Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Smiling Friends: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

This is my happy place.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 1, 2023

One of the more promising new Adult Swim shows in recent memory alongside the almighty Primal, Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack's Smiling Friends serves up a watchable mix of dialogue-driven comedy with absurdly dark drama that punches you right in the funny bone. This series follows Cusack's 2020 animated fantasy drama YOLO (whose second season finally aired last winter) and was similarly well-received, likewise earning its own second season with a release date yet to be announced. Borderline quaint at first glance with a charming, low-rent visual design, it's not long until Smiling Friends flexes its muscle as a deceptively layered production with a whip-smart sense of humor.

Smiling Friends focuses on the eponymous company, a small unit of four employees -- optimistic Pim Pimling and foul-mouthed Charlie Dompler, our main characters, as well as surly, obsessive Alan and gibberish-spewing Glep -- who all work for the lecherous Mr. Boss. Their humble mission? To make depressed or unhappy clients smile again, whether it's a recently-cancelled TV star ("Mr. Frog"), a despondent gamer who pines for his ex-girlfriend ("Shrimp's Odyssey"), or a princess from afar ("Enchanted Forest", below). A few episodes divert from this formula, such as a deadly encounter in the woods out back ("A Silly Halloween Special"), the threat of a rival company across the street ("Frowning Friends"), and the crew's quest to chop down a Christmas tree ("Charlie Dies and Doesn't Come Back"), with each maintaining a consistently sharp and uniquely disarming tone that can and will keep new viewers on their toes.

Obviously, Smiling Friends isn't especially complex on an episode-by-episode basis. Each half-sized (11-12 minute) adventure mostly stands alone, with a light through-line and sporadic references to earlier events that make it ideal for sequential -- but not necessarily marathon -- viewing. This first season featured only eight such episodes that aired in January 2022 (almost two full years after the pilot) with a ninth bonus episode, "The Smiling Friends Go to Brazil!" (which hilariously isn't nearly as eventful as you might think), following quite a bit later in August.

All nine episodes are included on this slim but efficient Blu-ray package from Warner Bros., an especially nice surprise since most new shows aren't necessarily guaranteed a high-definition home video release these days. While there are a few curious drawbacks here (the first of which is mentioned below), it's a mostly appealing release that'll hopefully help Smiling Friends gain a bit more traction on the hopefully short road to its forthcoming second season.

NOTE: For whatever reason -- probably a lazy oversight -- episodes #1, 2, 8, and 9 are censored (bleeped language, a few pixelated visuals) whereas the other ones are not. As a newcomer, this didn't negatively affect my enjoyment of the material... but it did cause a bit of hilarious confusion beginning with the third episode. I'm not exactly expecting some kind of recall, but if for whatever reason WB offers an exchange program I'll be sure to provide an update.

Smiling Friends: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Smiling Friends isn't exactly cutting-edge material, with its decidedly simplistic overall appearance and some elements that could probably be seamlessly rendered in Microsoft Paint. That's not to say it doesn't up the ante on occasion, such as dramatic lighting effects and brief appearances by 3-D rendered or real-world characters and other objects. But for these reasons, the wide majority of this series looks perfectly fine running at the "shmedium" bitrate of Warner Bros.' dual-layered disc, which varies drastically at times but mostly hangs out in the low 20Mbps range. (I'm guessing there's some unused space, since we only get 102 minutes of total content*.) It is, after all, a mostly flatly-designed series so, even with a relatively bold and varied color palette, that doesn't typically translate to a consistently demanding picture as far as compression goes. But as predicted, banding rears its ugly head on occasion and can be spotted in stronger gradients and darker scenes, preventing a higher score in the visual department. Most fans will be pleased overall, though, and either way this Blu-ray is likely a solid step up from any available streaming version.

*As mentioned below in the "Bonus Features" section, episode commentaries are included but they're only accessible via the disc menu, which could very well mean that they were encoded separately. That might account for the low-ish bit rate so, aside from some kind of technical mix-up, I've no idea why this path was chosen.

Smiling Friends: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio likewise doesn't swing for the fences; it contains few genuine highlights or enveloping effects, yet also no real drawbacks are present either. For the most part it's just a good, front-forward audio experience with crystal-clear dialogue (when intended) and solid channel separation, which not only applies to the front channels but to occasional atmospheric discrete effects in the rears as well as the bipolar original score by Brendan Caulfield. Smiling Friends' sporadic switches into pitch-black territory bring the expected amount of sonic chaos when needed, livening up a soundstage that otherwise plays it straight by design. A solid effort all around, for sure.

Optional dubs and subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during all nine episodes.

Smiling Friends: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release ships in an eco-friendly keepcase with fun cover art and a matching slipcover; an episode list and more art is printed inside, but it's tough to see with those stupid holes in the way. Episode commentaries are also on board.

• Audio Commentaries - Each of the nine episodes gets its own audio commentary with co-creators/voice actors Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel, who unsurprisingly serve up a series of rapid-fire, uncensored, and very candid conversations. Highlights include favorite bits and pieces, story origins, small cameos and Easter eggs, surprise guest stars, hints about Season 2, and lots of trivial tidbits from their own animated contributions to background details that hardcore fans will have fun picking out. Annoyingly, though, these commentaries are only accessible via the menu (not the subtitle option on your remote) and there's no "Play All" option either.

Smiling Friends: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack's Smiling Friends is one of the most promising Adult Swim productions in recent years, combining cutesy charm with ultra pitch-black elements that lands right up my alley. Its simplistic but interesting visual aesthetic is yet another highlight, and as a whole this is very watchable stuff... but three or four episodes at a time is probably the recommended daily dose. It's perfectly suited for Blu-ray and Warner Bros. offers decent support despite a few hiccups: some episodes are censored, the disc compression is a little lax, and the included episode commentaries aren't easy to access. But it's still a heartily Recommended purchase while you wait patiently for Season 2.