Smiling Through It

by Ridic Ferrand

This year, I’ve been streaming the Cartoon Network’s newest Adult Swim animated series, Smiling Friends. For the last decade, I have been watching online animations from the two creators, Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack, so finding out back in 2020 that they were getting a series was the greatest news to hear.

In 2024, they have been releasing new episodes of season 2 — six so far, with even more to come as I write this. Smiling Friends follows animated creatures Pim (pink) and Charlie (yellow), two employees of a small business looking to buoy spirits — and each weird 10-minute episode deals with topics more grim than perky, from family dysfunction to horror.

The newest season has been even funnier since the first and does a great job mixing various animation styles — some very old school — and live-action footage. Some have even compared it to The Amazing World of Gumball but for adults. (Gumball is Cartoon Network’s series about a middle school attending blue anthropomorphic cat and his adopted goldfish brother.)

The first two episodes of the newest Smiling Friends season have been the strongest, satirizing both the video game industry and the current political climate in America — the second episode addresses the unhygienic and unintelligent president of the United States, Jimble, played by Mike Bocchetti, as he runs for office. Sound familiar? If you appreciate animation, mixed mediums and raunchy adult comedy, I highly recommend Smiling Friends.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!