According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Cusack (Koala Man, YOLO) and Zach Hadel (Oney Plays, Monkey Wrench), the creators of Smiling Friends, made a statement on the nature of the show and how it combines intrigue and insanity. They also mention a once-in-a-lifetime cameo, saying “I don’t even think he knows what the f**** Smiling Friends is.”

Cusack and Hadel also mention how relieving it is to have found their “groove”. Smiling Friends released the finale for season three this past Sunday, and the focus of the episode was Glep, the green and chaotic character. Cusack and Hadel founded the show which premiered in 2022. The show focuses on two coworkers named Charlie (Hadel) and Pim (Cusack) whose living is to make people happy. The show quickly rose to popularity, already renewed for two more seasons, THR says.

Cusack and Hadel have a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, speaking on how the different directions of the first two seasons sparked the story for the third one. They also share their reactions of show watchers who misconstrue certain moments of the show. An excerpt of the THR interview is below, the whole interview can be found on the website.

THR: Why did the season three finale feel like the right time to explore Glep’s past?

Zach Hadel: Three seasons in feels about right to explain what one of the main characters does. (Laughs.) Why is he here? What does he do? We have a throwaway line in the first episode of season two where a guy says, “What does the green thing do?” and since then, people have been quoting that. It just felt like a good time to answer.

THR: Were there other potential flashbacks to Glep’s past that you had considered for the episode?

Hadel: We’ve had in our minds since whenever we started thinking of the show, the idea that Glep would be thousands of years old. We had some other ideas [and] might use those for a later season. An interesting idea was that Glep went back to his home country, [and] what are the other Glep guys like? We went in a lot of different directions, and everything just felt like it didn’t scratch the itch. A big chunk of the episode is just flashbacks, but that works well because it’s funny, it’s unique and it keeps it from being a serious lore episode.

THR: How has Charlie and Pim’s relationship evolved this season?

Michael Cusack: It always evolves just naturally of what we find funny with them. “Squim” was a good example of Pim maybe realizing that he doesn’t have the best partner in his work and questioning it, but he always goes back, and he loves Charlie. It’s questionable what Charlie thinks of Pim. (Laughs.) It’s a little bit unclear.

Hadel: My feeling is Charlie’s a recluse, and he likes Pim. He wouldn’t work there if he didn’t like him. But it’s definitely lopsided.

Cusack: Charlie probably sees Pim as a colleague. Pim sees Charlie as his best friend. Charlie is a little like, “I like you, but don’t go too far on me.”

Smiling Friends is available for viewing on HBO Max.