Smiling Friends

Smiling Friends is an Australian-American teen-adult animated television series created by Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack On Adult Swim, which revolves around a small charity dedicated to making people smile. The pilot episode aired April 1, 2020 unannounced as part of Adult Swim's annual April Fools' Day event alongside the premiere of Cusack's other series, YOLO: Crystal Fantasy. On May 19, 2021, Adult Swim ordered a full season that was initially set to premiere in late 2021. A panel dedicated to the series was held during the Adult Swim Festival on November 12, 2021, where co-creator Zach Hadel mentioned the show will premiere "within a few months", pushing the release schedule ahead to 2022. The first season eventually premiered on January 10, 2022, with Adult Swim airing all episodes of the season in one night despite initial plans for a weekly release. Smiling Friends has received acclaim from both audiences and critics for its characterization, humor, writing, and integration of mixed media including 2D animation, 3D animation, stop motion, and live action. The series was renewed for a second season on February 9, 2022.

Characters Who Gets Voiced
Pim (Voiced By Michael Cusack)

Charlie Dompler (Voiced By Zach Hadel)

Alan (Voiced By Michael Cusack)

Glep (Voiced By Zach Hadel)

The Boss (Voiced By Marc M.)

Mr. Frog (Voiced By Michael Cusack)

DJ Spit (Voiced By Zach Hadel)

Shrimp (Voiced By David Firth)

Grandpa Glep (Voiced By Joshua Tomar)

Smormu (Voiced By Chris O'Neill)

Smormu Announcer (Voiced By Harry Partridge)

Rex ( Voiced By Hans van Harken)

3D Squelton (Voiced By Harry Partridge)

Broadcast
The pilot initially premiered on Adult Swim in the United States and Canada on April 1, 2020, during the network's April Fools premiere event. The series officially premiered on January 10, 2022, at 12:00 a.m. with the episodes "Mr. Frog" and "Shrimp's Odyssey". The rest of the series was then broadcast unannounced in its entirety starting from 12:30 a.m. followed by a repeat at 3:00 a.m. In Canada, the series premiered simultaneously on Adult Swim with new episodes airing weekly. The series later premiered on E4 in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2022, and Adult Swim in France on January 24, 2022. The series is available to stream on HBO Max in the United States and StackTV in Canada.

Premise
Smiling Friends Inc. is a small charity whose mission is to bring happiness to the world. The series follows the day-to-day lives and misadventures of its representatives—cynical Charlie and cheerful, optimistic Pim—as they try to help out the troubled people who call their charity's hotline, though this task usually proves to be more challenging than anticipated due to the often deep-seated nature of their clients' problems.