Smiling Friends Season 3

At times, Smiling Friends doesn't feel like a show that should be real. It's not overly graphic or anything like that, but you just can't imagine a board of regular guys and gals in suits nodding along to the likes of a mole man with an allegedly hideous penis and going "yep, we think this is a great fit for our network." That's just what happened, though, and continues to happen as this show is consistently renewed.

Smiling Friends Season 3 picks right back up with our gang of charity workers. As there's no real main plot to follow, we're free to tag along with Pim, Charlie, Glep, Alan, and Mr. Boss as they seek to make more wacky and downcast characters smile again. If you've seen the show, you'll know very few episodes actually revolve around the workday of Pim and Charlie, with most taking pretty heavy swerves into ridiculous worlds, scenarios, and introducing wild characters.

It's mostly a disservice to describe Smiling Friends as wacky, or zany, or anything like that. Those words certainly fit, but the show itself is dedicated to shirking so many labels it feels like to describe it that way just shows you don't really get it. Not that there's some great message to get, really, more that any attempt to fully pin down a few words that epitomise Smiling Friends is like trying to drink an ocean through a straw. It's pointless.

Season 3 has a noticeable difference from Smiling Friends' earlier seasons. The animation quality is better, showing what looks like an increased budget the creators have used for brilliant effect. Smiling Friends Season 3 looks a bit polished, compared to past seasons, but that doesn't tarnish the overall effect the show has. It doesn't ruin its rep as some underground hit, even if it's now one of Adult Swim's most popular cartoons. Instead, the better animation offers more creativity in a lot of sequences, leading to greater laughs like when Pim's song is brutally interrupted by a punt to the head from Mr. Frog.

There's an undeniable passion in Smiling Friends that's hard not to appreciate. Even if some episodes were a bit short on laughs, I was mesmerised by how dedicated each animator, writer, and voice actor is in making this show what they want it to be. From Easter eggs hidden in frames to dialogue that's just wordy enough to seem like a real conversation you've had with a friend or work colleague. All of this blends beautifully in a way that I hope Smiling Friends can keep up as it heads into its fourth and fifth seasons. If not, it feels like it's unlikely to go the way of Rick & Morty, which had some forgettable seasons as it proved clear creative had lost its passion. From reading interviews with creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack, it seems they're willing to let the show go when they're done with it, or pivot it in new directions depending on what they find funny.

There's something very respectable in Hadel and Cusack's approach to Smiling Friends. They're not trying to appeal to a wider audience even though they have, and are instead just making the show they'd like to see. A lot of creators say that nowadays, but few make you believe it like Smiling Friends does. Here's hoping the quality continues, and even if some episodes don't have us howling, there's always hope for the next.