Smiling Friends Has Changed Everything
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
- Adult Swim's new original animation Smiling Friends is an incredibly unique and important show that will change the genre forever. The comedic sensibilities that it's creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack bring makes for a show unlike any other on TV.
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Mustard’s “sexuality” also serves as
1. Her murder motive
2. A reference to the classic mystery trope(?) where the traumatized chick is horny for the detectives for SOME reason
I feel like lots of shows mess it up by having the sexuality BE the joke instead of having it CONVEY the joke. “Ha ha person horny” becomes boring unless there’s something else it plays into, or responds to
Its basically gen z humor and in living for it.
Also, the scene where Mustard starts flirting with Charlie is hilarious not because Mustard (a condiment-themed cartoon character) is horny. That character trait/behavior is NOT the punchline of a joke; it is the SET UP of a joke. The punch line is when Charlie defies our expectations & instead of falling for her, is extremely cold towards her. You can really speculate here why he acts this way. Is he just an idiot & he's oblivious to the fact that she's flirting with him? Is he just not attracted to her? Does he dislike people like her who are too forward & get overly friendly with you during your first conversation? Who knows, but what makes the joke funny is being presented with this odd situation that you expect to go a certain way (because in other shows it WOULD go that way) & they take it in a completely other direction. It really catches you off guard & it also reveals something about Charlie's character, he's a very blunt person who is often apathetic towards things that would excite other people. In that regard it is character-driven comedy, which is often the best kind.
I already said yes
What’s even funnier is Zach said he wanted to show her head bobbing up an down briefly, but he wanted to animate it on ones, so it looked like she was blowing Salty impossibly fast😂 AS told them that was too far though.
@@chieludz it’s really not.
Mr. Boss actually being a good boss is another refreshing twist.
he's just a goofy man who runs a charity, nothing wrong with him. its great
@@DannyCheezits silly goofy man
@@DannyCheezits he’s literally my favorite character of the show. I laughed when he broke the 4th wall and said it 😂
He's a weird dude but he seems to actually care for his employees.
@Moody Fuck pim gaslit him into thinking it was important
I'm not even joking, Smiling Friends made me realize how cynical and pessimistic 99% of media is, and it genuinely made a little bit happier as a person. Optimism my new best friend.
Guess they did their job
@provis345 p p
It’s cause it was made by a person who put their 10000 hours in. Zach has deserved this for years now and going from viewing his early CZcams and new grounds to him having a whole show is something special. This is a product of love and it’s seen in full view.
I genuinely happy to hear that even though you’re a stranger .
Also watch every meaningful show on adult swim, like morel orel, wondershowzen (mostly filler and comedy but alr). even some stuff in Xavier renegade angel woke me up a little, you just have to look deeper. And there are a lot in the big lez show, especially the different show on the same channel about Sassy the Sasquatch
A scene i really like is when Pim remembers walking infront of the fantasy forest with his dad as a child, he tells his dad that he wants to be a hero and go on a quest, i was fully expecting his dad to be mean to him or dismiss him, but no, he tells him that hes not ready for such a grand thing yet, but maybe some day he will.
Especially after what we knew about the character from his only previous appearance in the show lol
I WORKED 40 FUCKING HOURS IN THE MINES TODAY WOMAN
"You kiss your dad on the mouth?"
And the joke about the scene is just Charlie being confused about his dad kissing him on the mouth.
and then he kisses his dad on the mouth
You kissed your dad in the mouth?
It's honestly refreshing to see a character like pim (a honest, naive, sensitive, empathetic and kind-hearted person) being praised and not shitted on every fucking time. I love Pim sm and i really did craved an adult show where the positive and emotinal character doesn't get traumatized or fucking turns into a shell of what it once were.
Just stays kind-hearted, and even though there's jokes abt it, they're funny and not just downright mean for no reason.
Great video dude, ur analysis was spot on!
same, I hate when shows are mean-spirited towards their own reappearing characters. Unlike a one off joke like Smormu which was obnoxiously introduced and killed in the same episode
Yeah, the "I like kids" moment is just lack of situational awareness instead of a "haha nice guy say stupid thing!!" and Charlie didn't actively insult him or anything, just encourage him to... not do that.
Definitely reminds me of spongebob or rocko for sure
he literally shriveled and dried up when he was told about the harsh realities of life
@@NateS917 But he's fine now. All good.
One thing that Zach emphasized in this show is the background animation.
He points out that Family Guy literally has scenes where nothing happens in the background, even in places where activity should happen like restaurants.
Smiling Friends straight up has near non-stop action in random background scenes of public places. The gym has people working out on different machines, the clothing store has weirdos hiding in the clothes rack, Pim's home has children running around doing obnoxious stuff kids do.
Zach and Michael put a lot of attention to detail in this show.
and when family guy does have someone in the background they are basically still art, maybe a blink if your lucky.
I remember watching a stream and Zach talked about how lazy the animators were. How they would just click and drag in a character from off screen like go animate. Or even how they don’t have the goofy movement animation anymore. I love how he’s making his own thing from all of these observations and passion and yolo 2 from Michael was top tier of comedy in the 2010’s
"children running around doing obnoxious things"
Like crawling through the wall and firing live rounds inside the house.
That’s because it’s fresh and new rn. I’m not saying that it will go away with time but hopefully it stays this way. Its not my favorite show but it’s definitely up there. I’ve always been a huge fan of Zach and Michael now as well. And speaking of other animated series I wonder how MC feels about futuramas return.
Yo my bad I’m fucking high as shit
The show just proves that you can make decent adult animation without being overly cynical, mean spirited and offensive for the sake of being offensive. It just needs to be funny
but it's not funny? :|
@@JohnSmith-bw6pv humor is subjective. if it’s not funny to you that doesn’t mean that it’s not funny to other people, the world doesn’t revolve around you :)
@@dean0mean0 exactly... and their opinion is that it's not funny. if someone said "this show is funny" u wouldn't respond by saying "well humor is subjective, a lot of people don't find it funny... the world doesn't revolve around you"
@@daababy4205 well to be fair... the comment they're responding to was literally objecting to the OP saying the show is funny.
King Of The Hill exists? I'd argue even the biggest example used in the video, The Simpsons isn't at all cynical. Very rarely does a Simpson episode, at least in its earlier (and better) seasons, you know the seasons that actually made the show a phenomenon, end in a completely cynical way.
It really did just dawn on me thanks to this video that the trope of "bad people winning/being the main characters" has filled up way too much of adult animation lately. Smiling Friends is super refreshing because the main cast are relatively likeable, normal people.
the one i am fine with is always sunny because it actually acknowledges that the characters are bad and shouldnt be idolised instead of “haha cool this guy is so evil look at how cool and bad he is”
@@themilkman6969 Most of these shows do that... Rick and Morty is constantly beating Rick and his family down for being dogshit humans.
Mr frog is the only "bad people winning" instance i remember
@@beastminer147 yeah but why are we tolerating media where we watch bad people be bad people?
@@duncanchillake8024 Yeah but even that is a bit more nuanced because Charlie, for instance, doesn't even think that Mr. Frog is a bad person.
