Dec. 15, 2025

Rerecording: The Short Version

Send us a text We race through a packed slate: Star Wars returns to theaters for its 50th, a new Old Republic game teases a distant horizon, Dogma escapes rights limbo, Disney bets big on AI, Netflix moves for Warner Bros Discovery, and we honor Jim Ward, Jeff Garcia, and Rob Reiner. Fast news, sharp context, and a candid closer on what this all means for fans and creators. • Star Wars 50th anniversary theatrical restoration and why it matters • New narrative-driven Star Wars game announceme...

Send us a text

We race through a packed slate: Star Wars returns to theaters for its 50th, a new Old Republic game teases a distant horizon, Dogma escapes rights limbo, Disney bets big on AI, Netflix moves for Warner Bros Discovery, and we honor Jim Ward, Jeff Garcia, and Rob Reiner. Fast news, sharp context, and a candid closer on what this all means for fans and creators.

• Star Wars 50th anniversary theatrical restoration and why it matters
• New narrative-driven Star Wars game announcement and long timeline
• Dogma 4K release and Kevin Smith project updates
• Disney’s $1B OpenAI deal and Sora-powered fan video
• Netflix to acquire Warner Bros Discovery and market impact
• Tributes to Jim Ward and Jeff Garcia’s voice acting legacies
• Rob Reiner’s reported death and career overview
• Show wrap with links, socials, and support options

Please be sure to check us on social media. We're on Blue Sky at Multiverse Tom, Threads, Facebook, and Instagram as well at Multiverse Tonight. If you've gotten some value out of the show and would like to pay it back, head on over to the Multiverse Tonight. Regularly find our Patreon and Kofi links, check out our show notes, visit our Tee Public store, and so much more. Head on over to Multiverse Tonight and give us some feedback while you're on this video. Hit that subscribe button, share us with others.

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Thanks for listening! Come visit the podcast at https://www.multiversetonight.com/

00:00 - Cold Open: Headlines At Warp

00:19 - Welcome And Show Setup

01:05 - Star Wars 50th Theatrical Return

02:04 - New Star Wars Game Revealed

02:42 - Marvel And Release Date Notes

03:16 - Dogma 4K And Kevin Smith Updates

05:06 - Disney’s Billion-Dollar AI Partnership

06:25 - Netflix To Acquire Warner Bros Discovery

07:40 - Remembering Jim Ward

09:21 - Remembering Jeff Garcia

10:36 - Rob Reiner Death Report And Career

13:45 - Wrap-Up, Socials, And Support

WEBVTT

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Tonight, the original Star Wars returns, Dogma returns, Netflix once Warner Brothers, and we remember voice actors Jim Ward, Jeff Garcia, and the legendary actor, director, writer, producer, Rob Ryder.

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All then more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight.

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Welcome to Multiverse Tonight, your source for Geek News.

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We dissect films, games, comics, and much more, bringing you entitled commentary on Pop Public.

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This is Multiverse Tonight.

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Now here's your host, Thomas Townley.

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Hello, folks, and welcome to this edition of Multiverse Tonight.

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I'm of course your host, Thomas Townley.

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And if you're watching the video, you might notice over my shoulder that it says 5 18 p.m.

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Yeah, I've basically spent all afternoon trying to track down a problem here.

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So, and I've already recorded this once.

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So instead of you know going through the whole thing again, which took about 30 minutes, I'm gonna try to speed read my uh my show.

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So let's go on with the Star Wars news.

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To mark the 50th anniversary of s of the original Star Wars coming out in theaters in 1977, the uh film will be presenting a newly restored version, ensuring that the cinematic experience is fresh and impactful as it was five decades ago.

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The classic movie, initially released as simply Star Wars and later retelled Star Wars and New Hope, will uh to uh schedule to return to theaters everywhere, giving fans, both old and new, a chance to see where it belongs.

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The special engagement is set to begin on February 19th, 2027.

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If you'd like to buy me my cryp my my birthday present, now's the time.

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Uh kicking off the anniversary festive festivities and allowing audiences worldwide to once again witness the tale of the Fire and Boy, the Princess's scoundrel, and the two androids changing the fate of a galaxy.

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Uh there'll be other celebrations uh that year as well, and we'll find those out later.

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On to next one.

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Star Wars Faith of the Old Republic was unveiled at the 2025 Game Awards.

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Now, this game, uh developed in partnership with Lucasfilm Games, comes from a Arcanaut Studios as described as a narrative-driven single-player action RPG where players take on the role of Force User in the Galaxy on the Brink of Change.

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Which when isn't the Star Wars Galaxy on the Brink of Change?

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Um now they're very happy to be working on this game, but uh don't hold your don't hold your breath yet.

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This game will not be out for quite some time, think 2030s.

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Now let's go on to the Marvel news.

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In anticipation of Adventures Doomsday set for December 18th.

