Smiling Friends Will End After Season 3, Creators Say
The animated series smiling friends will conclude after its third season, creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel announced in a video posted to Adult Swim’s X account. The decision follows the pair saying they felt burned out after years of work and that they preferred to finish while still invested.
Smiling Friends Creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel Explain Decision
In the video, Hadel opened bluntly: “I’m gonna cut right to the chase. This is not a bit, this is not a joke. ” Both he and Cusack said the choice to end the show was theirs. Cusack described a mix of exhaustion and accomplishment after completing Season 3, saying the two had reached a point where they felt ready to stop. Hadel said they had aimed from the start to give the series “110%” and preferred to leave the audience wanting more rather than continuing half-heartedly.
Adult Swim Support and Possible Return
Cusack said Adult Swim has been supportive of their decision and that the network told them they would not be prevented from taking a break. He relayed that the message they received amounted to permission to step away and come back later if they chose, leaving the door open for future episodes but not committing to more work now.
Two Unreleased Season 3 Episodes to Air April 12 on Adult Swim
The creators announced that two unreleased Season 3 episodes will air April 12 on Adult Swim. Hadel clarified these installments are “not finales” but rather “little stragglers” that did not make the initial season rollout. The scheduling of these episodes is the most immediate, concrete action tied to the show’s wind-down.
Cause and Effect: Burnout Leads to Ending
The sequence of events is direct: after completing another season of work, Cusack and Hadel felt burnt out, which prompted them to conclude the series. The creators framed the decision as an attempt to preserve creative standards—Hadel warned against producing more seasons “half-hearted or burnt out” and emphasized that doing so would be unfair to both the creators and the audience. The result is a finite series run that ends with Season 3, while leaving a slim chance of future revival if the creators change their minds.
Other Items Present in the Record: usatoday. com and IGN Notices
The available context also includes unrelated web notices: one states that usatoday. com displays a message that the reader’s browser is not supported and asks users to download a modern browser for the best experience; another is an IGN error labeled "Error 418 - I am a teapot, " followed by the line “Short and stout, this is my handle, this is my spout. ” These items are separate from the creators’ announcement and do not relate to the Smiling Friends schedule or creative decisions.
What makes this notable is the combination of a deliberate creative choice and explicit short-term follow-up: the creators are ending a series they believe they have given their best effort to, while still scheduling two leftover episodes for public broadcast on a fixed date. The timing matters because the April 12 airing offers an immediate closure point even as the door remains ajar for any future revival the creators might elect to pursue.
Cusack and Hadel closed by acknowledging the difficulty of the announcement and expressing gratitude for the fans. They emphasized that the ending was their decision, framed by years of work and a desire to preserve the show’s quality rather than extend it indefinitely.
