{"id":1012745,"date":"2026-08-20T12:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1012745\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:30:18","slug":"smiling-friends-may-not-be-ending-forever-after-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1012745\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Smiling Friends’ May Not Be Ending Forever After All"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans of Smiling Friends<\/a> were super bummed<\/a> when the show\u2019s co-creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel announced it would not continue after its third season, especially since Adult Swim<\/a> had already announced two more seasons were on the way. Super bummed, but also understanding, since it was completely Cusack and Hadel\u2019s decision to pull the plug.<\/p>\n

But what if the weary Cusack and Hadel managed to get their mojo back, especially in the wake of the animated show\u2019s first-ever Emmy nomination? In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, the pair said there\u2019s still a (slim) chance the show might return.<\/p>\n

First, though, the pair elaborated on why they ended their show ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of season three, both Zach and I talked to each other and were just like, \u2018Our tank is empty right now.\u2019 We just knew it was right to end it there,\u201d Cusack said. We slept on it and came back a week or two later and were like, \u2018We can\u2019t go into it when we\u2019re feeling like this, so let\u2019s just end it.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Hadel added, \u201cThe biggest misconception is people thinking that we were creatively burnt out, or we didn\u2019t have any ideas. That\u2019s the opposite of true \u2026 Michael and I are the creators, the directors, the writers, the voice actors\u2014we\u2019re there beginning to end, all the way through. We still have a Google doc full of a bunch of ideas, but we wouldn\u2019t have been happy doing it. It wouldn\u2019t have been bad, but it just would have lost the juice. It would have lost the spark.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yes, they tell THR, they did have scripts in the works for season four. \u201cIn a few years, if Zach and I feel like making the show again, we\u2019ll dig them out and see if they\u2019re worth making or if we want to start fresh again,\u201d Cusack said.<\/p>\n

Asked what the odds are that they\u2019ll feel like making the show again someday, Hadel gave a semi-encouraging answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not low. It\u2019s not 90 percent. It was a very difficult decision to make, but it was the right one \u2026 Some days, it\u2019s 60. Some days, it\u2019s 80. Some days, it\u2019s 20. It really does change day to day. But it\u2019s not zero.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fans of Smiling Friends were super bummed when the show\u2019s co-creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel announced it…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1012746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[88800,171,142741,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1012745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-adult-swim","tag-entertainment","tag-smiling-friends","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1012745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1012746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1012745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1012745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1012745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}