Phenixx Gaming

Adult Swim loves to play April Fools’ jokes – they never miss a year. Notably bringing back Toonami for a night in the early 2010s with so much fervor that it returned eventually. Smiling Friends had some hype generated for their April 1st event, despite anyone privy to the date knowing that it could all be a ruse. It turns out this time around, it was the best kind of ruse Adult Swim could have orchestrated. Premiering three episodes from season one, completely in puppet form, as well as debuting the first episode of season two with the full season date announced at the end.

At midnight EST, fans were treated to a Smiling Friends YouTube stream that aired live alongside the cable debut. The episodes “Mr. Frog”, “Shrimp’s Odyssey”, and “Charlie Dies and Doesn’t Come Back” were aired with all the original audio over puppeteers, with a surprise release of the first episode of season two, “Gwimbly: Definitive Remastered Enhanced Extended Edition DX 4K (Anniversary Director’s Cut).” This episode saw the gang encounter a downtrodden retro gaming character who wants to get back in the game, alongside a hard-to-please muscle-bound freak that won’t smile. It was a laugh riot chock-full of niche and dark jokes with all the quality of a season one episode.

I was previously afraid that we’d only get an inkling of info or a cruel pittance of a joke, but this April Fools’ event went above and beyond. It was concerning seeing Adult Swim post a mere snippet of puppets when the time hit midnight, but the stream that started 15 minutes later proved that good things come to wait. Here’s hoping that’s the case when Smiling Friends returns for season two starting Sunday, May 12th, with episodes airing on Sunday on Adult Swim and appearing the next day on MAX.

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