Smiling Friends News & Notes – Season Two in May, April Fool’s Gag
Spring has officially arrived these past couple weeks… with the weather changing(ish), flowers blooming, Easter out of the way, and April 1st here…
In the TV world, typically that means we get new and upcoming programming. That being said, Adult Swim rolled this year’s April Fool’s gag into not only the first episode for Season Two of Smiling Friends, but also provided a solid date for the rest of the new season.
First, let’s recap this year’s gag… as with every year since 2004, the Internet’s been rampant with speculation and ideas of what this year’s would end up being. With AS announcing “New Smiling Friends” at midnight, there were ideas… but no one (outside of creators Michael Cusack, Zach Hadel, as well as the “Adult Swim Center For Puppetry Farts”) could have seen this one coming: PUPPETS!
I would totally buy a Mr. Frog puppet, but otherwise the puppet redux concept was fantastic. Especially, each of the three episodes were completely different. First, was the traditional Muppet/Felt Puppet look for Season One’s second episode, “Mr. Frog”. Second aired, “Shrimp’s Odyssey” was done in sock puppets (Charlie and Shrimp especially looking perfect) plus “Shrimpina” as a live-action human. Lastly, we got a paper macher puppet version for episode “Charlie Dies and Doesn’t Come Back”. Personally, I would have loved to see them do “Who Violently Murdered Simon S. Salty?” but overall this was fantastic! In a post-pandemic/WBD “shredding and deleting everything” era where the past 3 years were mid at best, this was a fresh idea and a welcome surprise. However, not the last bit of the night…
After the gag portion, we were treated to the aforementioned “new” episode from the upcoming S2 titled “Gwimbly: Definitive Remastered Enhanced Extended Edition DX 4k (Anniversary Director’s Cut)”. While it didn’t feature puppets, rather back to animation (mostly), the episode was definitely back to form for SF and gives some anticipation for the upcoming season… which was announced for May 12th at Midnight on AS (next day on Max).
As of writing this, you can catch the entire 34 minutes of puppet fun below. Also a sneak peek at the upcoming season. One (maybe) interesting factoid from our friend Wizard of Jim on Discord…
WANT TO CHAT ABOUT SMILING FRIENDS, THIS YEAR’S APRIL FOOLS GAG, ETC.?
– DISCORD – ADULTSWIM.FAN
Check out official info below:
| ADULT SWIM SURPRISES FANS WITH “SMILING FRIENDS” SEASON TWO PREMIERE EPISODE AND PUPPET SHOW TO ANNOUNCE SERIES RETURN ON MAY 12  |
| BURBANK (April 1, 2024) – “SMILING FRIENDS,” the hit animated comedy co-created and starring Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel that follows the employees of a small company dedicated to bringing happiness to a bizarre yet colorful world, will return for a second season on Sunday, May 12 at midnight on Adult Swim. Adult Swim continued its annual April Fools’ Day tradition this morning at midnight with the unexpected debut of three episodes of “SMILING FRIENDS” re-created in various styles of puppetry, followed by a surprise airing of the season two premiere episode, “Gwimbly: Definitive Remastered Enhanced Extended Edition DX 4k (Anniversary Director’s Cut).” SMILING FRIENDS” fans who missed out on the block can still enjoy the puppet-style season one episodes HERE. April Fools 2024: Smiling Friends (Puppet Version) | adult swimIn season two of “SMILING FRIENDS,” Pim, Charlie, Zongo, Allan and Glep continue their mission to bring happiness to the world, whether it’s a washed-up retro video game character, a troubled marriage, or even the president of the United States. “HELLOOO EVERYONE HOPE YOU WATCH THE NEW SEASON OF ‘SMILING FRIENDS’ AND THE SMILING FRIENDS PUPPET SHOW,” said Cusack and Hadel. “IT’S GOING TO BE SOOOOO COOL AND FUN AND HOPE YOU WATCH!!!!!!!” The quarter-hour comedy is co-created by Cusack (“YOLO: Crystal Fantasy”) and Hadel (“Hellbenders”). Beginning May 13, new episodes of “SMILING FRIENDS” will be available to stream on Max and to purchase on Digital. |
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