>You’ve probably never heard someone who works in TV say this: “I really could see the show ending with us loving it and people hating it. I’m not saying that will happen, but I’m just saying that would be fine with me. That’s funny to me. That’s better than doing fan service. We’ll do whatever we find funny.”

>That’s Zach Hadel talking, one half of the duo behind “Smiling Friends.” Along with Michael Cusack, the former YouTube trailblazers have created a show that is not only downright hysterical but also serves as a bold example for an industry drowning in unprecedented trepidation. As big-budget studios continuously default to beating a dead horse, and then sell an eight-part limited series to Netflix about how exactly they thrashed the poor animal, Hadel and Cusack unapologetically blast candy-colored pandemonium onto the airwaves and declare: What’s “funny to us” is enough. Take it or leave it.

>Clearly, it’s working, because “Smiling Friends” just released its third season on Adult Swim. Working double duty as stars and creators, Hadel voices Charlie, a bro-ish yellow blob creature, and Cusack voices Pim, a well-mannered chap who looks like a cross between a school boy and a grape. Together, they are the Smiling Friends, an agency dedicated to fixing existential crises, a task left incomplete unless they put a smile on their patron’s face. The show’s engine runs on frenetic cartoon logic and a dizzying cast of one-off characters like 3D Squelton, Count Groxia, God and Ronald Regan. Despite its violent absurdity, the world of “Smiling Friends” often resembles our own in startling ways, exploring everything from suicide to imposter syndrome to ravenous parasocial relationships.