Another thing that I love about the show is how Pim really is just a happy little guy. A lot of adult shows use cutesy characters like him as shock value by making them secretly evil. Mip was sort of like that, but he was a one off character and we didn't learn just how terrible he was until after he already died. Even when Pim goes full Gollum mode after getting jealous of Mip, he still doesn't want to hurt him, he just wants to deliver the package. Anyway thank you for coming to my TED Talk
I agree
this is literally ONE OF the only adult animated shows where the cast of characters actually like each other and dont try to manipulate or be cruel to one another for the sake of a "joke"
I agree music man
Solar Opposites fits that bill I think
No it isn’t
Nah King of the Hill and Bob's Burgers are also good examples.
can you say that with like an inner city hispanic soundcloud rapper accent tho
Not only is is super funny, but it's also a bizarrely optimistic show. Like I actually feel happier after watching it.
It’s not as cynical as most shows. The character Pim is genuinely happy
@@miah3257 I wonder how he's joyful while being raised by the worse than a dysfunctional family?
Edit: I put a "." instead of a question mark.
"." LOL.
@@CamSiv996 Good question. Pim probably uses optimism as a way to deal with that. He is a cartoon so it might not be that deep but maybe the show will address it later.
Seeing Desmond turn his life around was genuinely sweet and inspiring.
@@CamSiv996 we all deal with our problems one way or another. I personally become a cynical asshole (wow that's a lot more common then I thought) and laugh at just about anything. Pim could be simply smiling in the face of adversary and anything the world throws at you.
That’s why I love smiling friends more than shows like Rick and morty. Characters who are terrible people done get rewarded like on r&m, there is no “yeah well I hate you all, I never loved you and you are burden to me”, zoom in on their distraught faces and then roll credits. The characters have real problems and real friendships but it’s never malicious or mean spirited. I really get the sense that they care about each other, unlike other shows where caring about another person is the exception not the rule. What really turns me off to shows like r&m is that this idea that being a caring, compassionate or stable person is considered “uncool.” The only time a character is shown to have any depth is just so that they are at least a little redeemable. With smiling friends, you can genuinely like the characters without having to look past a sea of endless cynicism and bad behavior.
(Long comment but thanks for reading if you made it this far)
You have completely miscategorised Rick & Morty, Rick ISN'T supposed to be seen as the protagonist, he isn't supposed to be inspiring, he's deeply flawed, narcissistic and a very lonely and troubled man who keeps getting punished for his unwillingness to reconcile with his past and with his cynicism so to say that R&M are trying to make not caring cool is incorrect because they are actively striving for the exact opposite.
@@14192jn *sigh* "TBF you have to have high IQ to understand Dick and Farty"
That may be the ultimate goal, but in actual practices, that’s not the message it sends. For a while, we heard the whole “you have to be very smart to understand” thing being tossed around by people who didn’t understand the show is meant to satirize smarter-than-you people. Effect is as important as intent
Actually, It seems that Rick and Morty might be turning over a new leaf. The season 5 finale actually acknowledges Rick and Morty’s toxic relationship and how it needs to be corrected. I just hope they commit to the change instead of resetting everything next season.
Damn. You've never actually seen Rick and Morty huh? The show knows what it is and can explain its own faults in multiple episodes better than you ever could.
I love Michael cusack he’s a great animator and to think adult swim picked him up is breath taking. His CZcams channel has gold
I feel like the episode Frowning Friends was a big middle finger to adult animation constantly having way too much cynicism all the time. Best episode of the series so far!
There's a lot of little jabs at adult animation scattered throughout the series, my favorite being the manager guy in the Mr. Frog episode being drawn almost like a Family Guy character, lol
Especially when Grim just gave a speech about how nothing matters because we are all going to die was about to be shot by Mr Boss and he breaks down crying as well as peeing his pants because he didn't want to die.
pretty sure it was directly at Rick n Morty and it was sick
prob bojack too
@@ExaltedUriel i thought he looked like an lhugeny character
You hit the nail on the head here. I was wondering why I liked Smiling Friends so much more than other adult animated shows, and that's because it genuinely makes me smile and stay smiling after it ends. Even knowing the Earth's helium is running out, this show can make me focus on the good in life.
wait, are you serious? earths helium is running out?
Correction the US is running out of back up helium
@@1992jkwj Dude I just looked up that helium thing he was talking about, that's true! That's like a hundred percent.. every..everything he said was true...it's all going to be gone.
@@1992jkwj Watch the show… unfortunately it is!
@@kaozspartan9289 it’s just what’s been stockpiled. There’s still helium
We need a more optimistic shows like Smiling Friends.
Joe Pera Talk With You
When it was first announced, I was worried that Smiling Friends wouldn’t be very popular. I was shocked when I saw screen caps of the show being used in various memes that I had seen while just scrolling through my feed!
Seeing its success makes me very happy for the creators, as I have seen a lot of their own animations when I was a kid. It’s so good to see them grow to become what they are now. I hope they continue to grow and be successful.
The lack of cynicism is the main reason I like this show. There’s still a bit of cynicism in it, but at its core it’s mostly focused on making people smile. I feel like on any other adult animated show the clients would get killed off for quick laughs. But on Smiling Friends they actually succeed in making people smile and making their lives better.
You hit it on the head here. I was fully expecting some last second turnaround for Desmond in the pilot episode because that's how so many adult cartoons play out. The "I'm gonna turn my life around!" *dies immediately* trope is getting pretty tired. I will say a lot of the cynicism in the show revolves around "constantly optimistic guy gets shit on" but thankfully not every episode made Pim a punching bag.
They flushed all the cynicism in the first episode with Desmond spewing peak your usual nothing in the universe matters the sun will explode blah blah
Have you seen their online animations? Not exactly wholesome
I also like that they usually succeed at the task of making people smile and often by complete accident after initially appearing to mess it up
@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 Oh absolutely, their online stuff is NOT wholesome. Lol Which is part of the pleasant surprise that this show is (in certain ways).
One of my favorite moments was from "Shrimp's Odyssey" when Pim invites Shrimpina out on a blind date to meet her secret admirer and he has the opportunity to confess his own feelings for her but instead chooses to do the right thing, even though she wasn't actually Shrimpina at all and she ended up falling for Shrimp. Choosing honesty and compassion over one's own happiness feels like a moral a kid's cartoon would teach you and they subverted it by not having Pim get with the girl in the end. Yet it still felt very clean if that makes sense. This video is absolutely spot on.
Ya it's interesting how in a weird way the show is kind of wholesome. Evil isn't rewarded but being good isn't viewed as easy.
Yeah, I love the “number 15 could I get the number 15”
Yeah I love how they avoid super cheesy endings where u learn the lesson of “true friendship” or smth w funny twists like her not being shrimping and really into shrimp and Charlie and pinpointing out everything we were thinking when we saw her.
Awesome point! Kinda reminds me of the moral lessons Hey Arnold always put forward. Selflessness above all
Fortunately, Smormu saved the day!
Smiling Friends is the most adult swim show I’ve seen in a while, reminds me a lot of shows like ATHF, Venture Bros, etc. I think SF is better compared to things within their genre of adult animation like the aforementioned tho, Rick & Morty, BoJack Horseman, Family Guy, and SF all inhabit different corners of adult animation; people treat adult animation like a monolithic genre because of network obsession with creating the next Simpsons like you mentioned
What’s ATHF and SF?
