietitian. Then, to ensure a vegan diet was followed, all meals and snacks for both participants and their partners were delivered to their homes. Complex carbs found in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, tofu, nuts and seeds made up most of the diet. Sugar, alcohol and refined carbs found in processed and ultraprocessed foods were taboo. While calories were unrestricted, protein and total fat made up only some 18% of the daily caloric intake — far less than the typical protein intake by the average American, Ornish said. Working harder pays off People in the intervention group who put the most effort into changing their lifestyle have the most improvement in their cognition, said Ornish, founder and president of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and coauthor of 'Undo It! How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases.' 'There was a statistically significant dose-response relationship between the degree of adherence to our lifestyle changes and the degree of improvement we saw on measures of cognition,' Ornish said. The 25 people in the study's original 20-week control group — who did not receive the intervention — had shown further cognitive decline during the program. They were later allowed to join the intervention for 40 weeks and significantly improved their cognitive scores during that time, Ornish said. It all makes sense, said co-senior study author Rudy Tanzi, an Alzheimer's researcher and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. 'If you picture a brain full of damage as a sink full of water, when you just turn off the tap, it takes a long time for that sink to slowly drain, right?' Tanzi told CNN in 2024. 'If you want the amyloid to go down in 20 weeks, as we found on one blood test, you're going to need a Roto-Rooter.' Additional blood testing may offer insights In the 2024 study, a blood test called plasma Aβ42/40 showed a significant improvement in the original intervention group. Aβ42/40 measures the level of amyloid in the blood, a key symptom of Alzheimer's. Tests that measure amyloid in different ways, however, did not show improvement, Dr. Suzanne Schindler, an associate professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who specializes in blood biomarkers told CNN at the time. There was no significant change in a test for amyloid called p-tau 181, considered to be a superior measure of Alzheimer's risk, said Schindler, who was not involved in the study. Nor was there any change in glial fibrillary acidic protein, or GFAP, another blood biomarker that seems to correlate reasonably well with Alzheimer's disease. 'If one of these markers improves, you typically see all of them improve, so the fact they did not makes me wonder whether this effect is real,' Schindler said. 'If they were to repeat the study with a much larger population for a longer period of time, perhaps more change could be seen.' Over the complete 40-week program, however, a number of people in the intervention group did continue to improve their Aβ42/40 scores, according to the study update. 'Changes in amyloid — as measured as the plasma Aβ42/40 ratio — occur before changes in tau markers such as p-tau 218, so this is not surprising after only 40 weeks,' Ornish said. For Ornish, who has watched members of his family die from Alzheimer's disease, the study's results are important for one key reason — hope. 'So often when people get a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's, they are told by their doctors that there is no future, 'It's only going to get worse, get your affairs in order.' That's horrible news and is almost self-fulfilling,' Ornish said. 'Our new findings empower patients who have early-stage Alzheimer's disease with the knowledge that if they make and maintain these intensive lifestyle changes, there is a reasonably good chance that they may slow the progression of the disease and often even improve it,' he said. 'Our study needs to be replicated with larger, more diverse groups of patients to make it more generalizable,' Ornish said. 'But the findings we reported today are giving many people new hope and new choices — and the only side effects are good ones.' Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Jason Momoa shaves for first time in 6 years ahead of 'Dune 3' return: 'Only for you, Denis'
"I hate it," the actor admits of his clean-shaven look. Jason Momoa is switching back into Dune mode. The Aquaman actor, who's known for his bushy beard, shared a video of himself buzzing off his facial hair, as he prepares to film the third installment of the franchise. As fans of the sci-fi movies know, Momoa looks quite different with a clean-shaven face. He, for one, is not a fan. "Goddammit it, I hate it!" Momoa said in his social media message. "It has been about six years — maybe a little bit more — since I did Dune." Momoa referenced his Oscar-nominated director, Denis Villeneuve, when he quipped, "Only for you, Denis!" Momoa played Duncan Idaho in 2021's Dune, in which he costarred with an A-list cast that included Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. He revealed in March that he would reprise the role in next year's Dune 3, despite the fact that his character was killed in the previous film. "If you didn't read the books, it's not my fault," he joked during an appearance on Today, referencing author Frank Herbert's novels on which the movies are based. In his post, Momoa also mentioned a development at his company Mananalu, which he founded in 2019 to "rid the world of single-use plastic bottles" in order to protect the planet. A subject Momoa, a native of Hawaii, is very passionate about. In December 2019, he called out fellow actor Chris Pratt who appeared to hold a single-use plastic water bottle in an ad for Amazon. Both voiced characters in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which was released that month. "Bro I love u but wtf on the water bottle," Momoa wrote on social media. "No single use plastic. Come on." Pratt responded positively. "Aquaman! You're completely right," Pratt responded. "Dammit. I always carry my big gallon size reusable water jug around with me too. I even had it that day!!! ... If I remember correctly somebody threw that plastic bottle to me in the photo shoot cause I didn't know what to do with my hands! I never know what to do with my hands! So uncomfortable. For real tho. Love you too buddy. My bad. I don't want your home of Atlantis covered in plastic. Hear that kids? Reduce. Reuse. Recycle." After that, Momoa apologized and promised to send the Guardians of the Galaxy actor a case of his water. "BRO you know my children and I are madly in love with you and I love everything you do," he wrote. "I'm sorry this was received so badly today I didn't mean for that to happen … I'm just very passionate about this single-use plastic epidemic. The plastic water bottles have to stop I hope u make a reusable water bottle for Amazon so we all can purchase. You're an inspiration to many I'm one of them." Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly Solve the daily Crossword
