Smiling Friends: Season 1 - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Smiling Friends: Season 1



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
I had never heard of Smiling Friends before this last month when I saw WB’s press release, and even then I was so busy that I barely had time to skim it. So my review into the series was quite literally about as blind as you could be, and I had ZERO expectations. Needless to say, I’m not sure I was ready for the sheer levels of insanity, gonzo Charlie the Unicorn meets Happy Tree Friends and bits of Aqua Teen Hunger Force satire thrown together into the blender with the settings on frapee. Wowwwwwwwza. I’m not sure I can put all of my thoughts on the show into words, but if you’re a fan of weirdly animated cartoons with shock jock insane visual gags, and biting bits of social commentary, then Smiling Friends is for you.

Created and directed by Zack Hadel and Michael Cusack, the series is a 9 episode show (consisting of 11-12 minute episodes) about good natured Pim (Michael) and cynical Charlie (Zach) who are part of a company whose job is to (literally) make people smile. Down and out people hire the crew to perk people up in their lives, and while that may seem simply and cute at first, things more often than not go COMPLETELY haywire. Especially when the profundity of their clientele puts the due in sticky situations that they aren’t even REMOTELY prepared for.

Whether it be a slovenly middle aged loser named Desmond who wants to blow his brains out, a talking gamer shrimp who wants to get back together with the love of his life, or a celebrity frog who wants to rebuild his career after too much negative press, it’s never too much for Pim and Charlie to handle. That is, until it BECOMES way more than they’re able to handle (which pretty much happens every episode).

It took about 30 minutes for the utter shock of the show to wear off, and a begrudging appreciation for some of the uniqueness and satirical nature to really grab ahold of me. It’s not going to teach a lesson per se, but the show likes to take a wry look at some of the insanity we see in our own culture, and just fillet it on screen for everyone to get an uncomfortable laugh with. There are times I was literally doubled over laughing, while other times I genuinely felt a little bit bad that I WAS laughing. Zack and Michael has absolutely blown up with this being one of the most popular shows on Adult Swim at the moment, cementing multiple seasons in the future (as long as the SAG strike comes to an end soon) as well as the ability to keep some of their other pet project shows running (Koala Man, YOLO etc). I personally had a hard time truly LOVING the show like a lot of people had, but I may change my tune after some time to let the seasons settle and ruminate in my mind. As of now it’s a mixture of horror, shock, hilarity, and genuinely wondering if I had take a few mind altering substances before watching the 9 episodes.




Rating:

Rated TV-MA by the MPAA




Video:

The 1.78:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray (since it’s only 102 minutes only a single BD-50 is necessary) looks rather good, with very strong primary colors, and really solid detail levels. As you can tell from the screenshots, the show doesn’t lend itself towards super intricate amounts of details, but the discs seems to eek out as much as humanely possible from the simplistic animation style. I did notice some pretty typical WB animated show color banding going on, with darker scenes showing the most. It wasn’t consistent though, and over time I barely even noticed. Though there would be a scene or two that would jump up and slap you in the face with it.








Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is pretty much exactly what one would expect. This is a very nice sounding 5.1 mix, but not an overly aggressive or overly bombastic mix. It’s a low budget animated TV show that focuses on good dialog, and decent surround presence during the chaos. Bass is there, but usually only to accent the score, or have a slamming door make you jump a little bit. Basically a technically well done track that isn’t designed to be a shock and awe type of experience.






Extras:

• Audio Commentary Per Episode

Final Score:
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Smiling Friends: Season 1 is a mixed bag for yours truly. Let me state up front that if you’re NOT into stuff like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Charlie the Unicorn and other truly BIZARRE series, this may not be your cup of tea. Those shows are old hat for this late 90s and early 2000s guy who grew up watching Adult Swim at their most insane, but I totally get why it may shock and disgust your average viewer. That being said, the Blu-ray looks and sounds good, but the extras are pretty much the only extra we have available. Personally, this is one of those shows I’d stream on Prime first, or wait till the series drops to $10 or so before jumping in blind. Fans may notice that WB did a strange thing by keeping the network language and nudity edits for episodes 1,2, 8 and 9, while putting the other episodes on the disc unedited. I’m not sure why, but if you’ve watched the Adult Swim channel versions you’ll notice it quite quickly. Decent Watch


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Zach Hadel, Marc M., David Dore, Michael Cusack
Created by: Michael Cusack, Zach Hadel
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Warner
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 102 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 29th, 2023

Recommendation: Decent Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. This seems right up my alley so will check it out.

 

[Todd Anderson]

The cover art... LOL. PacMan on acid? What is this????

 

[Michael Scott]

The cover art... LOL. PacMan on acid? What is this????

you do think you're on Acid while watching the show lol

 

[Todd Anderson]