@@destroyerofturtles5024 athf is Aqua Teen Hunger Force and SF is Smiling Friends I assume.
One thing that's also important is that they achieve their goal in every episode in funny roundabout ways, them actually getting shit done helps with the likeability of the characters
One tidbit that surprised me in particular was the Century Egg character being locked in the basement due to people not finding him delicious and he asks Pim and Charlie to bury his body in China if he isn't going to be eaten, and Charlie's seemingly insincere promise to follow through actually gets fulfilled by the Smiling Friends having his body buried while they talk about century eggs as a Chinese delicacy before deciding to exhume Century Egg's body to try some. It initially comes off as a dark joke, eating a dead body until you remember being eaten was what Century Egg originally wanted to begin with. The Smiling Friends fulfilled both wishes at once.
For me, the fact the joke can be read both as multi-layered comedic references to prior setup AND that positive read you brought up are just... Man, it's genius.
Plus I mean you were supposed to eat the Century Egg after burrying it anyways, so waste not want not I guess
I also love his earlier gag about the “wrong drawer.” The blink-and-you-miss-it nature of the joke, in addition to it being left entirely unresolved, make for a good joke when you stop and start to wonder just what is in that drawer…
CZcams stop recommending smiling friends, i dont care about the show, i have pressed no to every video this is about the 200th suggestion and i have never watched one episode ever, shut the fuck up youtube.
@@c97x I just got done catching up, and I think it's definitely worth giving a shot. I really don't think it made me laugh, but I definitely *smiled* a few times, and I enjoyed myself quite a bit watching it. I was in your position for a bit, and I kept getting recommended out of context clips, so I guess it added to the fun because I could point out all the little things I remembered seeing suddenly gain context.
Zach said in a podcast that "modern adult animation doesn't respect the art of animation." After watching Smiling Friends, I think he's right.
The movement of characters, the different frame rates, the mixed media... After watching Smiling Friends, everything else looks stiff and lifeless.
Personally I don't even take it as adult animation not respecting animation, but the industry as a whole.
Like even with anime or something, go and compare something like FMA Brotherhood, Cowboy Bebop, Redline, One-Punch Man, Eva or Mob Psycho to many of the other big seasonal shows, or Konosuba to other anime comedies (which aren't usually too funny imo). Of course sometimes it's as simple as budget issues, but there's also many shows that have the budget and ability and yet don't actually use the animation to enhance what the show is going for at that exact moment-- whether that be action, comedy, or an emotional scene and instead prefer to maintain stiff movement and still frames. It's kind of sad because I can only think of a relatively small number of anime that actually use animation well for what it tries to convey or achieve-- many of which are literally decades old and really shouldn't have any right looking/feeling more fluid and alive than 90% of what releases today considering the budget and technology difference. And even then many shows kind of fall into the same issues with tropes, cheap gags and oversexualization and such that western adult animation often does. Then there's children's/teen animation which is, well, watered down and barely alive if we're being honest unless we include something like gumball... it's just sad to know that animation as a whole could be far better if companies took risk and expressive, passionate creatives and experimenters like Zach and Micheal were in charge of animating and directing visuals/writing on more projects.
@@linkly9272 Fucking love Nichijou for this reason. It really uses animation to create humor that wouldn't work as live action. I think that's what shows like Gumball, Smiling Friends, The Boondocks, et cetera have in common. They only work as animated shows not because animation is an excuse for lazy writing that wouldn't be acceptable as live action, but because their way of storytelling is ingrained in the art form.
@@linkly9272 hell even the good animated shows end up getting completely ruined by switching to cheaper animation styles I can’t even watch the new one punch man or 7 deadly sins seasons and it’s pretty sad lol
I agree with you there, because while I was learning about animation some of the adult shows aren't nothing like Smiling Friends.
Shows like Rick and Morty, and Bojack Horseman (don't get me wrong they're good shows) has mental and social issues, Smiling Friends has bizarre looking characters, funny facial expressions, and excellent writing.
@@CamSiv996 I’m not sure if you missed how at least half of the episodes had social/mental issues. Mr Frog, Desmond, Shrimp, and the Devil immediately come to mind.
2:41 hearing Bojack Horseman be grouped in with Big Mouth made me lose braincells
I'd guess its less on a quality level and more just of how much influence they have
Aside from the humor and art, what attracted me to the show was the good hearted ness at the core of the show
this feels like an actual adult cartoon, no stereotypes or typical story telling. just stuff that will mess you up without being abusive
What does this comment even mean.
It has boring sitcom story a story b story telling. Stop using doublethink to justify your love of an adult swim stone comedy.
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 Bro Ive seen you in multiple reply sections already. Do you get a hate boner from smiling friends or something? touch grass man.
Right? It’s so refreshing to have a show with writing and dialogue that adults can enjoy, instead of feeling like a kid’s or tween’s show with excessive gore to give it an adult rating. I love this show :)
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 L take. You should reforget your password
I'm glad there's a adult show that isn't trying to be offensive for the sake of it and the creators are trying to make a funny relatable show the characters are just like normal dudes a chill group of freinds
I love how you pointed out how over-done cynicism is in modern adult animation(and comedy in general). It's so prevalent that it almost just feels boring by how common it is. Definitely refreshing to watch smiling friends for the flip. Yeah people and society can be pretty messed up, but when someone highlights that we arent all bad, it makes life more enjoyable. I hope entertainment moves to be more positive in general, I'm kinda tired of feeling like the world is shit all the time. It isn't, there is good. Great video, I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful day!
Allan is my favorite because yeah they made him the weird standoffish guy but he’s still their friend and they show that, the characters are more relatable than most other adult animations.
Yes! I love how he’s a bit more serious than the others and has neurotic tendencies, but he’s also shown to get along with his coworkers and have a laugh with them. Like at the end of the first episode after he revels in getting his cheese back and Charlie is all “come here you crazy character” in an endearing way, Alan plays along and “noms” a couple times as they laugh, instead of calling Charlie a weirdo or scolding him for touching him/getting in his personal space. It’s a great and refreshing dynamic!
@@Kawaiikitten0211 And then the alien breaks through the tv, and they have a very reasonable reaction to it.
It is super refreshing to see an adult show where the cast aren't manipulative or cruel to each other. Remember the scene in the beginning of the Halloween episode where Pim shoots BBs at the bottle and one hits Alan in the eye? Pim immediately feels sorry for it and apologizes; Alan is clearly frustrated but tries to keep his cool because he doesn't want to completely freak out on his friend.
Okay, now imagine how that scene would go in Rick & Morty.
CZcams stop recommending smiling friends, i dont care about the show, i have pressed no to every video this is about the 200th suggestion and i have never watched one episode ever, shut the fuck up youtube.
@@c97x stop spamming
@@c97x oh you’re a copy pasta and not a good one at that
@@c97x yikes imagine having that bad taste
" I click on the video and leave a thousand comments but I'm not interested "
Lol k bud
@@dissraps its sort of funny because youtube is going to reccomend him more smiling friends videos because he keeps interacting with it LOL
I’m pretty sure people are more than ever just looking for good vibes. It feels like the “this character is an asshole to everyone and that’s funny” trope is exhausted.
