It’s a sad day for fans of Adult Swim’s animated series, Smiling Friends, which is coming to an end after its third season.
Showrunners and voice stars Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel made the official announcement in an audio message posted on Adult Swim’s social media accounts. “This is not a bit, this is not a joke,” said Hadel. “Michael and I are here to announce that Smiling Friends will be ending after Season 3 is done.”
Since it aired its first episode in 2020, Smiling Friends has amassed a loyal following of fans who’ve quickly become invested in Pim and Charlie, employees of the Smiling Friends corporation, as they try their best to make the miserable people around them happy.
Both Cusack and Hadel emphasized that it had been their decision to end the series, and that Adult Swim had been “very supportive” of their choice. “To be perfectly honest, after we finished Season 3, Zach and I just both had the same feeling where we felt pretty burnt out after putting years and years into this, but also pretty accomplished,” said Cusack. “We just came to this feeling where we were like, ‘I think that could just be it,’ after Season 3.”
“We wouldn’t want to be doing more seasons half-hearted or burnt out or not feeling it,” added Hadel. “That’s not fair to us, and it’s not fair to the audience to give you guys fucking slop. That sucks.”
The duo went on to announce that two more Season 3 episodes will air on April 12 on Adult Swim. Hadel clarified, however, that they would not be finales, but rather “little stragglers” that went unreleased in the initial season rollout.
Cusack and Hadel concluded by urging others to hire the Smiling Friends production crew and by reassuring fans that this would not be the last time they’d work together.
