Adult Swim Sets Imminent Premiere Date For Long-Awaited 'Smiling Friends' Season 2
New episodes of the beloved animated series have only ever aired on three days. Rare for a linear show, it’s getting ready to have at least a few more
The Adult Swim series Smiling Friends has not aired a new episode since August 6, 2022’s "The Smiling Friends Go to Brazil!" special, after premiering seven of its eight episodes back-to-back that previous January (airing all eight together) and its pilot as part of 2020’s April Fools’ Day festivities. Now, after more than a year and a half, the network announced that the animated series created by and starring Zack Hadel and Michael Cusack will return at midnight on the March 31 broadcasting day next Sunday.
Posted to the Adult Swim social media channels like Twitter and Instagram was a teaser captioned “See you next Sunday” featuring the face of the Smiling Friends office rising as the sun over the Earth. Yeah, that’s pretty quick, isn’t it? A bit overdue, of course. Season 2 was originally ordered about a month after the main part of the first season premiered. For those unaware, Smiling Friends is about the day-to-day lives and misadventures of a business dedicated to bringing joy to its customers. Two of the employees in particular, the cynical Charlie and optimistic Pim, try to help out the troubled people who call their company's hotline, though the complexities of mental health make it quite the task.
The cast of Smiling Friends is very South Park-y, in that Cusack and Hadel voice many handfuls of the characters, well as many one can fit in 9 11-minute episodes, including as Pim and Charlie respectively, as well as Mr. Frog and Glep respectively while Marc M. voices Mr. Boss. Guests have included Finn Wolfhard, his brother Nick, James Rolfe, Gilbert Gottfried, and even Jason Paige, who sang the original English Pokémon theme, gets to sing a song here.
There is something very important to remember what Sunday, March 31 at midnight actually is: midnight April 1. April Fool’s Day. A day Adult Swim infamously indulges in the minute it starts. So either it’s part of the prank or has stuff queued up behind it. Tune in to find out.