What I love is that the writing feels creative, feels natural and has effort. The characters are written hell and while they argue can be harsh they are usually nice and work as a team, the smiling friends feel like a group of people who liked one another and enjoy what they do.
My biggest issue when it comes to Cynicism now days is people often confuse it for wisdom or "waking up in the Matrix". Cynicism may make you more aware of societies flaws and more ready to call them out, but there's a reason why we have different words to describe being Cynical and being Wise. Its nice to see an adult show for once that doesn't rely on crushing cynicism to be funny or make commentary
Cynicism and sarcasm are easy. Optimism and sincerity require effort
wholeheartedly agree
People forget that the whole point of the Matrix was that you would wake up FROM the cynicism, into an optimism where you could do anything, literally flying off into the sunset. (People also forget that the Matrix is about being trans but that's a reading as opposed to the literal text of the entire plot)
Or extending it to make it basically the shows focus bc it gets really annoying to see the character not solve smth for 5 seasons
@@l.ronhubbard5445 lol this show is neither.
My favorite thing about Smiling Friends is that almost everything the show does is in service of being funny. It doesn't try to be really emotional or deep. It doesn't try to have lore or make everything make sense. The plot is always either just a buildup to a punchline at the end, or something that's so absurd its funny. It does have stuff like character development, but it never bogs down the humor.
Lol apparently this show is everything to everybody. On one hand you have people saying it’s deep for not being deep on the other you have people saying it doesn’t try to impress you. This show is the weird guy at work who thinks his trump impression is still funny.
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 No
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 I don't care for every joke in Smiling Friends but this is a pretty dog shit take.
@@JimJamTheAdmin he/she did kinda make a good point with people praising the show too much. I feel like new viewers might have unrealistic expectations at this point…
It’s just that sentence at the end that ruined it.
@@sporovid5856 there's always an online fandom that strokes the shaft of any even mildly interesting property, let alone a show that had a cult following before getting picked up for broadcast. Thank those beautiful turbofans for spending all the money and generating all the hype so that shows like this even get made.
The last point you made really hit it home for me. I like the somewhat abusive dynamics for humor’s sake when it comes to certain shows but it can get really exhausting to watch when the good guy NEVER wins (often the case in Rick and Morty where the “rational” one gets their ass handed to them)
I definitely think smiling friends is a nice refresher comparatively
It’s amazing to see the animators and the guys that I’ve watched over the years finally get to that point where they get the recognition they deserved. I hope that more animators like these guys (oneyng, stampertv, spazkid, psychicpebbles, meatcanyon, etc.) are able to show their talent on a much bigger platform and give the viewers some good diversity in the toons today
It wasn’t that good honestly.
Bojack and Smiling Friends exist brilliantly in tandem with one another.
While one fools you into thinking it’s just a funny show while having some shockingly realistic moments of sadness and different aspects from actual life. Meanwhile Smiling Friends provides optimism and a mature form of humor with a slight childish and hopeful core.
exactly, I disagree with how he says Bojack is literally all about negativity and sadness. There is so much positivity and optimism in the show that goes along brilliantly with depression and trauma. Not to the mention the vast amount of hilarious comedy
Bojak is a shitty cynical 2deep4u show for depressed zoomers
@@bigboysdotcom745 what a narrow way of thinking about it but aight
ppl who shame bojack lack empathy and have had an easy life i think. most people who have gone through issues relate to, or know someone like one of the characters.
@@bigboysdotcom745 Doubt half the zoomers know what Bojack is, it doesnt pretend it’s that deep, it lays out why Bojack is a bad person and how he grows to the end of the series. the show has been praised by how it very well shows depression and other things. if you dont like it, cool, dont pretend everyone should think that.
Smiling Friends is basically the adult version of The Amazing World of Gumball with the way they mix different styles of animation into 1 show.
Holy mother of Satan's left nipple, truer words have never been spoken
Yeah I got Courage the Cowardly Dog vibes from that Forest Demon; genuinely terrifying
@@Grayman2003 returrrnnn the slaaabb
@@nightlyy- Ittsssss noooot blackkkkkfaceeeeeeee
This show doesn't try to make you attached in any other way. It's like watching a let's play youtuber vs a funny gaming youtuber. Let's play (Bojack, Family Guy, etc.) tries to bring you back with character development or sometimes even a story while the funny random one (Smiling Friends) pulls you back with not only really good/silly humor but also a happy feeling which just makes the title even better. This show may not be for everyone as it is a little fast paced and has some crazy animation but it definitely deserves the hype it has gotten and I can't wait to see more.
I love the absurdist and optimistic themes Smiling Friends uses, super cool show, I hope it gets a nice runtime and that we get some cool episodes. Personally by the holiday episode I knew they were onto a winning formula. An entire episode featuring just yhe established characters talking about things, in a mostly stagnant environment. Frickin' incredible!
Other adult shows feel the need to overemphasise things and feature heavy cynical and oversexualised views.
Smiling Friends is a TRUE adult show, and treats you like an adult, trusting you to understand what it's trying to do and just simply trying to make you smile. It's nice to see an optimistic show that shares my ideals.
What I love about this show is probably what everybody else loved. It really felt like they cared more about entertaining everybody, including themselves, instead of just turning a profit (which is ironically why it is successful probably). Though, the whole season cost less to make than one episode of family guy lol so it is actually a super efficient writing method cost-wise. Watching it it felt like something they would upload on one of their own channels but with a higher budget and more of a well structured story (and their writing structure in general is actually really satisfying, they don't leave any open ends which makes each episode feel self contained).
Guess it's been about quality and quantity is just another quality.
HEY Seth Mcfunny needs that money
I feel like it shouldn't be this hard for show executives to recognize that, if you want something to be successful, you should make a show that is fun for people to watch. Just have some passionate, artistic people write and animate the show and have people more passionate about marketing make sure people are aware that the show even exists.
What's the point of having a separate team for animation, a separate team for writing and a separate team for marketing if you're only going to have profiteer-types do all three or worse, make them ONLY do the creative stuff that isn't their forte so they have no time to even market the show, ensuring its failure and obscurity?
I can't tell if the people writing these comments are just being ironic or are completely up their own ass
@@moeburn second one, also I like cartoons bruh
The adult morals for the episode are pretty based too. While having an explicit lesson is usually more common in kids media, they use it well here.
Desmond learns that finding his passion is what gives him the will to live. Shrimp just had to be himself, let go of past relationships and test the waters. Satan and Charlie learned to beat burnout by focusing on what made their work rewarding and not the short term rewards of videogames and fast food.
@idontknowmyname A kids show with bad words describes literally any adult cartoon.
And I wouldn't say nihilism, just straight up pessimism. Even Nietzsche gave up something to do with our nihilism. There's a lot of "9000 iq" adult cartoons that just say nothing matters and then calls it a day.
You children don’t understand depth or really anything.
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 As opposed to you, the sniffling, average Rick and Morty fan.
Yeah, it's not deep, it's just an uncommon mood for the medium.
