Posted in: Adult Swim, FX, Hulu, Max, streaming, TV | Tagged: Adult Swim, always sunny, FXX, hulu, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, smiling friends

Smiling Friends Creators Want Series to Have "Always Sunny" Vibes

Smiling Friends creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel shared an aspect of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia they want their show to emulate.

If we're being honest, Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel had us with Smiling Friends – which now sits comfortably next to Rick and Morty as our other top favorite Adult Swim series. So when Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen announced during today's 2024 Annecy International Animation Festival presentation that Cusack and Hadel were already working on the third season of the hit animated series, it was definitely a nice boost to our day. But then Cusack and Hadel name-dropped FXX's Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson & Danny DeVito-starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as an example of the kind of show that they want Smiling Friends to be, their "righteous awesomeness" meter skyrocketed a few trillion points.

During today's presentation, Hadel addressed whether viewers should expect the series to take on darker and/or more serious themes during future seasons – similar to what we've seen from other animated series that have those "special" episodes. "A lot of comedy shows, like you say, tend to get serious," Hadel shared in response to a question from an attendee. "I don't think Charlie and Pim could cry, and anybody would care. It would just be annoying. So it would probably end before it gets to that point." Hadel continued, "This show is hopefully kind of an escape. We always think about when we worked minimum-wage jobs; we would get home and just want to watch YouTube cartoons and South Park and [It's] Always Sunny [in Philadelphia]. There's something nice about being a little comedy thing, and that's it."

And there it is! Are we surprised? No – but being a diehard "Always Sunny" fan, I know that we don't always tend to go public a lot with our love for the greatest sitcom to ever grace a television screen. So when one of us does, it's nice to see – and when it's two talented folks like Cusack and Hadel, even more so.

"Something like 'South Park,' when I saw that episode when Stan gets depressed, I loved that because Trey [Parker] and Matt [Stone] are so great at that when they get serious. I just think we like keeping a continuous tone with 'Smiling Friends,' where you can tune in in any season. You don't really know where you are," Cusack added. And for those of you wondering when the season-long serialized storylines are going to kick in, Hadel makes it clear that fans shouldn't be holding their collective breath for them anytime soon. "I don't think we'll ever do serialization. It's supposed to just be popcorn. It's McDonald's of TV,' Hadel explained.

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