The “Smiling Friends” have something to smile about. Adult Swim renewed Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack’s animated comedy for a third season on Thursday, which comes as its second season is still airing new episodes.
This news came during Adult Swim’s Defying Expectations Panel at Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Blending several different animation styles, Hadel and Cusack’s comedy follows the employees of a nonprofit dedicated to making people smile. But when their clients include psychopathic frog superstars, mad scientists and abandoned video game mascots from the 2000s, that mission is easier said than done. In addition to its renewal, “Smiling Friends” was also selected for official competition at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
That wasn’t the only series announcement Adult Swim had up its sleeve. The mature animation hub announced series orders for two upcoming quarter-hour comedies. The first is “Ha Ha You Clowns,” which is a series pick-up of the popular Adult Swim SMALLS animated short series. It follows three sweet-natured brothers who go on a series of adventures alongside their caring father after the passing of their mother.
“Inspired by suburban family TV shows of the past, this series mixes heartfelt emotions with surreal comedy,” a logline for the comedy reads. “Ha Ha You Clowns” comes from Joe Cappa, who is best known for “Ghost Dogs,” an animated short that was a 2021 Sundance Festival Official Selection and winner of the Satoshi Kon Award at Fantasia.
The network also gave a series order to “Oh My God, Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances.” Created by Emmy-nominated writer Adele “Supreme” Williams (“My Dad the Bounty Hunter”), the series follows three best friends as they navigate dating misadventures in South Central LA in the year 2102.
A pilot for “Oh My God, Yes!” first aired last year during Adult Swim’s pilot block and is currently available to watch on Adult Swim.com. The series is executive produced by Dominique Braud and produced for Adult Swim by Six Point Harness.