Smiling friends, a show that wants to make you happy instead of depressed
"assholes don't get rewarded" shows Mister frog a literal psychopath getting rewarded
I can agree that most adult shows kind of oversaturated the whole "cynicism" things for the sake of a cheap chuckle. It's not common to see an adult show that does this in a smooth manner. One adult show I can name that uses cynicism in a timely way that REALLY gets overlooked is Moral Orel
I still remember even as a young child when Adult animated comedy was actually targeted towards adults and made commentary on the systematic problems and conundrums of everyday life. Modern shows like Rick and Morty are not that, they seem to suggest hedonistic indifference If that makes sense as opposed to resonating with people and promoting some form of change.
HELL YEAH fuckin love moral orel dude, wish it could have taken off more than it did. AS really did it dirty man, it could have thrived if it came out today
Moral Orel wasn’t marketable tho, so they didn’t have much use for it…
i cannot even watch bojack lmao
@@soldyrkare5790 if that is all you get from Rick & Morty it seems more like a you thingy. That shows characters are more relateable than mostly any other adult animation show, it gets focus on so many problematic extremist political views, from nazism to capitalism and ideologies from nihilism to cynicism. But at the same time they, Rick especially, teaches the importance of family and love... but that's just the opinion, and differs for every one of us (:
I have a rough time with this sort of grotesque, overly detailed animation, and it does seem like smiling friends uses that more than, say, the simpsons and that sort of thing. That’s really what caused my hesitation, even though I found myself watching the entirety of the trailer instead of skipping it every time I got it as an ad. I was attracted to the writing, the color, and the wacky-positive vibes, but I was worried it was going to be uncomfortable to watch or use a lot of shock humor via gore.
However, I think I’ll give it a try.
Update: I did give it a try- it’s amazing and I love it
I would really recommend it!! It’s really good.
Yeah, I'm so used to shows that look like that all being the same thing, but this show very much wasn't. At least in terms of like the content and tone, maybe a little in terms of the pacing. But I can honestly say I enjoyed it
Glad you gave it a try! It's a great watch, and the creators deserve the recognition! Glad to see someone taking a chance, and even happier to see that it worked out for ya :)
Bro same, that's exctly why I didn't pick it up at first. I thought it was just gonna be a run-of-the-mill grotesque family-aqua hunger-guy or something, but after hearing everyone praise it this much even without being originally fans of the creators, it makes me want to watch it
Honestly I think the only one who’s overly detailed is Mr.boss, and maybe a few side characters, idk there just doesn’t seem to be that many overly detailed characters when I think about it
I think we can all appreciate how good Smiling Friends is, as well as how amazing your ability for selecting background tracks are. I recognized every single one of them, and I would say that alone earns a sub. Great video, and great work.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO. Years ago I saw Michael Cusacks Cinema Experience and I completely forgot what it was. This made me find it (immediately recognized the art style)
Bojack doesn't use depression to aid in the comedy. It uses the comedy to balance the depression. It doesn't play the depressing moments for laughs. It's not scared to fully embrace it unlike all these other shows
Bojack is a masterpiece
@@IgoorboyNo it's not. It's for people on the low end of the dunning kruger affect
The Boss is my FAVOURITE character simply for how it tackles a different aspect of boss. He wasnt an asshole, shows he could do his job, and is just another person whos just passing by like the rest of us. I know how much some of us hate our bosses but to a certain degree they're probably as shitty and had a shortcoming to a person he is. It's fun to not hate a person
He also breastfeeds a baby and is a gamer
There’s nothing like getting off of a long, stressful day at work, smoking a bowl, and watching Smiling Friends 💘
Glad to see this video is on the path to a million!!! I come back to watch, been waiting for someone who appreciated these critters since the golden youtube years. Looking forward to more content
What I really like about the show is it doesn't lean too much on being overly positive, it recognizes that life isn't always great and some things are just the way they are but that doesn't mean you can't find a little happiness in life or a moment where things feel like it's going to be okay even if its not permanent.
CZcams stop recommending smiling friends, i dont care about the show, i have pressed no to every video this is about the 200th suggestion and i have never watched one episode ever, shut the fuck up youtube.
@@c97x you big dummy! Commenting on the videos is the biggest thing the algorithm draws on to recommend. Didn't you hear that dislikes are no longer part of the equation?
@@c97x why did you click on a video about Smiling Friends if you aren’t interested? Also why are you replying to an unrelated comment instead of leaving your own comment?
@@scottmccoppin3 he spammed it 23 times on this video alone😂 the algorithm thinks he is *demanding* more smiling friends
@@c97x i think thats the universe telling you to go watch it, dummie 😚
The whole "renaissance men" joke includes all 3 elements of this video and is genuinely the funniest joke I've ever seen in adult animation imo
Honestly I had to stop the episode to laugh when they appeared on screen 😂
How Smiling Friends approaches its plots and adult humor, without the cynicism being an overbearing thing (or basically nonexistant) and feeling a little more down to earth, it truly does live up to the show's name.
The beauty of this show is that it’s just good writing and good art/animation, without seeming spending millions on a huge staff of writers and animators. It’s just creativity and passion channeled into media
It's nice to have an adult show that challenges cynicism with true comedy for a change.
I've got tired of Rick & Morty being praised for how cynical it was
I like R&M but you do see lots of cringy fans constantly saying shit like "yeah nothing matter blah blah blah" in the comments of clips of it and I don't like that at all. Then you get stuff like the finale to season 5 and it's so worth it.
@@Al0neStillAlive Are you talking about the moment where Space Beth arrives and Rick is left sulking in the garage, realizing what a bat father he's been?
@@sadlobster1 I'm referring to the reveal of president Morty's true goal and him finally escaping the central finite curve. That scene is amazing.
@@Al0neStillAlive I AM curious to know what Evil Morty's purpose will be in the show now. But knowing the people in charge, he'll barely get screentime; just like Space Beth.
Regardless, my reasons for not being THAT interested in the series is not only rooted in its normalization of cynicism but for the fact people say those who aren't fans "aren't smart enough to understand it"
@@sadlobster1 I just didn't get what was so groundbreaking about the show when it was just lol so random humor mixed in with nasty cynicism. Also hate that the early seasons were seemingly building to something great and then season 3 undercuts it all.
It's fascinating how psychicpebble went on from the fame behind _"GET OUT OF MY CAR NOW!"_ video to creating an animated series that is contrasted from other adult cartoons shows that tried hard to be _South Park._ That guy finally achieved the reward he deserved.
I really enjoyed the first season so much I rewatched it love how simple yet complex the show is can’t wait for season 2
Everytime you played a Smiling Friends clip I started cackling which I think proves that even out of context the writing is so phenomenal that it stays funny regardless
I think the biggest difference between smiling friends and other shows is its theme of redemption. Too often we get shows that say "it's okay to be selfish, manipulative, and arrogant, we all are". Here there's karma.
I agree
this show can also pull off meme humor, unlike other shows where its an unfunny meme with impact font that died in 2008
Oh boy can't wait for family to reference among us memes in a year or two
@@woos057 They did the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure "to be continued" meme a few months back (incorrectly I might add).
