One of the greatest Adult Swim cartoons of the decade is ending on a high note. Smiling Friends‘ co-creators, Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack, made an announcement on Feb. 25. After a full day of fan speculation, they addressed that it was not the network forcing their hand into cancellation. Instead, Hadel and Cusack decided to end the cartoon series because it had run out of steam.
The Smiling Friends Burnout
The show’s audience grew concerned after Season 3 aired its eighth episode last year on Nov. 30. Adult Swim confirmed that the show was renewed for a 4th and 5th season. However, Smiling Friends’ production process took a toll on the creative aspect. The creators posted a 6-minute video on X to provide their viewers with more information.
“After we finished Season 3, Zach and I both had the same feeling where we were pretty burnt out after putting years and years into this. But also pretty accomplished, like we just came to this feeling we’re all like, I think that could be it after Season 3,” Cusack said.
Hadel added, “After several years of really, really grinding on this show, non-stop, without any breaks, 24/7, we got to a point where it felt like that’s a good spot to end it. We wouldn’t want to be doing more seasons with half-hearted, burnt out, or not feeling it. That’s not fair to us. It’s not fair to the audiences to give you guys f***ing slop.” Their response is very evident as Smiling Friends Season 3 revealed the agency’s origins. The narrative almost like felt like it tied up loose ends for the characters’ history.
Why Fans Believe Ending the Show Now is for the Best
A majority of Hadel and Cusack’s loyal viewers expressed their heartbreak and frustration over Smiling Friends ending on Season 3. Then, there are the fans who saw their choice not to go further into the renewed seasons as a courageous act. X user Sushii commented on the post on a positive note, “Turned down two seasons of guaranteed money to protect the show’s soul. Rare.”
Animation enthusiasts are reminded of cartoonist Alex Hirsch’s decision to finish his Disney show, Gravity Falls, after airing two seasons. In 2015, the beloved paranormal artist said that if he continued Dipper and Mabel Pines’ summer adventure, the show would lose its spark that made it special in the first place.
“There are so many shows that go on endlessly until they lose their original spark, or mysteries that are cancelled before they ever get a chance to pay off,” he told Cartoon Brew. “I wanted Gravity Falls to have a mystery that had a real answer, an adventure with a real climax, and an ending that had a real conclusion for the characters I care so much about.”
Hirsch’s words echoed as cartoons such as Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, and even SpongeBob SquarePants lost their magic due to their network management. The fact that Hadel and Cusack ended Smiling Friends on a high note to preserve the quality of their first-ever televised project, and to recognize their production crew’s exhaustion, is sensational.
When are Smiling Friends Final Episodes Airing?
The show’s creators confirmed that Season 3 Episode 8 is the final episode to air on Adult Swim. In their ending announcement, Hadel and Cusack teased fans that there will be two extra episodes airing on Apr. 12. They hinted at the plot involving “little stagglers” that is not thematically related to the cartoon’s motif.
The two friends continue tackling new projects with their independent studio, Zam Studios. They hope their talented crew members will be hired by other production companies because, without them, Smiling Friends would not be possible. “It’s been a ride of a lifetime,” said Cusack. “The show got way bigger than either of us ever imagined. All the fanart, the costumes, people sharing the memes, all of it.”