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Also being released around that time, and August 7th will be star will be Supertroopers 3, which uh will be the same as Super Troopers 2, 1 and 2.

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There you go.

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Let's go on to the Geek News.

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Dogma, the Kevin Smith uh movie about uh Catholicism, has been re-released on 4K Blu-ray.

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Now uh this has been a long time coming, of course.

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Uh the film was held hostage by the wine by Harvey Weinstein, who owned Miramax, who was company controlled Miramax.

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So uh luckily a company a company stepped in and has gotten it back for them.

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So the first ever Blu-ray from Lions Gate was released, as well as a short term a short run in theaters, as well, and a parents of the can film festival.

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Now there's uh other the other uh things in the works for Kevin Smith, including uh Twilight of the Mulra of the Mulrats, which is still it's been blocked for 10 years, so uh it's it coming to fruition is neither here nor there.

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So we'll just have to wait to see.

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Uh Jane Bob, Jane Silent Bob's Star Wars, the third film was supposed to shoot earlier this year, but was derailed due to financing being withdrawn.

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So uh hopefully he'll get that shot next year with new funding.

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He uh took it personally, saying that he felt responsible for not being financially successful enough to uh have to fund his own art.

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And also, he's back on the cannabis.

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So uh get ready for more goofy uh skylarkings.

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Anyway, let's go on to our next story.

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Uh Disney has made a significant commitment to artificial intelligence, securing the most noble collaboration between a Hollywood studio and an AI company to date.

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This move signals Disney's acceptance of AI.

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Now, uh, this was an investment in uh open of$1 billion in OpenAI.

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The deal establishes Disney as a major customer, intending to use OpenAI's tool technology to develop new project products, tools, and experiences, including for Disney Plus and deploy Chat GPT for employees.

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Now, uh the biggest part of this is opting into their Sora 2, which uh Disney is opting in becoming the first major content licensing partner.

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The deal permits Sora users to create personalized short-form fan video using text prompts and a vast selection of Disney Marvel and Lucasfilm characters, including those from Frozen Star Wars, Captain America, Yoda, etc., etc., etc.

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Now, a selection of those videos are expected to stream with Disney Plus.

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Now, both companies have affirmed the commitment to protecting creators and maintaining robust controls against illegal and harmful content.

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In other words, you're not gonna get uh X-rated content or even R-rated content from these, most likely.

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So, you know, use your time wisely, folks.

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And uh so they're very happy with this.

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Let's go on to the next story.

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Netflix and Warner Brothers have announced a agreement where Netflix will buy Warner Brothers, including the film intelligence studios, the HBO Max and HBO.

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Uh, this was worth about$82.7 billion for the enterprise value and$72 billion for the equity.

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This announcement is uh alongside a competing bid from Paramount Skydance, which is more of a hostile takeover.

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And uh they'll put that to shareholders.

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Now the cash and stock transactions are valuing WBD shares at$27.75 per share.

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Uh the completion of the deal is cut is uh conditional, and the spinoff is currently projected to be for Discovery Global Networks, would be third quarter of 2026, with the subsequent close of this deal in 12 to 18 months.

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Request with WBD shareholders and regulatory clearances, which there's already you know balk balking at from all sorts.

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Uh everyone seems to be against this.

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Frankly, I like I would rather Netflix have it than Paramount at this point.

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And with that, let's uh head on over to our final bit of news.

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Jim Ward, the hugely talented Emmy Award-winning voice actor and master impressionist, passed away at the age of 66.

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Known for versatile roles in countless animated projects, including the Fairly Odd Parents and the Ratchin Clank series.

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Ward died on Wednesday at a memory care facility in Los Angeles following an eight-year battle with Alzheimer's.

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With uh over 320 acting credits in IMDB, Ward's voice was a staple in pop culture.

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For Nick Lodine, he did Fairly Odd Parents and uh in gaming and franchise roles from 2002 to 2001.

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He did Captain Quark for the Ratchet Game, Rat Ratchet and Clank game series, including video game, the 2016 feature film.

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He also played C3PO in Star Wars Director of Video Films and Video Games and was Commissioner Gordon in Batman videos.

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For Cartoon Network, he voiced Velociraptor XLR8 and the Alien Diamond Head on the Ben 10 series.

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For Disney Universal, he worked on films like Mulan, Chia Cars, Toy Story 3, Monsters University, Inside Out.

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And for Universal, he did the Despicle Me Films and 2018's The Grinch.

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He received a daytime Emmy for his role of Stoker on the remake of the Fox Kids series Biker Mice from Mars.

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He was born in San Francisco and raised in Sherman Oaks and did improvisations growing up, and so that in high school he became well known for his impressions.

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He graduated from UCLA where his father taught German.

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His first job out of college was uh entertaining guests with impressions and jokes as a tour guide for Universal Studios, where he formed a two-man comedy act with a fellow tour guide.

