Smiling Mates Formally Ending After Season 3, Hadel and Cusack Affirm

[ad_1] Smiling Mates is formally coming to an finish. In a candid video message, creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack confirmed by way of YouTube on Grownup Swim's channel that the animated collection will conclude with Season 3, marking the shut of a present that grew far past what both of them anticipated.

“This isn't a bit. This isn't a joke,” Hadel says firstly of the announcement, making it clear that the choice is deliberate, closing, and coming straight from the 2 individuals who constructed the collection from the bottom up.

<img id="11584252" alt="Alan and The Boss from Smiling Friends look through a hole in a wooden wall, revealing a decayed figure in a dark interior space." caption="Alan and The Boss from Smiling Friends discover a grim scene hidden behind a damaged wall during one of the show’s surreal moments." credit="Adult Swim" sourcealt="" sources="["HBO Max"]" fetchpriority="auto" loading="lazy" width="1919" height="1079" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" src="color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1536px, (min-width: 768px) 768px, 100vw" srcset="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-25-195553.png?w=640&quality=80&webp=1 640w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-25-195553.png?w=750&quality=80&webp=1 750w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-25-195553.png?w=1000&quality=80&webp=1 1000w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-25-195553.png?w=1200&quality=80&webp=1 1200w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-25-195553.png?w=1360&quality=80&webp=1 1360w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-25-195553.png?w=1600&quality=80&webp=1 1600w" bad-src="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-25-195553.png?w=1600&quality=80&webp=1"/> The pair clarify that after ending Season 3, they each concurrently felt “burnt out” but in addition “achieved.” Years of nonstop work left them feeling like they'd reached a pure and significant endpoint.

Cusack notes that from the very starting, their inner philosophy was to place “100 or 110 p.c” into the present after which “exit on high,” reasonably than danger overstaying their welcome. They emphasize that persevering with the collection whereas exhausted or handing it off to different writers would compromise the standard that followers anticipate.

“It’s not honest to us and it’s not honest to the viewers to provide you guys slop,” Hadel says, including that the present is just too private and too fingers‑on to outsource. “It’s simply not that form of present.”

Each creators stress that the choice wasn’t the results of community strain or behind‑the‑scenes battle. After informing Grownup Swim, the community responded with full help, telling the duo to take a break and return provided that and once they genuinely felt impressed once more.

“They stated, ‘In the event you’re not feeling making a cartoon, we’re not going to cease you,’” Cusack remembers. The door stays open for future specials or extra episodes if the inventive spark returns, however no guarantees are being made.

To keep away from setting false expectations, they felt it was higher to state cleanly and definitively that Season 3 is the ending level.

Regardless of the collection ending, followers received’t need to say goodbye simply but.

Hadel and Cusack reveal that two extra episodes will air on April 12 at 11 p.m. on Grownup Swim. These episodes are a part of Season 3, bringing the full to 10 episodes: the eight already launched plus these two “little stragglers.”

The creators emphasize these should not thematically tied to any overarching conclusion; they’re merely further tales that didn’t land inside the earlier launch window. “Perhaps you’ll like them, perhaps you received’t,” Hadel jokes, earlier than stressing that they hope followers benefit from the closing bits of the world they constructed.

The creators admit recording the announcement was emotionally difficult. The collection turned far greater than both of them imagined, with fan artwork, costumes, memes, and an enthusiastic viewers that helped flip the present right into a phenomenon.

They take time to reward the crew repeatedly, urging viewers to “rent all of our crew,” calling them those who introduced this “insane challenge” to life.

The video ends with each creators acknowledging how surreal the journey has been and the way grateful they're for the help. Regardless of the unhappy information, they stress that this isn't the tip of their partnership or their particular person creative work—simply the tip of Smiling Mates as a collection.

Within the closing moments, Hadel closes the announcement with a easy signal‑off: “Because the little cartoon man stated, that’s all, of us.” The ultimate two episodes of Smiling Mates will air on Cartoon Community's Grownup Swim block on April twelfth, streaming subsequent day on HBO Max.