Entertainment

‘Smiling Friends’ Creators on Their Surprise Final-Season Emmy Nomination

Published

1 day ago

August 12, 2026

“‘Smiling Friends’ is over!”

This line, uttered in the latest season of Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack’s mixed-media animated Adult Swim comedy “Smiling Friends,” became an unintentional premonition. The duo took to YouTube in February, months after Season 3 concluded, to announce that the show would not be coming back. Though it had previously been renewed for fourth and fifth seasons, the creators, citing burnout after years of hard work, shared that they’d release only two more already-completed bonus episodes in April.

But the show, which had a meteoric rise in popularity after humble beginnings, scored its first Emmy nomination this year, finding itself among animated giants like “The Simpsons” and “South Park.” In the nominated episode, “Le Voyage Incroyable de Monsieur Grenouille,” “Smiling Friends’” agent of chaos, Mr. Frog, goes on a journey of enlightenment that reunites him with his father, played completely straight by a live-action Creed Bratton (“The Office”), shirtless and painted green, composited into an animated environment.

Mr. Frog on "Smiling Friends" (Adult Swim) — Mr. Frog on “Smiling Friends” (Adult Swim)

“Seeing our names up there with all those gigantic monoliths is kind of weird,” Hadel admitted. “We’re this little rinky-dinky tiny little thing, so that’s very cool.”

“It was completely unexpected, genuinely,” Cusack added. “I can’t speak for Zach, but I’ve never won anything. Like, even at school. Even to be nominated for something like this is very strange.”

You’ve done one Mr. Frog episode in each season, but this season’s is much more emotionally direct than most.

MICHAEL CUSACK: The motivation going into the episode was to play on the prestigious-television kind of tone. The joke behind it was that it was cinematic when Mr. Frog meets his father, and it’s emotional and, contrary to most of Smiling Friends, which is really quick and fast-paced, it gets really slow. That’s the joke, to us. I guess you could say it’s accidental Emmy bait.

ZACH HADEL: The very early stages of the show, we had it basically mapped out. It would be cool to see Mr. Frog go from a celebrity to gaining power, then becoming the president. So originally the third [Mr. Frog] episode was going to be him accruing power. But we’re like, what do you really do? We started talking about his family. That went through a few iterations. Once we hit on that dad scene with Creed, it was like, OK, this is interesting. We can sink our teeth into this. The way we storyboarded that scene was a whole different language. It was just fun to do a “Better Call Saul,” “Succession” prestige-TV thing.

This is an episode about Mr. Frog facing burnout, being on top of the mountain and saying, “I need to step away” — obviously in a much different way than how you did it. But was there a part of you that recognized this as a real feeling?

CUSACK: Definitely not consciously. If we were feeling burnout, it was probably just subconsciously going into the character, but I could also see that happening for Mr. Frog even if we were continuing. That wasn’t planned, but I could see subconscious elements maybe leaking through.

HADEL: I would say the most is we were thinking about it in terms of a trilogy. We had a Mr. Frog episode in Season 1, we had one in Season 2 and this felt like, OK, this is a nice wrap-up arc to the character. Even if we thought we were going to go on, there’s something about trilogies. For whatever reason, things work in threes.

Was there a moment when you guys really felt the show catching on? Was it when “The Simpsons” made a “Smiling Friends” joke?

HADEL: To be perfectly honest, of all the other adult shows that could have referenced us or taken a fun shot, I was surprised it was “The Simpsons.” I thought it was fake when I first saw it.

CUSACK: We were hoping for “Family Guy” at first because they seemed more likely. They always attack shows. And we were so ready to nuke them back.

HADEL: We were ready for “Family Guy.” We had a whole … in good fun, in good fun.

CUSACK: Oh no, I mean real nukes.

HADEL: [We’d] drop a real nuke on Seth MacFarlane’s house, the actual coordinates, the GPS.” [Laughs] But yeah, it was all of that. It’s just weird because it doesn’t happen all at once. I mean, even this Emmy thing is another element of that, where we’re still kind of like, oh my God. It still feels like this little intimate project that nobody should know about, as weird as that is to say.

"Smiling Friends" (Adult Swim) — “Smiling Friends” (Adult Swim)

Has it been rewarding to use this show to give other creators a platform for their voices on television?

CUSACK: We grew up watching that stuff, like YouTube. Obviously, we watched TV, too, but all these talented people didn’t have shows or anything. It worked perfectly to our benefit to be able to slot different people in for their different styles. I’m so proud of it looking back on it that we could have all those people involved.

Now that the show has ended, are you still looking to work with or help establish some of those creators?

HADEL: We’ll always be collaborative to some degree, but one of the reasons “Smiling Friends” is so intense is it’s doing a lot of things at once. It’s trying to be a mixed-media thing, it’s trying to be a fully frame-by-frame animated thing, it’s trying to work with multiple different creators, multiple different art styles. If we ever came back to that, I think it would just be “Smiling Friends.”

