Smiling Friends Season 3 was another huge success when it returned to Adult Swim last year, which is what makes the latest news so unexpected. Fans of the animated series are now looking for answers after the decision to end the show for good.
Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack’s adorable yet dark animated series centers on Charlie and Pim, whose titular business aims to make people smile. But don’t let that description fool you – it’s packed full of twisted, disturbing moments.
Season 1 received a near-perfect 95% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes after it dropped at the start of 2022, earning a cult following in the process. And Seasons 2 and 3 followed suit, with 94% and 91% respectively.
In the world of adult animated series, it’s one of the best TV shows out there (some say better than Rick and Morty), which is why fans are so disappointed to learn that Season 3 is officially the last.
Why is Smiling Friends ending?
Ultimately, it’s a combination of reasons, with both Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack revealing that they felt “burnt out” after making Smiling Friends Season 3. Plus, they’re happy with what they’ve accomplished and want to take a ‘quality over quantity’ approach.
Their announcement was shared on the Adult Swim YouTube channel late Wednesday (February 25), where Zach said, “Michael and I are here to announce that Smiling Friends will be ending after Season 3 is done.”
They went on to explain why, with Michael stating, “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.
“We just came to this feeling where we’re like, ‘I think that could just be it after Season 3.’”
Zach continued, “Even from the very, very beginning of the show, we always said, ‘Oh man, how great would it be to really try to make the show as good as it could be and really put 110% into it’.”
Rather than leaving viewers thinking, “Oh, that show is still on the air,” they’d rather fans are left wanting more and remembering the show for being great.
It’s been hard graft for the pair, having worked “non-stop without any breaks 24/7,” and they wouldn’t want to keep making more seasons with less effort. “That’s not fair to us and it’s not fair to the audience to give you guys f**king slop,” Zach added.
As for whether they considered handing Smiling Friends over to other creators, Michael said, “It’d just feel too weird. It’s not that type of show. It’s so from Zach and I,” while Zach chimed in, “It wouldn’t be the same show.”
The two clarified that this was entirely their decision, and that Adult Swim has been “very supportive.”
They didn’t rule out returning to Smiling Friends in the future, but they also didn’t want to make any false promises.
“If we tell you guys, ‘Oh yeah, we’re taking a really long break, a hiatus for a couple of years,’ that feels almost like we’re promising you something. It’s easier and it’s better and it’s cleaner to say this is a good spot to end it.
“If we really feel inspired, if we really feel like we’ve got great ideas and we’re really hungry to do it again, absolutely we’ll come back maybe for a special or some more episodes. But it’s got to be right and it’s got to be done right.”
Is Smiling Friends Season 3 over?
No, as part of their announcement, Zach and Michael confirmed there are two additional episodes in Smiling Friends Season 3, which will air on Adult Swim on April 12, 2026.
“There’s going to be two extra episodes of Smiling Friends that we’ve completed coming out on April 12th at 11.00pm on Adult Swim. So, these are just two episodes we were working on last year,” said Michael.
He went on to clarify that they’re not finales, but they’re still part of Season 3, making it 10 episodes in total rather than the eight that have been released so far.
Zach described the specials as “little stragglers, little rogue planets out there. But they’re not thematically related. They’re not big finales. So, hopefully you enjoy two other little stragglers.”
Smiling Friends fans have one hope
For the most part, fans are understanding of Zach and Michael’s reasoning but confused since Smiling Friends had already been renewed for Seasons 4 and 5. Amid the chat, one hope has emerged: that the two specials will serve as a surreal conclusion to the show.
One wrote on Reddit, “In my opinion, Smiling Friends felt like it had at most two more seasons, but it’s their call and I’m happy we got three seasons to begin with,” to which another replied, “That’s just it though, it DID have two more seasons.
“They had already announced they’d been greenlit for Seasons 4 and 5 which makes this feel like it’s coming out of left field even more.”
A third agreed, “Yeah it’s just so sudden, I know the show doesn’t give a sh*t about canon anything but I kinda wish we had like a true ending to it. Maybe we’ll get it with these two new episodes.”
One person pointed out, “They say in the video that these two episodes are just stragglers from Season 3 that they completed last year. They’re not intended to be any type of finale.”
However, another pointed out, “They ended the last two seasons on a surreal note so it might make a satisfying finale if we’re lucky.”
Elsewhere, one fan wrote, “I respect them wanting to control quality and legacy… but in a world where so much of the animation industry is tearing apart, they could’ve given a group of artists a nice stable position for maybe a few more years.”
There is, of course, plenty of speculation about what could happen down the line. “I hope that since they’re just burnt out, we will get Smiling Friends 2: Smile Harder in a couple years after they take some time off. But if they don’t, I respect their decision anyway,” said one.
Another commented, “Trust, we’re gonna get Smiling Friends: Brotherhood in probably a decade which would be more accurate to the manga.”
Smiling Friends fans say ‘the cool autistic gamer 774’ final video “makes sense”
Following the announcement that Season 3 will be the last, Smiling Friends fans have said YouTuber the cool autistic gamer 774’s latest video now “makes sense,” while others are convinced that they are linked to the production team.
For context, ‘the cool autistic gamer 774’ is a YouTuber who emerged in May 2024 by uploading edited clips from Smiling Friends. What began as watermark gags evolved into elaborate alterations, with him inserting himself into scenes and gradually building a cult following.
As his edits became more ambitious – sometimes replacing characters entirely or adding original animation – speculation grew. Some viewers theorized he was secretly connected to the creators, or even one of them himself, despite there never being evidence of any official affiliation.
One Redditor put it last year, “This is what makes it all so funny. EITHER it’s some creator on the show doing some utterly fascinating viral marketing that is in their style of humor OR it’s genuinely some cracked autistic animator with a special interest for really, really good Smiling Friends edits.”
But what’s interesting is his most recent upload, posted on December 8, 2025, months before the show’s ending was announced. It features newly animated footage of him exploring the Smiling Friends headquarters.
In the video, he wanders the office as somber music plays in the background. He watches his own edits on a TV and then sits in the boss’s chair, staring at scripts before spinning around.
He looks lost and alone, until he sees a ladder, making his way outside. Finally, he holds his hand to the outside of HQ, and says, “Thank you.” It heavily implies the end… but months before the announcement.
The video has sparked a lively reaction now that it’s confirmed the show is over, with one writing, “Oh my god. It all makes sense now.” Another said, “Yeah this is definitely them after the latest announcement.”
“I CAN’T PROVE IT BUT HE KNEW,” added a third, while a fourth chimed in, “Now I know how you felt when you had to say goodbye to them. Thank you.” A fifth commented, “Nah man. This is some crazy foreshadowing now.”
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