Smiling Friends Is Over: Adult Swim's Beloved Series Ends After Season 3 Despite Seasons 4 and 5 Renewal
Smiling Friends is ending. Creators and stars Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack posted a video to Adult Swim's official X account on Wednesday, February 26, 2026 ET, confirming that the beloved animated Adult Swim series will conclude after its third season — despite having previously been renewed for two additional seasons. The announcement sent shockwaves through the animation community and left millions of fans devastated.
Smiling Friends Season 3 Is the Final Chapter — Season 4 Is Not Happening
The decision to end Smiling Friends wasn't made by the network — Hadel and Cusack chose to conclude the series themselves after years of nonstop work because they felt creatively exhausted and wanted to preserve the show's quality rather than stretch it out. The announcement was immediate and unambiguous.
"I'm gonna cut right to the chase," Hadel opened. "This is not a bit, this is not a joke. Michael and I are here to announce that Smiling Friends will be ending after Season 3 is done." The message was delivered without fanfare and without sugarcoating — exactly in line with the duo's famously direct creative personality.
Why Smiling Friends Is Ending: Burnout and Creative Accomplishment
"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," Cusack explained. "We just came to this feeling where we were like, 'I think that could just be it,' after Season 3."
Hadel was equally direct about what a compromised continuation would look like. "We wouldn't want to be doing more seasons half-hearted or burnt out or not feeling it. That's not fair to us, and it's not fair to the audience to give you guys slop," he told fans. The pair described the Smiling Friends creative process as uniquely hands-on — both serve as writers, directors, animators, and voice actors simultaneously.
Adult Swim Ending Was the Creators' Call — Network Fully Supported It
Adult Swim supported their choice. According to the creators, network executives did not pressure them to continue and indicated that the door would remain open should they wish to revisit the Smiling Friends series in the future. The network issued its own statement in response to the announcement.
"Everyone at Adult Swim is incredibly proud of what Michael and Zach built and grateful for the bold, boundary-pushing vision behind Smiling Friends. Adult Swim has always been a creator-driven network, and Smiling Friends simply wouldn't exist without the singular vision and ambitious creativity of its co-creators. Like fans, we are sad to see this series come to an end," the network said.
Two Final Smiling Friends Episodes Air April 12 on Adult Swim
Two "straggler" episodes, which were completed during the Season 3 production cycle, are scheduled to air on April 12, 2026 at 11:00 PM ET on Adult Swim. Hadel described these as "little rogue planets" that are not intended to serve as grand finales but are part of the total 10-episode count for the third season.
Season 3, the show's final main chapter, premiered October 5, 2025, on Adult Swim at 11:30 PM ET, with next-day streaming on Max, featuring eight episodes through November 30, 2025. The April 12 airing will mark the absolute final Smiling Friends content — for now, at least.
Smiling Friends Season 4 and Season 5 Were Already Announced Before the Reversal
Despite the additional two-season renewal, Hadel and Cusack announced on February 25, 2026 that the show would end after its third season. They attributed the series' abrupt conclusion to burnout and a shared feeling that the show had run its natural course, though they did not rule out the possibility of returning in the future.
Cusack previously referenced The Beatles as a creative philosophy — that ending on a peak, like Abbey Road, creates a tighter, more perfect body of work than dragging a show past its best years. "Leaving the audience wanting more is the best," he said. The duo also announced they have launched Zam Studios, a new Los Angeles-based independent animation studio, where they will continue collaborating on future projects outside of Smiling Friends.