@@dimetrodon2250 yeah that pissed me kinda off tbh
This comment reminded me that Salad Fingers is even older than 2008
"this is worse then the time i was sus"
The way a lot of the characters have different art styles than the rest of the scene reminds me a lot of the amazing world of gunball
I love how rather than being cynical of the situations, Smiling friends basically does the opposite and just sort of plays along with its own ideas.
i loved the thumbnail so much it instantly made me click on the video and im so glad i did, this analysis is incredible and you have deepened my (already profound) love for this show and it's characters
Thank you, a lot of work went into the thumbnail! Smiling Friends is such a gem, and i'm glad there's already such a passionate community for it.
Bro, i miss Bojack Horseman
CZcams stop recommending smiling friends, i dont care about the show, i have pressed no to every video this is about the 200th suggestion and i have never watched one episode ever, shut the fuck up youtube.
@@c97x it's pretty good, you should watch it
I'm going to say this now so I can say "I told you so" in the future but this video sort of touches upon something I theorized a while back: The 2020s are going to be defined as the decade of surreal optimism, and Smiling Friends is the thing that'll get the ball rolling. The late 2000s and 2010s were defined by a rise in cynicism and irony, and I think we're reaching the point where culture is bouncing the other way. When god damn Chip and Dale get ironic, self-mocking reboots, take that as a sign we're about to experience cultural change. Smiling Friends won't singlehandedly change things, but it's going to inspire a lot of artists and execs will definitely take note of its success. Not now or even soon, but I guarantee in two years you're gonna see similar stuff in terms of tone.
the absolute worst example of this ironic meta bs is definitely the Sonic games, ever since like 2010 the whole franchise has revolved around making fun of the 90's and especially the 2000's for the series, basically making everything past 2009 feel soulless and worthless since nothing is confident or takes itself seriously
I think we're gonna need that surreal optimism now. I still like shows like R&M and Bojack but I've gotten burnt out of the norm of shows being so cynical and dark for a decade. I like to imagine LSD replacing Xanax as the popular drug and making a comeback this decade.
I remember that the default trait of "cool" people is that you would be so wise and clever to be cynical. I grew up during this time and distinctly remember seeing different perspectives on the internet and seeing which ones "won" the game of popularity and agreement. Anything that could be considered carelessly joyful or optimistic would be construed as being unaware of comical complexity and wit and essentially would be made fun of. I think to some degree it is necessary to have a wave like that come through culture to regulate shameless degeneracy through peer pressure (and the new realm of the internet at the time could use peer regulation). But after awhile those who are accustomed to the new social playing field (the internet) have their standards raised and they self regulate and self shame. In order to partake in the social playing field now, you have to be a positive person. The critical peoples' standards are default now and everyone knows that you should treat your image on the internet like you treat your real image (if not artificially better). Everyone knows everything that everyone else knows and we all expect the highest standards, which is why we empathize with those who fall short (everyone who is real and honest). I remember people used to make fun of Minecraft kids on the internet because they were "whiney brats who played a kids game". Now people encourage them and wish them the best time of their life while they still have a childhood. I remember teens choosing edgy, stern, critical personalities to contrast their parents' goofy, audacious, looney tunes personalities as a way to try and show their sense of maturity and realism for understanding "problems" generally speaking. But now I see some people in their 20's and especially kids converting to that same goofy uplifting attitude our parents had.
Yeah, that's basically the raise of Gen Z humor. Millenials where the generation that was promised a bright futur from their delusional GenX parents and had to face the harsh reality of a new chaotic economy mainly made out of student loan debt, housing crisis, and increasing economical disparity, hence their heavily cynical and existencialist sense of humor.
While we GenZ where kinda born into this chaos and learnt to embrace it pretty quickly, which is definetely visible in our sense of humor.
Medias are slowly switching from nihilism to absurdism.
So refreshing for adult animation NOT to sound like my parents arguing or a highschool bully that just discovered 'adult' humor that thinks its hilarious.
It's always better to help someone smile instead of embracing nihilism. It doesn't have to be shallow, and Pim & Charlie sure work hard to help their customers smile, friends.
The thing you mentioned about constant swearing is kind of a big problem with the media aimed at more adult audiences. For some reason a lot of writers are now stuck in a child's mindset of believing that saying naughty words makes them look more mature.
It's one of the many reasons I dislike Netflix Castlevania, for example. The dialogue grates on the ears with constant swearing, everyone swears like a sailor, even if it's not appropriate. It genuinely feels weird that a hoboman drunkard, a viking, a noble, a priest, a scholar and a literal grim reaper talk with the exact same lack of sophistication.
it also doesn't stop at just cursing they similarly do it with violence, sex or any other adult theme. they sorta still view animation as kid stuff so they try and make animation for "ADULTS" which usually ends with them trying to hard/making it more juvenile then the kid shows
Castlevania is a pretty good show but the dialogue is sometimes just.. idk. It's like how a 10 year old would expect Vampire slayers to sound like
I think the problem is that 30 years later people still chase the Simpsons, not for what made it great but for instead what it inspired. People want to naturally take things further, its basic human nature to expand on an idea and take it to new places, even if just striving to be different and not better. The problem is when making something just to shock people is the goal. The Simpsons came from the wild ideas and beliefs of a struggling California artist, it succeeded because it wasn't crude just to be crude but because it had a reason to be. People usually take the shock factor and try to build their whole show on just being crude instead of mature storytelling that made the 90s era of The Simpsons truly stick out. Long story short, people go for the shock over substance.
For me, Castlevania is a show split in half. One half, the half with Dracula and Isaac, is written beautifully. They can literally just be talking, and I'll be at the edge of my seat. They keep me engaged, and genuinely make me care, that's how well and passionately written they are. Then there's the second half that I constantly roll my eyes at and have to almost power through with how cringey it can get. Idk what it is when it comes to the rest of the characters, it's almost like they handed the writing over to the inexperienced newbie writer that Netflix forced them to add to the staff. It kills me inside that these are the "heroes" we're stuck with for most of the show
They're just words, grow up.
100% agree that so many adult shows are either R-rated nonsense, or deeply cynical or hard to digest. there's a show for everything which is good, like watching family guy drunk, or talking about your relationships over bojack horseman, or sitting down to think about your existence with the midnight gospel. but there's nothing like smiling friends, which exists not to be crude or to teach a lesson. smiling friends exists for entertainment and comedy only!
it was mindfully made for mindless watching, just relax and have fun with it. there's not a lot of adult shows out there for that, and i love it
Bojack's lessons were more personal than political. And if you're an adult should you really be tuning out the world?
I personally don’t think its successful in being funny (to be fair it’s only the first season and sometimes shows hit their stride afterwards) but I do love the character(s) and interesting idea of it all. I just personally never laughed at any of their oneyplays vids or this show
@@ChangedMyNameFinally69 learn to read, he clearly said relationships for Bojack not politics. and yes because the state of the world that's nice to have something to just not think about the world even if for a little bit.
@@salad72057 Spoken by people without real problems
what is paradise pd for? Falling asleep? Feeling emotionlesss???
While I still think BoJack as a whole is...maybe the best and most important show to come out in recent years, I definitely agree that Smiling Friends feels like a welcome breath of fresh air, free of the cynicism that has dominated adult media forever.
