Adult Swim Officially Responds to Beloved Series Finale Announcement

In the wake of one major Adult Swim property coming to an end, fans are in mourning when it comes to saying goodbye to Charlie, Pim, Mr. Boss, and the other members of the Smiling Friends. Earlier this week, Smiling Friends’ creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel made the shocking announcement that they were ending their popular series, despite the animated show being confirmed for two additional seasons. In light of Hadel and Cusack saying that only two episodes were remaining in the series, Adult Swim has released an official statement regarding the end of the successful show and the programming block’s feelings on the matter.

The official Adult Swim statement reads, “Everyone at Adult Swim is incredibly proud of what Michael and Zach built and grateful for the bold, boundary-pushing vision behind Smiling Friends. Adult Swim has always been a creator-driven network, and Smiling Friends simply wouldn’t exist without the singular vision and ambitious creativity of its co-creators. Like fans, we are sad to see this series come to an end. However, we fully respect and support Michael and Zach’s decision to bring their vision to a close with the final two episodes premiering on April 12th, and we look forward to the possibility of collaborating with them on future projects.”

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Adult Swim’s Smiling Friends to End With Season 3

The Smiling Friends’ Grand Finale

As mentioned by Adult Swim, two episodes are remaining in Smiling Friends’ third season, landing this April. If you don’t know what those installments will be, the title episodes include “Friend-Bot (Version 12589218731809213528796879521)” and “Charlie’s Uncle Dies and Doesn’t Come Back.” Unfortunately, neither of these episodes was made as a series finale, though at least we’ll see Charlie and Pim one last time before we have to say goodbye. Cusack and Hadel might one day return to the series, but it might not happen anytime soon.

If you missed the original announcement, the dynamic duo responsible for the series explained their thought process in ending Smiling Friends, with Michael Cusack 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 were like, ‘I think that could just be it,’ after Season 3.”

While Smiling Friends is ending this April, Adult Swim still has some big series that it’s planning to release new seasons of down the line. Both Rick and Morty and Ha, Ha, You Clowns are confirmed for several new seasons, adding some major entries into the future of the Cartoon Network programming block. With Adult Swim always willing to create new original works, there are sure to be future announcements for shows that can take the place of Charlie and Pim, though it will ultimately be a tough challenge for any show to hit the same heights as Smiling Friends.

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