Overview

Smiling Friends Ending refers to an announcement made by Smiling Friends creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack that the show would end after its third season, despite being previously renewed for a fourth and fifth season by Adult Swim. An audio recording and video of Hadel and Cusack making the announcement were posted online on the night of February 25th, 2026.

The announcement was met with mixed reactions online, including support for the creators, who said they were burnt out on the show and didn't want to force themselves to produce half-cooked episodes. Some reacted negatively to the unexpected decision, hoping that the staff who worked on the show had notice and weren't suddenly left unemployed. The news also inspired memes and fan content, including memes hypothesizing on the various reasons the show might have been ended.

Background

Seasons Four & Five Renewal

On June 11th, 2025, the Adult Swim X^[1] / Twitter page made a post sharing that Smiling Friends season 3 would air in the fall and that seasons four and five were "on the way," seemingly confirming the renewal of the show through its fifth season. The post gained over 134,000 likes in eight months.

The third season of the show aired between October 5th, 2025, and November 30th, 2025.

Series Ending Announcement

On February 25th, 2026, a video was posted to Adult Swim's official social media accounts, including their YouTube^[2] channel, titled, "Important announcement from Michael and Zach | Smiling Friends | adult swim." In the video, Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack, creators of Smiling Friends, announce that they have decided to end the show with the third season.

Cusack and Hadel cite burnout as the reason, insisting that they don't want to keep writing and producing episodes of the show if their hearts aren't in it. They claim that they've done what they wanted to do with the show. They say that Adult Swim was understanding of the decision and left the possibility for future episodes or specials open, but Hadel and Cusack make no promises of a return.

They also acknowledge that they could sell the rights to the show to have others produce episodes, but that they don't want to do that. Additionally, Cusack and Hadel announced that two more "not finale" episodes will be released to cap off the series.

The video gained over 550,000 views in a day.

Online Reactions

The announcement inspired many reactions online, including support for the creators for deciding to end the show rather than drag it on through burnout. It also inspired memes and theories about the show's ending.

On February 25th, 2026, X^[3] user @lukasdrawsart posted artwork of a non-existent parody spinoff of Smiling Friends called Little Helpers featuring the show's side characters, writing, "smiling friends ending so little helpers can run," garnering over 8,900 likes in a day.

Later that night, X^[4] user @MinModulation posted, "Sources say Smiling Friends is still stable. Please God," referencing the Charlie Is Stable meme, garnering over 25,000 likes in a day.

Later that night, Redditor exuxious posted a meme to the /r/SmilingFriends^[5] subreddit titled, "Show ended while I was making this," sharing a meme that turns the show's characters into Chudjak variants, garnering over 2,200 upvotes in a day.

Shortly after, Redditor Mysterious-Cow-8752 posted a meme to /r/SmilingFriends^[6] editing Adult Swim's season 4 and 5 announcement post onto a gravestone, writing, "I can't believe this is happening," garnering over 4,500 upvotes in a day.

That night, X^[7] user @regularaugust posted, "We never got Smiling Friend’s McDonald’s sauce," a reference to Rick & Morty's viral Szechuan Sauce meme, garnering over 5,200 likes in a day.

On February 26th, X^[8] user @NopeSignal posted a meme comparing Joe Biden's presidency to Donald Trump's regarding the airing of Smiling Friends, blaming Trump for the cancelation, garnering over 40,000 likes in under a day.

"The Glep Ep" Christmas Dinner Scene Cancellation Conspiracy Theory

Theories about a secret, unannounced reason behind the show's sudden ending spread on social media after the announcement was made.

One of the main theories suggests that a scene at the end of the season three finale episode, "The Glep Ep," was the reason for the show's end. In the scene, which parodies vintage Christmas specials, a narrator pops onto the screen during a Christmas dinner and jokes, "No matter how different we are, everyone can get along with each other. Except for a certain group of people. You know who I'm talking about." The "certain group" is not mentioned, and the character Charlie pushes to try to find out who he's referring to.

The conspiracy theory suggests that the narrator character was referencing Jewish people, and that's why the show was canceled.

For example, on February 26th, 2026, X^[9] user @ImperiumFirst shared the theory in a post that gained over 100,000 likes and 7,100 reposts in under a day.

Search Interest

External References