Smiling Friends is one of the biggest animated shows now in the works on a return to Adult Swim, and the series will be showing off the first look at Season 3 soon for a lucky few. Smiling Friends has been one of the biggest recent hits with Adult Swim as following the debut of its pilot episode as part of an April Fool’s day stunt one year, it was such a hit that it was soon picked up for a full series. Then the surprises kept coming with the first season then premiering over the course of a single evening.
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Smiling Friends then continued that success with a second season that was an even bigger hit with fans than the first, and a third season was quickly announced to be in the works after the second season wrapped. Now in development, the first look at Smiling Friends Season 3 is one of the many things Adult Swim will be showcasing during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival later this Summer with an exclusive sneak peek coming from the creators themselves.
Smiling Friends Season 3 First Look Coming Soon
As revealed by Annecy International Animation Film Festival’s schedule, Adult Swim will be hosting a panel for Smiling Friends on June 11th. They tease it as such, “Join series Co-Creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel for a behind-the-scenes look at the hit Adult Swim series featuring an exclusive peek at the upcoming third season.” This is only one of the panels that Warner Bros. Animation has planned for the coming animation festival, and likely only one of the sneak peeks that those lucky enough to be in attendance will get at Adult Swim’s future projects to come. But hopefully the new season itself isn’t too far off from its release either.
“Really good. Really good. We’re in such a great stride right now,” Smiling Friends co-creator Michael Cusack previously told ComicBook about the now in the works new season ahead of YOLO: Rainbow Trinity‘s premiere. “Seeing as we’ve had two seasons to work up to this, we know the characters so much more now. It’s going really well. I’m trying to be careful not to spoil anything, but I won’t because I’m a professional. But, no. It’s good. It’s going very, very well. Zach [Hadel] and I are writing, and we’re in production. YOLO doesn’t slow it down at all because I can go back and forth. I can run between shows very quickly. So, we’re going well.”
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Smiling Friends Is a Big Hit for Adult Swim
According to Warner Bros. Discovery, Smiling Friends has been a huge hit for Adult Swim. In 2024 alone, both it and My Adventures with Superman marked huge wins for the network and its demographic as they detailed in a report, “Adult Swim, a top 10 cable network among Adults, boasted its third consecutive quarter of primetime growth in Q2 with a 14 percent ratings increase. Season two of Smiling Friends is pacing at a 28 percent ratings increase versus the season one average, while the sophomore season of My Adventures with Superman is delivering ratings growth versus last year.”
Seeing that it’s such a hit, it’s no surprise to find out that it’s getting a third season (and My Adventures with Superman is getting its own third season as well). As we continue to wait on these new episodes, you can now catch up with the first two seasons of Smiling Friends now streaming with (now renamed) HBO Max.