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He did a perfect impression of William Daniels' kit from Night Rider, which led to him duplicating the voice on two episodes of Different Strokes in 1994.

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For 20 years, until Alzheimer's began affecting award, co-hosted and performed Impressions on the Syntcad radio program, the Stephanie Miller Show, a man of May talents, he spoke fluent German and played guitar and harmonica.

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He also did live action roles in Ellen Becker E.R.

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Alias, and according to Jim, and Star Trek fans may remember him from a memorable set of 7-Eleven commercials where he played a hyper fan doing uh character character imitations.

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He uh survived by his wife, Janice Ryan Ward, and his mother Mary Lou, his sister Natalie.

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Jim Ward, the hugely talented Emmy Award-winning voice actor and master impressionist, passed away at the age of 66.

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Now, voice actor and comedian Jeff Garcia, widely known for the voice of Sheen Estevan in the Nickelodeon series Jimmy Neutron, died at the age of 55.

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According to family members, he died early Wednesday morning and was taken off life support at a Southern California hospital.

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The exact cause of death is not known.

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He was born May 3rd, 1975, in Irving, California, and his career began in 1991 as a stand-up comedian.

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He transitioned into acting in 1995, and his work spanned decades in both voice acting and live-action roles.

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His breakout role was Sheen Estevez in Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, and Plant Sheen, as well as the 2005 TV movie Jimmy Neutron, Attack of the Twonks.

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His other noble roles include Pip the Mouse on the film Boanyard and his subsequent series Back to the Boy Boneyard.

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He also did work in Rio, Rio 2, and Happy Feet.

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He also guest starred on MTV's Clone High.

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Jeff Garcia is survived by his son Joseph and his daughter Savannah.

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Again, Jessica Garcia has died at the age of 50.

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And finally, tonight.

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Rob Reiner, a famed director and all in the family star, died at 80 78 due to an apparent homicide.

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Rob Reiner, who transitioned from his acting role as meathead on All in the Family to a highly successful career, directing films such as Does a Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally, and A Few Good Men was found dead on Sunday afternoon as Brent went home.

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He was 78.

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His wife, Michelle Singer, was found deceased alongside him.

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The deaths are being reported as a homicide, with reportedly his son committing the murder.

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Allegedly.

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The son of renowned comedian Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, first gained prominence on All in the Family, playing liberal son-in-law to Carol O'Connor's big dead Archie Bunker for nine seasons.

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He earned Emmys for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy in 1974 and 1978.

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After working on a writer on shows like the Smithson Brothers Comedy Hour and Happy Days, Reiner moved to the big screen as director, writer, and co-star at the cherished mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap.

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Over the next decade, Reiner demonstrated his versatility with a string of popular and critically acclaimed films, such as Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, and others.

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He co-founded the production company Castle Rock Entertainment in 1987, serving as a producer on most of the films from that point on.

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Castle Rock also released several of his hits and other successful films like In the Line of Fire, before being acquired by Turner Broadcasting in 1993.

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While his later directoral projects, such as the Birth Suite 2007 comedy The Bucket List, were eclectic, they seldom achieved commercial success of his earlier work.

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His final film was the sequel Spinal Tap 2, The End Continues.

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He also directed the 2023 documentary, Albert Brooks Defending My Life.

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He became one of Hollywood's most outspoken political activists and a prominent progressive voice.

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He was an ardent supporter of Democratic causes and an opponent of Donald Trump and active in several California ballot measures.

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Born March 6, 1947, in the Bronx, New York, Reiner was raised in Hollywood.

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He attended UCLA film school and took small roles in various TV shows before landing the role in On the Family.

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Here is a little bit of trivia for you.

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He was selected over the up for the role over Richard Dreyfus and Harrison Ford.

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Reiner and his wife are survived by their children, Jack, Nick, and Romy.

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He was also the adapted daughter of actress Tracy Reiner, the daughter of his first wife, the late actress and director Penny Marshall.

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Rob Reiner, director and all-in-the-family star, dead at 78.

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He's only mostly dead.

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And now that brings us to the end of our show for today.

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Please be sure to check us on social media.

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We're on Blue Sky at Multiverse Tom, Threads, Facebook, and Instagram as well at Multiverse Tonight.

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If you've gotten some value out of the show and would like to pay it back, head on over to the Multiverse Tonight.

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Regularly find our Patreon and Kofi links, check out our show notes, visit our Tee Public store, and so much more.

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Now, if you'd like to leave some feedback as well, and if this is your first time listening, thank you very much.

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Head on over to Multiverse Tonight and uh give us some feedback uh while you're on this video.

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Hit that subscribe button, share us with others.

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Now, thanks to Hot Dope for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music.

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Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight.

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We'll be back in two weeks with more sci-fi and comic book news.

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Now, please exit the universe in an orderly fashion.

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Good night.

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Multiverse Tonight is production.

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I'm bigger than copyright 2025.

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Alright, these are