Regardless of its devoted fanbase and significant acclaim since debuting in January 2022, Smiling Mates received’t be returning for a fourth season. Co-creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack stunned followers in February 2026 with an announcement that the Grownup Swim animated comedy will conclude after its third season — despite the fact that the community had beforehand renewed it for seasons 4 and 5.
“I’m gonna lower proper to the chase,” Hadel mentioned on the prime of the message. “This isn’t a bit, this isn’t a joke. Michael and I are right here to announce that ‘Smiling Mates’ can be ending after Season 3 is completed.”
Discover out extra under.
What Is Smiling Mates About?
Smiling Mates is an Grownup Swim animated comedy that follows Pim and Charlie, two workers of a small firm who attempt (typically hilariously and chaotically) to assist individuals be glad. The surreal, off-beat sequence blends darkish humor, absurd eventualities and sharp character moments that earned it a devoted fanbase after its 2022 debut.
Will There Be a Season 4 of Smiling Mates?
No — Smiling Mates won’t return for Season 4 or past. Though the sequence was beforehand renewed for fourth and fifth seasons in June 2025, co-creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack introduced in February 2026 that the present will finish after its third.
Nonetheless, two further episodes (initially unreleased) from Season 3 are scheduled to air on April 12, 2026 on Grownup Swim as a part of its ultimate run.
Why Was Smiling Mates Cancelled?
The choice to finish Smiling Mates wasn’t made by the community — Hadel and Cusack selected to conclude the sequence themselves after years of nonstop work as a result of they felt creatively exhausted and wished to protect the present’s high quality relatively than stretch it out.
“To be completely sincere, after we completed Season 3, Zach and I simply each had the identical feeling the place we felt fairly burnt out after placing years and years into this, but in addition fairly achieved,” Cusack added. “We simply got here to this sense the place we have been like, ‘I feel that might simply be it,’ after Season 3.”
“We wouldn’t need to be doing extra seasons half-hearted or burnt out or not feeling it,” Hadel added. “That’s not honest to us, and it’s not honest to the viewers to offer you guys fucking slop. That sucks.”
The creators mentioned they like to wrap the present “on prime” as a substitute of manufacturing episodes with out full ardour, and Grownup Swim publicly supported their alternative. In addition they left the door open to attainable future specials or materials if inspiration strikes, however as of now, common seasons are over.