The fact that they made this show so damn good is awesome. I’ve been watching them on oneyplays since I was in like 8th grade, so to see this is fucking amazing. I genuinely love this show and I don’t think they could’ve done it better
I actually love that Zach took inspiration from Norm MacDonald. The dude is probably the most lighthearted comedian that manages to be edgy, but does it in good fun (unless you're OJ Simpson). He doesn't talk down on people (again, unless you're OJ) and whenever he's on a network that talks about serious issues, he tries to derail the conversation just so he can dispense jokes. If you guys like Smiling Friends, I actually recommend you check him out since they're a lot alike. R.I.P. Norm.
Btw did you know Zach wanted him to be the live-action guy in the Halloween episode. That was the moment where he found out he was died.
Also as a Catholic, I'm glad that there's an adult show that doesn't just trash belief over and over and over again and I appreciate the decision to make Charlie a Christian.
Norm was such a fantastic comedian. I remember watching his "Germany against the world" bit and just falling in love with his style after that. It would've been a real treat if he had been on smiling friends. I'm excited to see what absolute legends Zach and Michael get on season 2 though.
@@necrotechgaming I'm curious to see the amount of episodes they'll be able to make in Season 2 considering the fact that Season 1 was cheaper than a Family Guy episode. But yeh I agree lol. They'll have enough money to pull off crazy cameos now that the show is uber popular.
The portrayal of Christianity wasn't bad or good either. The ending was perfectly done.
"Christianity was right. Sorry!"
Because we're all going to hell.
@@christophercarrasco154 Cool, but Christopher, what kinds of modern adult animated shows can you say have made fun of religion, mainly Christianity, besides shows like Simpsons, Family Guy, or Rick and Morty?
I'm mostly talking about anything recent.
Actually he wanted Dan aykroid for that bit on account of him being “absolutely fucking crazy”
This a nice review my man.
I love how the dialogue feels like something me and my friends would do. Hell that whole renaissance men bit was hilarious to me. You can't find that in Rick and Morty, and it just makes the humor that much more to me.
Also LISA at the end, now I have to turn the bell on too
That was actually a big part of the appeal of Rick & Morty early on, characters stuttered and flubbed they lines, some episodes almost felt entirely improvised. I feel like people forget that in its first season, R&M was just a really solid Adult Swim show, it slowly transitioned into mediocrity as it went on.
@@pepesilvia429 no no Rick and Morty never had the renascence men
@@pepesilvia429 Doesn't help season 3 undercut the genuinely good moment at the end of season 2 and now the characters are just floundering around.
@@pepesilvia429 the show ain't bad though
I’m so happy they both got an actual show finally. Long time coming. I’ve been watching there stuff for a long time
I’ve been following Zach for some time & it’s so cool to see the years of hard work pay off
Character writing is also a huge one, especially for the boss.
It would have been so easy to make him that "not at all caring, just being in it for money and power resulting in a bully" type of character but the dude is a genuinely good boss behind that insanity.
This is a great take on this show. It really does feel like adult media has evolved backwards, where they have to constantly make the point that it is an adult show. If it is clear who the targeted audience is then you shouldn't need to keep reminding the audience. I guess it's a writing style but it's not like all adults swear and talk about sex every 30 seconds, it's funny sometimes and can have a place in the story but if you do it to death it just doesn't feel natural. I especially love the realistic conversations in this show, it's like all of the (non-on the nose) characters all had realistic flaws that made them relatable on a basic level (like how Satan was sort of decent to that stranger and his biggest flaw in the story was that he's stuck in a destructive dopamine cycle, he's also the devil i guess lol). I look forward to seeing new more nuanced and casual humour in future shows
Also that "stay smiling friends" at the end was perfect
Thank you!!
CZcams stop recommending smiling friends, i dont care about the show, i have pressed no to every video this is about the 200th suggestion and i have never watched one episode ever, shut the fuck up youtube.
@@c97x same energy as the stop posting about among us meme
@@c97x this just in, old man yells at cloud.
Smiling friends does its job both in the cartoon world and the physical world. I feel an overwhelming sense of wonder and happiness at the end of every episode, every story so far is so satisfying.
I also really love how genuine and real the dialogue feels in this show (favourite being the ending of Shrimp's Odyssey). I remember that realistic dialogue was a huge reason why people loved family guy because no one seen cartoon characters stumbling along and making conversations awkward. While family guy uses the awkwardness as a joke which can be exhausting Smiling Friends seem to use it to help audiences relate to the characters in the scenario.
Simple things like the Boss mishearing Pim saying "Okay" at the Halloween episode and Charlie cutting himself off saying "Did you even see Shrimpina one ti-Once?" is charming, it's clunky enough to feel genuine but without feeling like filler and the joke is "lmao it just keeps going!!! XDXDXD"
edit: I fully endorse the idea that Smormu is a cynical asshole being that he's an actual character that dies.
CZcams stop recommending smiling friends, i dont care about the show, i have pressed no to every video this is about the 200th suggestion and i have never watched one episode ever, shut the fuck up youtube.
@@c97x You realize that you're driving up your engagement with Smiling Friends content by commenting this right
Now CZcams will recommend you MORE good job :)
I feel like a lot of adult animation is... I don't know insecure about the fact it's animation and just has to rely on cynicism and shock to try and let you know how "real" it is, it's one of the reasons I dropped Rick and Morty like at season 3, it's cynicism not for any artistic reason but to get a shock. Something I loved about Charlie is how casual he is, he's not cynical and will often try to help people like with Shrimp, he can get irritated but he's not going to hurt anyone he's just reasonably grumpy.
CZcams stop recommending smiling friends, i dont care about the show, i have pressed no to every video this is about the 200th suggestion and i have never watched one episode ever, shut the fuck up youtube.
i love how many times you put the word iconic in the script
The fact that the characters are allowed to be positive influences on each other instead of being senselessly killed or made to be the butt of jokes for a gag is so nice, too. Pim is naive but they don't do the whole "corrupt the pure guy" trope in this show. The pilot looks like that might happen but it was just a one-off thing. Honestly it's a good message to the younger people that will be watching. Don't grow up too fast, you're allowed to be happy. Charlie's more of a negative realist sometimes and Pim's super positive, neither of them get horribly punished for it and neither of them are problematic characters. The show lets the characters be who they are, and people should too.
One of the things I hate about Rick and morty is the writers talk about how bad it is for Rick to be negative because it gets you nowhere but the series very rarely ever takes a chance to properly prove him fully wrong. So of course a lot of people who identify with his negativity will align themselves with him especially when it’s rarely challenged.
Also he’s kinda hard to relate to when he’s literally perfect. He beats everyone and wins every battle, he’s always right, but he’s an alcoholic and they use the depressed alcoholic thing as such a crutch, I just don’t find him a particularly interesting or likeable character in any way. They speak about Rick as though you’re supposed to not like him and how his lifestyle will get him nowhere, but everyone he encounters is below him. He’s never challenged in any sense. And that’s just not fun
@@joeblack4634 "i don't find him likable"
"They say how you're not supposed to like him"
Uh....mission success
@@joeblack4634 have you seen the season 5 finale?
@@RealGairos having to watch five seasons of something to get a large problem you have with the to get it resolved is ridiculous and is a waste of their time.
@@noname-kx4cu The problem being that this is obviously a show about a narcissistic sociopath and their struggle with mental illness and how it affects everyone around them?
