Smiling Friends Creators Say Series Will End After Season 3
Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel announced that smiling friends will end after its third season, saying they feel burned out but accomplished and that two unreleased Season 3 episodes will air April 12 at 11 p. m. ET.
Creators made the announcement in a video posted to Adult Swim’s X account
In a video posted to Adult Swim’s X account, Hadel began, “I’m gonna cut right to the chase, ” and said, “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. ” Cusack added that after finishing Season 3 the pair both felt “pretty burnt out after putting years and years into this, but also pretty accomplished, ” and that they’d come to the conclusion: “I think that could just be it. ”
Why the creators chose to stop now
Hadel said from the start they wanted to give the show “110%” and “go out on top, ” arguing it was better to leave fans “wanting more” than to keep producing work they weren’t proud of. He put it bluntly: they would not want to continue with more seasons “half‑hearted or burnt out” because “it’s not fair to us, and it’s not fair to the audience to give you guys fucking slop. ” Cusack called the decision “our decision” and said Adult Swim had been “very supportive. ”
Two final Season 3 episodes scheduled for April 12 at 11 p. m. ET
The creators said two unreleased Season 3 episodes will air April 12 at 11 p. m. ET on Adult Swim. Hadel clarified that the installments are not intended as series finales, calling them “little stragglers” that didn’t make it into the initial rollout; he also described them as “not big finales” but rather “little rogue planets out there” tied to the season that launched in October.
Smiling Friends had previously been picked up for more seasons
The show, which debuted in 2022 and centers on co‑workers Charlie (voiced by Hadel) and Pim (Cusack) trying to bring positivity into people’s lives, had at one point been picked up for seasons four and five. The creators said they would not hand the project off to other creatives and that Adult Swim told them, “If you’re not feeling like making a cartoon, we’re not going to stop you. Go have a break. Either come back or don’t. ” Cusack added, “We could come back in the future and make more episodes if we want, if we feel like it. And they’ve been super cool and said they would let us do that. But maybe not. Who knows?”
Creators leave the door open for future projects in the universe
Though they announced the series will end with Season 3, Cusack and Hadel signaled they may return to the universe in another form. They said they felt “burnt out and creatively accomplished” and did not believe they could continue without compromising quality, but they left “the door slightly open to a special or something along those lines” and said they would be open to collaborating on future projects. Cusack previously said, “We pretty much can guarantee it’s not going to go on as much as these other shows, ” and Hadel added, “Even if we had a thousand ideas at the end of season five, we’re not going to go on long. ”
Adult Swim issued a statement praising the co‑creators’ singular vision and saying the network was sad to see the series come to an end but fully respected the decision to close the run with the two final episodes premiering April 12. The network also said it looked forward to the possibility of collaborating with the creators on future projects.
The next confirmed event is the April 12 broadcast of the two unreleased Season 3 episodes at 11 p. m. ET on Adult Swim.
