If you guys don’t know what Smiling Friends is, and why I am upset right now, allow me to explain. Smiling Friends is an adult animated sitcom that premiered on Adult Swim on April Fool’s Day, 2020. It’s the brainchild of Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel, two animators who got their start doing stuff on Newgrounds and YouTube, which is how they met and became friends. In addition, Michael also has some prior history with adult animation, having created a special episode of Rick and Morty and creating the shows Koala Man and YOLO. Smiling Friends, though, is by far the pair’s greatest creation to date, and if you’ve seen it, it’s not hard to see why.
If you haven’t seen it, though, here’s a quick rundown!
Smiling Friends are So Funny
Smiling Friends is set on a fictional version of Earth populated by both regular humans, talking animals, sci-fi and mystical creatures, and critters. The show primarily revolves around the titular Smiling Friends, a charity group run by the eccentric Mr. Boss and consisting of four employees, Charlie, Pim, Glep, and Alan. Their job is to make clients who hire them smile by helping them with whatever problems they’re dealing with, which is what Charlie and Pim go out and do. The problem is that the problems their clients face are often too complicated for them to fix. It doesn’t help that the pair, voiced by Zach and Michael each, have different ideas on how to help. Pim is the upbeat optimist who wants everyone to feel happy, while Charlie is the grounded cynic who’s ready to bail on a lost cause when he sees it. And the thing is that neither of them are ever wholly right, with the show deconstructing both their mindsets.
At any rate, the world of Smiling Friends is, in a word, nuts. Michael and Zack seem to have taken a page from the playbook of The Amazing World of Gumball and Roger Rabbit, because the cast is made up of characters animated in all kinds of styles. From traditional 2D to CGI to stop-motion; heck, there are even a few live-action characters! The coolest part, though, is the fact that Mike and Zach stay true to their roots, hiring fellow YouTubers to help them animate characters. They got some work experience and exposure, and the fans get to enjoy some cool animation.
I first discovered Smiling Friends two years ago when Adult Swim reanimated three of their episodes in different puppet forms as part of their annual April Fool’s Day prank. I quickly fell in love with the show, and made it a weekly ritual of reacting to each new episode on my own YouTube Channel. It reminded me of what Rick and Morty was like back in its heyday, and I quickly saw it as Adult Swim’s new flagship series. I thought that I would get to enjoy it for at least a few more years…but I was wrong!
Smiling Friends is Over
Late on February 25th, Michael and Zack dropped a big announcement on Adult Swim’s YouTube channel that shocked fans: they were ending Smiling Friends. They said that they were burnt out from working on this show for years, and that they wanted to move on to other projects. More importantly, they felt that it wasn’t right to tell fans that they were going on hiatus, and that it was better to rip the band-aid off. There were two more episodes that would air on April 12th, but that was it. After that, no more Smiling Friends…for now.
Right now, people are flooding social media with their own thoughts on the matter, and while some people understand and respect the creator’s decision to end things on their terms, there’s still a pervading sense of sadness. On an intellectual level, and a bit on an emotional level, I understand their decision and want to respect their integrity. On an emotional level though…I think they’re making a mistake.
Smiling Friends has only now managed to reach its peak in popularity, becoming a pop culture phenomenon the likes of which Adult Swim hasn’t seen since the heyday of Rick and Morty. The fanbase was growing bigger every day, and it was giving other Internet personalities the chance to show what they could do on TV. And despite what Zach and Michael think, I think that Smiling Friends still has enough left in the tank for another season or two. Worst of all, though, is the fact that this hurts me more than it should isn’t even Mike and Zach’s fault. It’s the fault of those above them.
I’m still not Over what Warner Bros did to Cartoons!
I have spent the last few years seeing some amazing shows get the axe before their time. Infinity Train, Inside Job, The Owl House. They were all robbed of more time, with The Owl House in particular losing the full third season it was promised. Michael and Zach were given two more seasons to do whatever they wanted, and they’re choosing to walk away. Even if it’s unintentional on their part, I can’t help but feel burned by their decision. Not to mention how this means the people who work on the show will have to find new jobs at a horrible time to be losing jobs. The announcement of Warner Bros and Paramount’s pending merger isn’t helping matters, either.
I honestly dont know how to feel about this. I understand how they want to end the series on a high note, but I do think that they have another season left in the tank before they hit empty. At the very least, I wish that we could have gotten an episode showing how Charlie and Pim joined the Smiling Friends. The upside is that Adult Swim says that they can come back whenever they want, but that may change. I just hope we dont have to wait long for their next project to come out. I need my fix from them!!
