Posted in: Adult Swim, TV | Tagged: smiling friends

Smiling Friends: Here's Cusack & Hadel's "Frowning Friends" Table Read

Adult Swim released Smiling Friends creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel's table read of S01E07: "Frowning Friends" and Q&A from SDCC 2025.

We can safely say that it's been a pretty damn good summer for series creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel's Smiling Friends. Along with getting a spotlight during the Annecy International Animation Festival in June, we learned that the Adult Swim series would return this fall for Season 3 and had been renewed for two additional seasons. The following month, Cusack and Hadel were a major part of Adult Swim's San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) impact, discussing the upcoming season, sharing an exclusive sneak peek (which we're still waiting to be released), and taking part in a live read of S01E07: "Frowning Friends" (followed by a Q&A). If you weren't able to be there in person, Adult Swim has released the entire table read for you to check out – and we have that waiting for you above!

In the first "Smiling Shorts" that was released last month, Charlie tries his best not to hurt Pim's feelings over Pim's irreversible surgery. Does it go well? No. No, it does not…

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

During Adult Swim's presentation at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Festival, Hadel and Cusack 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 fan of FXX's Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson & Danny DeVito-starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 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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