Smiling Friends Inc. is a non-profit business dedicated to making people smile. It is headed by Mr. Boss and is the place of work for Pim, Charlie, Allan, and Glep. Its headquarters are located in an unspecified city in Pennsylvania.
Overview[]
The Smiling Friends Inc. office being built, from "Mole Man."
The headquarters is a large, round building painted yellow and resembling a smiling face. The two eyes on the front are windows. It is located in an urban city in Pennsylvania, strongly implied to be Philadelphia, between a bathroom supply store called the “Toilet Emporium” and a mental institution.
The building’s interior contains an office break room where its employees spend most of their time, a large, dark, cavernous office belonging to Mr. Boss, a storage room accessible from the office, and several crawlspaces. It is across the street from a rural wooded area and formerly, the headquarters of Frowning Friends Inc.
Mr. Boss had the headquarters office built illegally, without any permission from the city, and with the help of cheap laborers from the Enchanted Forest. As such, the building was in violation of every safety code in the city's books. For thirty long years, the entire Smiling Friends headquarters was held in place to the ground by a single loose nail located in its basement.
Interior[]
Mr. Boss entering the reception room while Allan cleans the pictures.
Reception room[]
The reception room has grey carpeting with beige wallpaper. White ceiling tiles adorn the top of the room. During the Bliblie infestation, several of these tiles were dislodged, exposing dangling wires. Lining both sides of the room is an array of red chairs, one of which has a visible hole in the middle of it. At the back of the room is a reception desk with purple wallpaper. The company logo is displayed in bright yellow text behind it. Portraits of several human and critter characters, presumably previous clients, hang on the right side of the room. Two purple doors can be seen anchoring the reception desk, which lead to the other rooms in the office, the one on the right leads to the back of the building.
This room is seldom seen, having only appeared in "Desmond's Big Day Out," "A Silly Halloween Special," "Pim Finally Turns Green," "Silly Samuel," and "Curse of the Green Halloween Witch."
Break room[]
The break room is the most commonly seen room in the series. When the Smiling Friends aren't busy with a client, they can usually be seen relaxing in here. In the center of the room is a small table with two to four chairs surrounding it, depending on the scene. To the left of the room is a white refrigerator with several objects on top. The most notable of these is a jar with a homunculus sandwiched between several cereal boxes. A clock with a smiley face on it is visible above the door. A hole in the wall is located behind the fridge, which is where the Wall Guy lived. On the wall by the door is a kitchenette with a microwave, sink, and coffee pot. On the right is a small CRT TV set mounted on a stand protruding out of the wall.
Also on this side is Glep's bean bag chair, where he spends most of his time. At the back of the room is a cupboard where Allan keeps assorted office supplies, including his paperclips. A phone in the shape of the office building is located on a small table here, as seen in "Shrimp's Odyssey." A door is next to the cupboard, likely serving as a storage closet.
Boss' Office[]
Mr. Boss' office is a black room which consists of a brown wooden desk with a large red chair behind it. A single door with a window on it saying "BOSS" leads in and out of the office. On the desktop, a purple lamp and two paper organizers can be seen. The organizer on the left has a frowny face while the one on the right has a smiley face.
Somewhere in the office is a button Mr. Boss can press which causes an alarm to go off that is loud enough to hear on the street outside the building.
Despite its seemingly small size, Mr. Boss' office is quite large and appears to break the laws of reality, as Glep can be seen vanishing into the darkness on one side of the office and reappearing on the opposite side without explanation. A pull-cord is attached to the ceiling of the office, which leads to the attic.
also in Squim Returns its revealed that in a drawer in the big boss desk there is a little whistle that summons Squim out from nowhere in case of emergences.
Bathroom[]
The Building Inspector inspects the bathroom faucet.
Located behind one of the purple doors is a small bathroom. Instead of water, blood runs from the faucet. Mr. Boss says this is Allan's "red juice" to the Building Inspector when he taps the faucet.
Attic[]
Mr. Boss looking at Frowning Friends headquarters.
