Smiling Friends gets referenced by The Simpsons. Spoiler - They don’t like it.

[Jman]

 

 

[[classic swim]]

That’s shot for shot almost exactly like 2003 when they were among the very last to rip on South Park Mania. Difference being SP had done plenty by then to revamp itself while they continued being a sterile pile of Network TV shit.

[Mr. Idea Box]

It's one thing when Family Guy jabs at Robot Chicken or other shows in its demographic, but seeing The Simpsons do the same thing? Now that's just mean.

Still, it's only a 10-second joke. Compared to other potshots at contemporaries, this is small.

[Jman]

1 minute ago, Mr. Idea Box said:

It's one thing when Family Guy jabs at Robot Chicken or other shows in its demographic, but seeing The Simpsons do the same thing? Now that's just mean.

Still, it's only a 10-second joke. Compared to other potshots at contemporaries, this is small.

At least when Family Guy jabs at Robot Chicken, it is literally two guys who worked on both shows (Green and MacFarlane) needling each other over their own work.

[Toonamiguy321]

2 hours ago, Mr. Idea Box said:

It's one thing when Family Guy jabs at Robot Chicken or other shows in its demographic, but seeing The Simpsons do the same thing? Now that's just mean.

Still, it's only a 10-second joke. Compared to other potshots at contemporaries, this is small.

Family Guy jabs at Robot Chicken are always funny because they are meta. Making Chris into a hardcore RC fan always gets a laugh out of me. 
 

Can’t say Simpsons got Smiling Friends wrong, it leans hard on screaming as comedy. 

[Doom Metal Alchemist]

Kinda weird how a powerhouse like The Simpsons would bother poking fun at a nobody like Smiling Friends. You'd think Smiling Friends was enjoying the same popularity as Family Guy in its heyday.

[Greener223224]

Guess people on 4chan can't like this show anymore. They'll turn on it just like when Family Guy prodded Bojack Horseman

[viperxmns]

 

[Blatch]

On 5/19/2025 at 9:43 AM, viperxmns said:

 

You know, I was wondering if Hadel and Cusack were going to riff on this, or if they thought such recognition was beneath them. Nice to see the latter got a kick out of it.

Anyway, I feel like people are taking this too seriously, assuming they are. Who knows what the intent behind this was, but I don't think it was meant to be negative.

Edited Tuesday at 10:05 PM by Blatch

[Sketch]

I don't see this as anything more than a playful jab and an acknowledgement that Smiling Friends has enough of a following for The Simpsons to riff on it. Some of the writers probably genuinely like Smiling Friends.