The fact that Rick and Morty is opting to move away from “Interdimensional Cable” (while still retaining the fundamental DNA of that episodic structure) doesn’t necessarily surprise us.
Even the way he says it in the trailer above is without mirth.
Even the Season 2 incarnation of the episode made it abundantly clear that the folks behind the series begrudgingly decided to do it — with Rick blatantly lamenting that they nailed it the first time they did it.
With this new format, it looks like Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon, and the rest of the folks behind the show want to try and at least temporarily move away from the multiverse cable concept, while still adhering to the vignettes that made the “Interdimensional Cable” episodes so successful and fan-loved in the first place.