A version of this story first ran in the Down to the Wire Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

movies

John Carpenter, Colman Domingo & Charlize Theron Named Academy Gala Honorees

Published

37 seconds ago

August 13, 2026

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Filmmaker John Carpenter and actors Colman Domingo and Charlize Theron have been named as this year’s honorees of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures‘ annual fundraising gala in October.

The gala, co-chaired by Robert Rodriguez, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, is set for October 17.

Theron will receive the Icon Award, celebrating an artist whose career has had a significant global impact. Carpenter, a director and composer, will receive the Luminary Award, given to an artist whose singular contributions have expanded the creative possibilities of filmmaking. Domingo will receive the Vantage Award honoring an artist who is helping to challenge dominant narratives around cinema.

“The Academy Museum Gala is a celebration of the artists and storytellers whose work continues to shape the cultural impact of cinema around the world,” said Academy Museum Director and President Amy Homma. “For our sixth annual Gala, we are honored to recognize John Carpenter, Colman Domingo, and Charlize Theron, whose extraordinary careers exemplify the creativity, innovation, and excellence that continues to move the industry forward.”

The Academy previously announced upcoming programs that include Theron in conversation with the museum’s Teen Council on August 22, featuring a screening of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015); Carpenter will host three nights of screenings of his films, including Halloween (1978), on September 26, in celebration of The Horror Show, the Academy Museum’s new large-scale exhibition.

The 2026 Academy Museum Gala Host Committee, also announced today, includes Jessica Alba, Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Adrien Brody and Georgina Chapman, Jon M. Chu, Kirsten Dunst, Nicholas Galitzine, Ludwig and Serena Göransson, Regina Hall, Kate Hudson, Jessica Lange, Greta Lee, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Rami Malek, Demi Moore, Olivia Munn, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Questlove, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen, Bird Runningwater, and Teyana Taylor.

Entertainment

Ken Russell’s The Devils Returns This Fall, Watch the New Trailer

Published

5 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

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“The Devils” are on their way.

A restored 4K re-release of Ken Russell’s controversial classic, which has been largely unavailable in the United States, is arriving this fall in a limited, one-week engagement beginning Oct. 16, complete with select 35mm screenings. (It will be followed by a U.K. release on Oct. 30 — just in time for Halloween.) And ahead of the re-release, Clockwork, the new artsy Warner Bros. imprint, has unveiled a new trailer, which you can watch below. Those with epilepsy or photosensitivity might want to skip it; there are a whole lot of flashing lights in this one.

The 1971 horror movie, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed, is based in part on Aldous Huxley’s 1952 nonfiction book “The Devils of Loudun,” along with John Whiting’s 1960 play “The Devils.” Reed plays a 17th-century priest accused of witchcraft; Redgrave is the nun who instigates the accusations against Reed’s priest.

Controversial since its release for its frank depictions of sex and violence and what was considered sacrilegious imagery, the film was awarded an X rating in America and the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, it was heavily edited or outright banned. Since its initial release, “The Devils” has been largely unavailable on home video or in revival screenings.

But now, “The Devils” has returned.

This uncensored, NC-17-rated version — the first time Warner Bros. has ever released a film with this rating in its 103-year history — first debuted at this summer’s Cannes Film Festival. “The Devils” also serves as the inaugural release for Clockwork, Warner Bros.’ new specialty label. Talk about making a splash. The film will also screen as part of the Toronto International Film Festival.

See what all the fuss was about when “The Devils” opens for its one-week-only, can’t-miss-it engagement Oct. 16. Hell yes.

movies

Matthew McConaughey Says ‘How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days’ Is “The Gift That Keeps On Giving”: “It Still Pays The Best Mailbox Money”

Published

7 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

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Matthew McConaughey has starred in multiple rom-coms, but there’s one in particular that he says still makes him money even after 20 years.

In a new interview, the actor said that How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days still brings him money in residuals after all these years.

“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is the gift that keeps on giving,” McConaughey said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I think it’s probably my favorite romcom I’ve done.”

He added, “And it still pays the best mailbox money of any film I’ve ever done. By far. By lengths.”

Other romantic comedies McConaughey starred in include The Wedding Planner (2001), Failure to Launch (2006), Fool’s Gold (2008), and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), among others.

McConaughey said he used to be able to pinpoint the spike in residuals, saying, “When it used to be just DVDs or cable, every March I’d get a big check because Valentine’s Day.”

“But, I mean, look: the movie for me, for that genre, let me just own that genre. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days … that’s a real anchor in the rom-com genre through time,” he added.

Donald Petrie directed How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which is based on the picture book by Michele Alexander and Jennie Long. The screenplay by Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan, and Burr Steers revolves around advertising executive Benjamin Barry (McConaughey), who makes a bet he can make any woman fall in love with him. At the same time, writer Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) plans to write an article about how to make a man dump you.

In an interview from 2024, McConaughey’s co-star, Kate Hudson, revealed she was open to a sequel, saying on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, “All that matters would be the script and if Matthew and I would be into the script. I think we’re both totally open but it’s just never happened.”

Watch Matthew McConaughey’s interview in the video below.