What date did "The Rickshank Rickdemption" first air unannounced on Adult Swim?

“The Rickshank Rickdemption” first aired unannounced on Adult Swim on April 1, 2017.

The surprise broadcast was the season-three premiere of Rick and Morty and arrived without the usual promotional buildup. Adult Swim used the unexpected debut as an April Fools’ Day stunt, catching viewers off guard while the network interrupted its scheduled programming.

The episode was shown repeatedly every half-hour from 8 p.m. to midnight Eastern Time. Its story follows Rick’s escape from a Galactic Federation prison and revisits major plot threads involving the Citadel of Ricks, Birdperson, and the Cronenberg universe.

A common mix-up is confusing the surprise premiere with the later regular-season rollout. The episode’s initial broadcast date was April 1, 2017, while subsequent airings and the rest of season three followed a conventional schedule. Its title also deliberately echoes The Shawshank Redemption.