Posted in: Adult Swim, Max, Opinion, Rick and Morty, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: Adult Swim, opinion, rick and morty, smiling friends

Smiling Friends, Rick and Morty Fans: Yes, You Can Love Both Shows

Based on what we've seen online lately, we're offering a friendly reminder that you can love Adult Swim's Rick and Morty AND Smiling Friends.

Let's get this out of the way right from the start so we can move past it. I'm a huge fan of Dan Harmon and justinroiland's Rick and Morty. I'm a huge fan of Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel's Smiling Friends. At no point have I ever felt the need to choose one over the other. Why? Because they're both excellent and distinctly unique animated series. They're not a couple that broke up, and now everyone has to choose a side. And yet, there's been this growing vibe on social media out there that to love Smiling Friends means you have to drop a steaming pile of hate in Rick and Morty – which makes absolutely no f***ing sense whatsoever. I'm pretty sure there isn't an "iron throne" over at Adult Swim, where there's room for only one huge show. I don't want to speak on behalf of the late-night programming block, but I think it's safe to say that they would be more than happy to have a dozen shows that everyone was buzzing about.

So just enjoy either show – or both! Cusack and Hadel have been bringing their twisted multimedia magic to our screens for two seasons – with a well-deserved third season (and many more, hopefully) on the way. After dealing with the justinroiland fallout, Harmon, Showrunner Scott Marder, and the creative team brought us what was possibly the best top-to-bottom season of the Emmy Award-winning series yet (with serious props going to Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden for handling the pressure of joining the cast and nailing the season big time). But if you're a justinroiland fan who's using the success of Smiling Friends as a weird way of hitting back at Rick and Morty for doing you wrong in some way that you've created in your head over what was a basic no-brainer human resources decision that had absolutely nothing to do with you, it's time to take a seat because you're adding nothing to the conversation.

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

During Adult Swim's presentation at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Festival, 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 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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