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Smiling Friends Nabs Emmy Awards Nomination; Will Mr. Frog Attend?

Great news! Adult Swim and Michael Cusack & Zach Hadel's Smiling Friends has been nominated for an Emmy for Best Animated Program.

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Article Summary

  • Adult Swim’s Smiling Friends scored an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program at the 78th Emmy Awards.
  • The nominated episode is “Le Voyage Incroyable De Monsieur Grenouille,” with Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel credited.
  • Smiling Friends faces Bob’s Burgers, Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, South Park, and Star Wars: Visions.
  • Cusack and Hadel also reflected on ending Smiling Friends, saying they wrapped it up before it lost its vision.

Is Mr. Frog willing to return from having achieved a higher plane of existence and a sense of peace to pick up an Emmy Award? That might be the case because the Television Academy announced the nominations for the 78th Emmy Awards. Guess who got nominated? That's right, Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel's Smiling Friends. Specifically, S03E02: "Le Voyage Incroyable De Monsieur Grenouille" (Adult Swim/Williams Street), with Hadel and Cusack listed as writers, directors, and executive producers. In addition, EPs Kelly Crews and Cameron Tang, as well as Supervising Producer Brent Tanner, Producer Scott Malchus, and director David Hootselle are listed. The recently wrapped animated series will be up against FOX's Bob's Burgers, Adult Swim's Rick and Morty, FOX's The Simpsons, Comedy Central's South Park, and Disney+'s Star Wars: Visions for Best Animated Program.

Smiling Friends
Image: NBCUniversal; Adult Swim

"2 pictures side by side of the start of 'Smiling Friends' 8 years ago and the end with [Zach Hadel] and I at Yum Yum donuts in Burbank, California. We would wander around different places in Burbank talking about the show and coming up with episode ideas, which consisted of a lot of imagining what Mr. Frog would smash and destroy around us," Cusack wrote as the caption to an Instagram post that was also shared by Hadel. "We're so proud of this show and continue to be blown away by the fandom which loves it as much as we do. It was such an insane, amazing journey to make this and we really appreciate everyone who watched it and the incredible crew who worked on it, and of course [Adult Swim] for making it happen. We love you all and thank you for allowing us to make you smile, you made us smile even more!"

As for why they ended the series, Cusack and Hadel shared that when the announcement first went down, they had said all they wanted to say and that now was the time to wrap things up before the series became something less than what they envisioned. While they left the door slightly open to a special or something along those lines in the future, for now, the beloved animated series has wrapped. Here's a look back at what Cusack and Hadel had to share earlier this year:

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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