Smiling Friends creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack have announced in a six-minute-long video across all Adult Swim accounts that the Smiling Friends series is ending with season 3. “This is not a bit. This is not a joke,” Zach Hadel prefaces.Â
Smiling Friends is an adult-animated sitcom created by Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack. The show follows Charlie and Pim as they work at Smiling Friends Inc., helping to cheer up and comfort individuals who call their hotline. The show is loved for its hilarious characters, dialogue, and animation. Since debuting in 2022, it has become one of the most popular Adult Swim shows since Rick and Morty and was ranked among HBO Max’s top 10 series during its season two premiere, reaching a peak audience of 284,000 viewers in 2024.Â
Despite being renewed for two additional seasons, the creators explain why they came to their decision, stating that after finishing season 3, they felt burnt out after putting years into this project, “but also pretty accomplished.” Smiling Friends‘ finale was a judgment call for them, a hard choice that centered around quality and not quantity. Focusing on putting 110% into it and then going out on top, they prefer fans to want more rather than say, “Oh, that show is still on the air. Oh god.” They both agreed that they got to a point where they felt like season 3 was a good spot to end it, and they didn’t want to do more seasons half-heartedly. “That’s not fair to us, and it’s not fair to the audience to give you guys fucking slop,” Hadel says.Â
The creators confirm that Adult Swim had nothing to do with this decision, and that they were rather supportive of the creators’ choices to end the show where it was, telling the creators, “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.” Which led Cusack to point out that they could come back in the future and make more episodes if they wanted to, if they were “really hungry to do it again,” they would absolutely come back for a special or some episodes, “but it’s got to be right, and it’s got to be done right.” Cusack reassures audiences that this will not be the end of his and Hadel’s collaboration, and that it isn’t the end of their own projects. The only thing that is reaching its end is the show.Â
Hadel and Cusack announce good news, confirming that they will be releasing two final episodes on April 12 at 11:00 p.m. to complete the third season with ten episodes total. They make a note to mention that these two episodes were created before the decision was made, so while they will be the final two episodes, they are not finales and will not be thematically related. “Hopefully you enjoy,” says Hadel. “Maybe you won’t. I hope you do. Heavens, I hope you do.”Â
Smiling Friends is available to watch on HBO Max.Â