In the last 20+ years, Adult Swim has made a name for itself as one of the premiere destinations for mature content. That success is due in part to the risks they take in their original programming. While all vastly different, Adult Swim shows share the common trait of being absolutely off-the-wall, bonkers, and surreal. It's difficult to imagine them airing on any other network.

One of their newer offerings, Smiling Friends, is a perfect example. The show centers on four employees of the titular company, Pim, Charlie, Glep, and Allan, along with their supervisor, Mr. Boss, as they try their best to help the clients who call their company's hotline. The series' tone and blending of animation techniques have led to critical praise and strong linear TV ratings. That has led some to claim that it could one day take over for the net's current and all-time biggest hit, Rick and Morty. However, others aren't so sure of that. Smiling Friends is good, but is it at Rick and Morty's level? Let's look at why this show may not necessarily reach those heights for Adult Swim.

Smiling Friends Has Been a Success

Smiling Friends

TV-MA

Release Date

April 1, 2020

Cast

Michael Cusack , Zach Hadel , Marc M. , Joshua Tomar , Mick Lauer , Erica Lindbeck , David Dore , Lyle Rath

Main Genre

Animation

Seasons

2

As mentioned, Smiling Friends is essentially a workplace comedy centering on the misadventures of employees at Smiling Friends, Inc. The company operates out of a large, round building painted as a yellow smiling face, which also serves as the show's logo. Smiling Friends, Inc. is owned by the eccentric yet friendly Mr. Boss, who's dedicated to his job of making people smile. The staff consists of employees Pim Pimling, Charlie Dompler, Allan Red, and Glep Simpson, who do their best to bring happiness to the clients who call in looking for a smile or help with their personal problems. The absurdist nature of the show allowed it to fit right in with the more "out-there" side of Adult Swim's programs.

Smiling Friends has received acclaim from both critics and audiences, with its character design, tone, animation, and surrealism all singled out for praise. For all that success, it's worth noting that Adult Swim didn't seem that sure about Smiling Friends when it launched. Its pilot dropped unannounced during the annual April Fools' Day prank in 2020. The rest of the season didn't resume airing until January 2022. However, instead of just one episode for that promoted premiere, Adult Swim released the entire season in one surprise go over an all-night marathon. Season 2 began once again on April Fools' Day in 2024, with a stable weekly release schedule starting in May 2024.

Smiling Friends' praise and surrealism quickly made it a star. It regularly trends online and is the subject of countless memes. Its yellow, smiling face logo has also become one of the most recognizable in pop culture. That social ubiquity has made many fans ask whether Smiling Friends is the next Rick and Morty.

The Icon Status of Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty is Adult Swim's current – and arguably biggest all-time – hit. Hailing from Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, it is a pop culture phenomenon frequently cited as one of television's best modern animated series. Running since 2013 and with at least three upcoming seasons ordered, Rick and Morty is not going anywhere anytime soon. But it has shown signs of faltering in recent years. In particular, the recasting of ousted co-creator Roiland (who voiced both titular roles) with soundalike actors seemed to have an impact on the most recent seventh season.

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Viewers agreed that the show settled into the status quo, not taking as many creative risks compared to the earlier days. The ratings have also fallen from around 2 to 2.5 million viewers at its peak in Season 3 to roughly 300k to 400k in Season 7. However, this is less of a statement on the show itself and rather a reflection of the decline of linear TV as a whole. Do these creative dips leave an opening for another series to take Rick and Morty's place, perhaps Smiling Friends?

A Different Media Landscape for Both Series

Smiling Friends is undoubtedly a hit, but citing it as the next Rick and Morty is a bold claim. While both have similar levels of quality and acclaim, the circumstances around their airings are very different. Though just 10 years old, Rick and Morty arrived in a different media landscape. Broadcast and cable TV were much stronger in 2013 since streaming was far from the behemoth it is today. The only major players back then were Netflix and Hulu, and original content for those streamers was in its infancy. Compare this to today, with Disney+, Max, Paramount+, Prime Video, and more on the scene announcing new original content practically every day.

It was easy for Rick and Morty to capture the collective cultural conversation back then simply because viewers still watched linear TV. Getting 1 to 2 million viewers for reruns and late-night premieres was commonplace, with Rick and Morty scoring those numbers and actually underperforming compared to other Adult Swim shows upon its debut.

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Today, new Smiling Friends episodes run about 200k viewers, enough to put it at the top of the pack alongside Rick and Morty's current reruns (and easily double what premieres on the daytime Cartoon Network earn). If Rick and Morty had begun airing on Adult Swim today, it likely would not be able to have the same cultural impact due to the oversaturation of competing programming. Likewise, if Smiling Friends had launched a decade earlier, it may have taken off even more than today. They're also fundamentally different shows. While surreal and heavy on sci-fi, at its core, Rick and Morty is rooted in the family comedy genre, with flawed yet relatable characters. It's a little more challenging for viewers to connect to Smiling Friends' humanoid creatures on a personal level.

So, could Smiling Friends be Adult Swim's next big hit? It's absolutely possible. Is it going to be a Rick and Morty-level cultural icon? That's far less likely. Smiling Friends airs on Adult Swim and streams on Max.