Season 5 reveals just how ironic the title "Smartest man in the universe" really is. Rick is so much of a narcissist that he can't deal with not being the best so he found a way to separate all the realities where he IS the smartest from the ones where he ISN'T.
Now in retrospect, the show is about a emotionally broken narcissist who just can't deal with loss in the slightest.
I actually played the first two episodes of this while my brother was over (who likes Rick & Morty by the way) and I asked him what he thought about it and he said I quote: "It's just stupid. Not like annoying stupid, more like boring stupid. Like it wasn't really thought out."
That answer cought me completely off guard because it was just confusing.
Like I didn't expect him to love it but I didn't expect him to say that either.
It's literally the first ever adult animated show I've genuinely enjoyed that didn't have too much excessive grossness, mass cynicism, repeated "adult jokes" which just comes down to swearing every second, or really any propaganda message that overshadows it all (that last ones specifically for Family Guy, Simpsons, and all their clones).
Bojack horseman is different if you haven’t watched it.
Kids say that nowadays to any show that doesn’t contain profuse language or gore / sex as “boring” or “mid” for some weird “coolness” litmus test due to modern conditioning.
I love shows that do the above too but im not as closed minded as someone in their teens
@@dakota.7617 by brother is in his mid-twenties
@@dakota.7617 Fresh out of Highschool, haven’t watched the show but it sounds great based on everything I’ve seen and heard about it
I don’t like it at all. I feel like this is adult tv for children, like teenagers..
I also love how much dedication some of this animation has. It"s very beautiful sometimes and ads contrasts to the intentionally upsetting designs
That music from Lunar at the start brought me back
Another point that a friend mentioned: everyone can play the straightman. Smiling friends shows every character has some crazy sides but that doesn't mean the others ignore it or exaggerate it either- it's just them. I like it
In a sense this makes Smiling Friends more reminiscent of the earlier, better Simpsons seasons than most of the shows that aped the Simpsons style.
In the Simpsons while yes, the family was hardly functional, the fact that they did love each other got reaffirmed often. To the point where one of the most iconic scenes of the show is simply Homer hanging pictures of Maggie in his office to change a message into "do it for her"
Youre rigghht, i just feel like that big budget animations just lost touch throughout time and just came up to be progressively more agressive and nonsense, which is a concept I think SF improved as for taking the nonsense as part of the story and not as pure randomness lol
Not true at all. Smiling friends is far more emotionally manipulative and apparently that’s what everyone craves at the moment, even though it leaves you hollow at the end.
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 what do you mean emotionally manipulative? I dont think any of the characters had manipulated each other into doing anything nor had they done something out of pure selfishness, they always do things to help another, even if they dont actually want to in the series.
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 what are you even saying...
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 bro you have 22 comments on this video alone go touch grass
I really like your insight into smiling friends and adult animation as a whole, man thank you CZcams algorithm for bringing me a choicey new channel to watch :>
Great background music bro, such a tb
I didn’t think about it, but I do love the nice charm of the show being nice and up front.
It really does help set the show apart from the others, even though most people don't typically realize on first watch.
I also just love how the boss of this show despite being a creepy weirdo genuinely cares for his employees and doesn’t treat them like crap.
Nice
This was really fun to watch, first time watching a video of yours, really good work Ian, I haven't watched smiling friends but I'm definitely going to now. I kinda forgot that as a watcher I can ask for more than the whole Rick bojack doomer trope, it gets pretty tired in Community as well, with Jeff's whole, I'm the bad guy look but every episode I learn a good value that I knew all along! Reality doesn't have such rapid ups and downs and I guess I haven't really looked for that in shows. This was super cool, made me reflect a little. Keep going dude!
I watched this and assumed a reasonably big channel made it, this was a great video, amazing it’s only your second on the channel!
It says a lot about the state of adult animation or just the state of the world where we're all amazed at a show where the characters aren't all a bunch of ironic assholes.
The world used to seem more censored and "polished" so we needed shows to point out the dirt and stupidity that's really going on. But we're past the days where a giant space incest baby is subversive and shocking and feels like it could actually happen.
Now that real life feels like a bad movie or sitcom, it's nice to have a show that while still weird and random as hell, has a more positive view on life and relationships.
It's the similar way American Dad endeared me more than many of it's contemporaries. It's definitely more mean spirited than SF, but I always loved how the family legitmately cares for each other.
Or even fucking South Park has started ending on more positive notes. The post covid special basically ends with Matt and Trey telling everyone we need to relax and just be kind to each other.
And Smiling Friends goes even further with optimism, I actually laugh more when a set up for a dark and twisted joke ends up being more silly and benign. Smiling friends makes me smile.
As someone who has followed Zach Hadel's career closely for years and years, it's such an incredibly good feeling to see Smiling Friends be well received. It's so deserved.
Hmm I disagree. I haven’t seen anything in smiling friends that I haven’t seen in his earlier stuff. He hasn’t grown at all his stuff just finally has a spotlight on it now that America is going down the crapper.
@@iforgotmypasswordlmao1820 I said I'm happy it's being well received and that it's deserved, as in his success is deserved because he worked hard towards his goals. Miss me with that bullshit, son. You're literally talking for no reason. It's not like I said it's the greatest show to ever be released to the public. I'm just happy for someone, jesus.
awesome video and man, heard both hotline miami and lisa songs in the background, this rocks
Smiling Friends is exactly what adult animation needs right now.
Bojack is still probably my favourite show but weirdly I don't watch it for the comedy as much as the character development and the narrative, the cynicism serves a necessary function compared to other 'comedies'. Smiling friends is definitely top of my list when searching for an out and out comedy. Great video!
Is there anyone who managed to watch bojack and thought "I like it because it's funny"? Bojack is a drama trying to hide behind some comedy because it would otherwise be too depressing.
Nothing weird about liking Bojack for exactly what it was aiming to be.
It really shouldn't and couldn't be compared with rick and morty or smiling friends who are both pure comedies.
@@blueplayer6197 completely agree 👍
@@blueplayer6197 Bojack can have some pretty funny moments tbf, especially with its wordplay.
I think why I prefer the way Bojack Horseman handles nihilism better than Rick and Morty is because Bojack Horseman shows how self-defeating it is to have such an outlook and how it will affect those you care about, therefore the show treats having a cynical outlook as a bad thing and something that should be fixed.
Rick and Morty seems to allow Rick to have this mindset without any long lasting meaningful consequences to him "because nothing matters", which becomes annoying and makes many viewers not want to watch because if "nothing matters", then why should the viewer be invested in watching Rick's journey? Not helping is the show seems to treat his cynical mindset as correct(or he escapes repercussions because he sci-fis his way out of it), whereas Bojack Horseman shows why having a cynical outlook isn't ideal.
Smiling Friends is definitely an oddity with mainstream adult animated comedy as it's so easy to be a cynic, but it takes effort to be an optimist while in the midst of chaotic adventures, which I think is the reason it has potential.
@@blueplayer6197 ikr. when i saw it on netflix it says 'comedy' like bro THAT WAS BARELY COMEDY
one of my favorite shows but damn. it is somewhat funny rarely, but it's genuinely just a depressing (realistic?) show