Prepare to smile and be wowed by some trippy animation. The third season of “Smiling Friends” will premiere on Adult Swim on Oct. 5 at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT.
It will be followed two weeks later by the series premiere of “Haha, You Clowns,” which airs on Oct. 19 at 11:45 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes of both of these quarter-hour adult animated comedies will be available to stream the following day on HBO Max.
Created by Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack, “Smiling Friends” has become one of Adult Swim’s top-performing shows on HBO Max outside of “Rick and Morty.” It ranked among the platform’s top 10 series during Season 2’s premiere and has already been renewed for Seasons 4 and 5. The comedy follows Pim and Charlie, two employees at a charitable company hellbent on getting people to smile called Smiling Friends. Their mission to make the world a little brighter has led them to space, forced them to rehabilitate the image of a hated president and partner with a psychopathic celebrity.
“We’ll see a bunch of unexpected stuff here such as Mr. Frog running full speed at the camera, the team finally collecting all the spirit gems they need and a totally epic showdown spectacle with an Ancient Witch of some sort. AHHHHH!!!!” a description for Season 3 reads.
As for “Haha, You Clowns,” this new show comes from Joe Cappa. The series focuses on the Campbell boys, “three doting teenagers and their tenderhearted dad, as they live, laugh, love their way into your living rooms,” a press release reads. They’ll have to navigate their big feelings in the wake of their mother’s death. “Haha, You Clowns” first premiered as part of “Adult Swim Smalls Presents,” a series that highlights animated shorts from promising directors and artists.
“We love shows that make you smile and go ‘haha’ — and that’s what you’ll get with ‘Smiling Friends’ and ‘Haha, You Clowns.’ It’s right there in the titles,” said Michael Ouweleen, president of Adult Swim. “While totally different from each other, these two shows are united in that they’re hilarious, gently unnerving and sometimes even profound.”
Both series are produced by Williams Street, Adult Swim’s in-house production company.
Why Adult Animation Might Be Saving TV