A small attic, located in the left pupil of the building, can be accessed through pulling a cord in the Boss' office. It is a dusty, dingy room with wooden floorboards and walls. Storage boxes can be seen strewn across the room. On one side of the attic is a disused sink and a mirror, which Mr. Boss breaks in a fit of rage. Mounted on another wall is an assault rifle, which Mr. Boss takes to try and gun down the Frowning Friends.
Basement[]
Situated underneath the office is a spacious basement cluttered with all sorts of disturbing paraphernalia including a nuclear warhead, a cage with a skeleton in it, a giant spider, and a live-action man chained to a wall.
A gaping hole is in the floor next to the warhead. Located on the ground is a small nail, which secures the building in place. When the inspector knocks it down, the building becomes loose and rolls all over the city.
Fire exit[]
A long hallway serving as the emergency fire exit leads from the reception room to the outside of the building. While the hallway only appears in "A Silly Halloween Special," the outdoor exit makes an additional appearance in "Pim Finally Turns Green."
Rumpus room[]
Mr. Boss, Neil, and Brian O'Halloran watching Clerks (2002).
The Smiling Friends and their relatives, having a Christmas Dinner in the Supper Room
The rumpus room is only seen once in "Shmaloogles". It has shelves full of books and magazines, and under those shelves is a neon beer sign, a yellow turn sign, a red "STOP" sign, and a RoboCop poster. Also in the rumpus room is a green couch with a brown table in front of it with crushed soda cans, beer bottles, a book, and a half-eaten bag of potato chips. The beer cans and soda cans are also scattered around the couch. In front of the table is a flat-screen TV. Next to the couch is a pool table. On the wall next to the couch on the other side is a green clock. This room is a hangout room for the Smiling Friends sometimes.
Supper Room[]
The Supper Room appears is a large room, where company events are hosted. It is an average sized room with vintage ferniture and wallpaper. During the winter, it is decorated with Christmas decorations.
The Boss believes that it should be used more often than it is.
Role in series[]
Season One[]
"Desmond's Big Day Out"[]
After receiving a call to help a client, Charlie and Pim meet Desmond who is on the verge of suicide. They try and help him cheer up but fail to do so. Back at the office, Alan is trying to find a missing paperclip after his cheese also goes missing. He sets up a mouse trap thinking the office has a mouse infestation. He walks into the wall where he is met by a guy living in the walls of the office. Alan discovers that it was a Bliblies that stole his cheese and paperclip, the Bliblie stabs him with the paperclip and a hoard of Blibles swarm the office. After Charlie and Pim arrive back at the office for Desmond to log that the business weren't able to help him, they are met with a Bliblie infestation in which Alan is being crucified. After Desmond finds a purpose in life, he starts a new business, Desmond's Bliblie Control, and the office is cleaned after the infestation.
"Mr. Frog"[]
At the start of the episode, Pim and Charlie can be seen watching the news report on the break room TV before being tasked by Mr. Boss to help Mr. Frog smile, as a mission for Smiling Friends.
"Shrimp's Odyssey"[]
The Smiling Friends are shown entering the office at different points in the episode's beginning. Glep appears to be sleep deprived and hung over while Allan is busy with his compost heap. Pim and Charlie leave to help Shrimp smile as a mission for Smiling Friends.
"A Silly Halloween Special"[]
The Boss planned for a Halloween party to take place at the office however there was no firewood. He asks Pim to go out and get some as the Boss proclaims that it wouldn't be a Halloween party without a campfire. After Pim leaves through the back door towards the forest across the bridge, the demon chases him back over to the office. After walking in on the Halloween party, the demon is accused of wearing blackface and devoured by the party guests who begin to eat him. The Boss thanks Pim for the firewood and the staff look on in horror.
"Enchanted Forest"[]
Allan and Glep are loudly playing a fighting game on the break room TV, much to Charlie's chagrin as he's dealing with a headache. His headache is further aggravated by the fairies that come into the break room to announce that the Princess of the Enchanted Forest is unable to smile. In the post-credits gag, Charlie is shown to be sick from the potion Mip gave him to cure his headache and is sitting at the table.
