After more than two year since it was announced,Smiling Friendswill return for a second season on Sunday, May 12 at midnight onAdult Swim. As part ofAdult Swim’s annual April Fools' Dayprogramming, which always includes some fun surprises, three episodes of the show aired re-creatingSmiling Friendsin 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).”
The synopsis for the second season reads as follows:
In 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.
The quarter-hour comedy is co-created by Michael Cusack (YOLO: Crystal Fantasy) and Zach Hadel (Hellbenders). Beginning May 13, new episodes ofSmiling Friendswill be available to stream on Max and to purchase on Digital.
“HELLOOO EVERYONE HOPE YOU WATCH THE NEW SEASON OF ‘SMILING FRIENDS’ AND THE SMILING FRIENDS PUPPET SHOW,” said Cusack and Hadel in an all-caps statement. “IT’S GOING TO BE SOOOOO COOL AND FUN AND HOPE YOU WATCH!!!!!!!”
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Cusack, Sarah Bishop, and Todor Manojlovic discussed Australian humor and their Adult Swim comedy series as it nears the season two finale.
Adult Swim’s April Fools' Tradition
This is just one of many April Fools’programming blocks from Adult Swim, which has been doing it for two decades. The prank that started it all was simple but hilarious — mustaches were drawn on every character in every episode aired on the night of March 31 and morning of April 1. For a few years, they included Tommy Wiseau of the legendary cult classicThe Roomin between episodes with surreal interstitials. They even brought back TOM andToonami.
One year, in anticipation of the upcoming preschool programming that would follow Adult Swim, the network had very young children dub over the lines of typical Adult Swim shows likeFamily GuyandRick and Morty, with the intros recreating characters of each show as babies. They even includedthe horror-preschool crossover character Pibbyand her friend Bun-Bun in every episode aired throughout the night one year, affecting (or infecting) other characters with a demonic spirit.
Pilots often premiere during the April Fools' specials, and both of Michael Cusack’s shows, Smiling Friends and YOLO: Crystal Fantasy, have premiered in these programming blocks. So it’s great to see Smiling Friends continuing the tradition.