"Frowning Friends"[]
Charlie and Pim confront Grim and Gnarly.
After a rival business, Frowning Friends Inc., opens up across the street, it begins to have an effect on Smiling Friends Inc. Charlie and Pim meet the owners, Grim and Gnarly who bear resemblance to them. Whilst trying to go out to make people smile, Charlie and Pim are mistaken for Grim and Gnarly who go out to spread negativity. The Boss goes to his board to think of a solution and goes to desperate lengths to the point where he goes after Grim and Gnarly. Grim is confronted by the Boss who pleads for his life. After Grim and Gnarly are killed by the Renaissance Men, Smiling Friends Inc. resumes as normal.
"Charlie Dies and Doesn't Come Back"[]
In this episode, the office is decorated for Christmas and Pim is shown stringing lights across the break room walls. Mr. Boss wants a tree for the office, so he tasks the Smiling Friends to pick one out for him.
Season Three[]
"Silly Samuel (episode)"[]
The Building Inspector arrives at the Smiling Friends Inc. building to perform a random inspection, upon hearing this Mr. Boss confesses Allan that he built it without permission and without following any security code from cheap labor by the Enchanted Forest. Through the episode we are shown various interiors of the building while the Building Inspector checks them. Upon arriving at the basement the Inspector notices a nail on the ground, Mr. Boss claims that it's the nail that keeps the entire building to the ground. The Building Inspector takes this as a joke and just as Mr. Boss says he's being serious the Building Inspector knocks the nail over and the entire building starts shaking. Now that it's no longer attached to the ground, the building rolls over the street destroying buildings and crushing multiple people on its path. Silly Samuel sees it approaching the park where people gathered to laugh and him and attempts to alert them of the danger but they don't take him seriously. Glep, who wake up from his nap because of the commotion, puts the nail back into place just as the building reaches the park, stopping it, and goes back to sleep. When one person notices there really was a building coming towards them the crowd realizes Silly Samuel was being serious and start to consider anything he says as truth, finally making Silly Sam feel taken seriously and smile.
In the post credits scene the Smiling Friends attempt to push the building into its place. However it slips from them and rolls through the street again seemingly causing chaos again off-screen, Mr. Boss uncaringly gives up and decides to go for wings with the rest of the Smiling Friends.
Associated characters[]
Office staff[]
- Mr. Boss (boss, co-founder)
- Pim Pimling (employee, counselor)
- Charlie Dompler (employee, counselor)
- Allan Red (employee, inventory and paperwork)
- Glep (employee, co-founder)
Former[]
- Smormu James Carter (deceased)
- Tyler (fired)
- Squim (retired)
Miscellaneous[]
- Jason (Mr. Boss' son)
- Bliblies (pests, deceased)
- Wall Guy (deceased)
- Blue Janitor Dude (janitor, scrapped)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- During production of the pilot episode, there was to be a 6th staff member to the Smiling Friends Inc. crew. A blue critter that worked as the office's janitor. described by co-creator Zach Hadel as the "blue janitor dude."[1] an extremely short 'deleted scene' of the character from "Desmond's Big Day Out" was posted to Twitter by crew member Brendan Caulfield.[2]
- This character would eventually properly appear in "Curse of the Green Halloween Witch," albeit in a vision.
- The exterior of the office is a yellow smiling face, an extremely common image that is referenced in many of Michael Cusack's works prior to "Smiling Friends", such as in the intro to "Bushworld Adventures" in addition to his YouTube channel icon among many other instances.
- In "Who Violently Murdered Simon S. Salty?" the police force outsource their murder cases to Smiling Friends Inc. due to budget cuts. It's unclear whether this is a permanent arrangement or just a temporary measure.
- As of now, "Who Violently Murdered Simon S. Salty?," "The Smiling Friends Go to Brazil!," "Charlie, Pim, and Bill vs the Alien" and "Le Voyage Incroyable de Monsieur Grenouille" are the only episodes in which the office makes no appearance in the main episode.
- In "Le Voyage Incroyable de Monsieur Grenouille," the office is restricted to a post-credits gag.