7 Most Iconic Adult Swim April Fools’ Day Stunts and Pranks, Ranked

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Adult Swim started in 2001 as a late-night programming block on Cartoon Network, quickly becoming known for its strange and unconventional humor. This unique approach proved successful almost immediately. When reruns of Family Guy began airing in 2003, viewership soared by 239%, prompting Fox to revive the show. By 2005, Adult Swim was recognized as a distinct network by Nielsen, and it continued to break viewership records for three years in a row. Since then, popular shows like Rick and Morty, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, and The Venture Bros. have established Adult Swim as the leading force in pushing the boundaries of adult animation on American television.

I’ve always thought what makes Adult Swim’s April Fools‘ Day stuff so good is that it actually feels like they put effort into it. Most brands just throw something up on social media – a fake announcement or a really obvious teaser – and it falls flat. But Adult Swim started doing these elaborate broadcasts back in 2004, and they treat the whole day as a real creative event. They don’t just tell a joke, they build an entire prank using the TV format itself, and it’s genuinely impressive. It’s rare to see a brand maintain that kind of creative tradition.

7) The Mustache Night (2004)

Adult Swim’s most famous prank was also its simplest: on April 1st, 2004, they added hand-drawn mustaches to every character in all of their shows. The episodes aired normally the next night. There was no explanation or build-up – just the joke itself. This showed how dedicated Adult Swim was to humor, willing to edit all their programming for an April Fool’s Day gag. Viewers instantly recognized the network’s playful attitude, and this connection built a lasting trust that has allowed them to continue pulling increasingly elaborate stunts for over twenty years.

6) Bushworld Adventures (2018)

On April 1st, 2018, instead of a new episode of Rick and Morty, viewers were surprised by a strange, low-budget Australian parody created by animator Michael Cusack – and it came with no warning. This parody, called Bushworld Adventures, aired repeatedly for an hour, leaving many confused viewers stuck in a bizarre take on the show with characters drawn in Cusack’s rough, unique style. The prank worked so well because Rick and Morty was incredibly popular at the time, and this unexpected, deliberately jarring alternative captured viewers’ attention. Later, Cusack went on to develop Smiling Friends for Adult Swim, meaning the April Fools’ broadcast essentially served as an unplanned demo that led to one of the network’s biggest hits of the 2020s.

5) The Room Marathon (2009–2011)

Before The Room became a cult classic shown in independent theaters, its rise to popularity was heavily influenced by Adult Swim. The network first aired the film as an April Fools’ Day joke in 2009, and continued the gag for the next two years. Each time, they added new content featuring the film’s creator, Tommy Wiseau – first through short clips, then with an appearance on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and finally in an interview on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Repeating the joke over three years had a powerful effect, making Wiseau and his much-criticized movie a memorable, recurring part of Adult Swim’s unique brand of comedy.

4) Smiling Friends Puppet Remake (2024)

Adult Swim’s 2024 April Fools’ Day prank was their biggest and most ambitious one yet, and it went hugely viral – far beyond anything they’d achieved with normal advertising. They recreated three episodes of Smiling Friends using puppets, but with a twist: the puppet quality got progressively worse. The first episode featured professionally made Muppet-style puppets, the second used sock puppets and live actors, and the third was made with simple, handmade papier-mâché creations. They kept the original voice acting and backgrounds, which made the switch to increasingly amateurish puppets even more surprising. The prank racked up over 25 million views and ultimately led to the premiere of Smiling Friends Season 2 – something they’d been subtly hinting at the whole time.

3) Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters in Picture-in-Picture (2007)

Okay, so back in 2007, Adult Swim did this crazy promotion for the first Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. They basically aired the whole thing on TV weeks before it hit theaters! But here’s the kicker: they started with the first couple of minutes full-screen, and then shrunk the rest of the movie down to this tiny little box in the corner of the screen! And to make it even weirder, the sound was switched to the SAP channel. So, yeah, you could watch the movie if you really tried – you just had to squint and tune out everything else happening on TV. It was a really bizarre, memorable stunt, honestly.

2) Rick and Morty Season 3 Premiere (2017)

By April 2017, fans had been waiting over a year and a half for new episodes of Rick and Morty after the second season ended on a cliffhanger. Adult Swim knew fans were eager for more. So, on April 1st, the network surprised everyone by replacing its regular programming—including the premieres of Dragon Ball Super and Samurai Jack—with the first episode of Season 3, “The Rickshank Rickdemption.” The episode played on repeat until midnight with no advance warning or promotion, leaving viewers unsure if it was a real premiere or just a short preview. Social media exploded as soon as the episode began, turning the broadcast into a live event. People tuned in because they saw others talking about it, creating a huge wave of excitement that a typical premiere couldn’t have achieved.

1) Toonami Returns (2012)

Adult Swim’s 2012 April Fools’ Day joke was unique because it had lasting effects. They started the night with a minute of the famously bad movie The Room, as they usually did for April Fools’, but then unexpectedly switched to programming from Toonami, a show block that had been cancelled from Cartoon Network four years prior. For the rest of the night, Toonami aired classic anime like Dragon Ball Z, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Tenchi Muyo, recreating the experience from its popular run in the early 2000s. The next day, Adult Swim tweeted, asking viewers if they’d like Toonami to return permanently. Within weeks, they announced Toonami would be back as a regular Saturday night program, starting May 26, 2012. This April Fools’ broadcast served as a test run, a reunion, and a revival announcement all at once, making it the only prank Adult Swim ever did that actually changed what was shown on the channel.

What’s the most memorable April Fools’ prank Adult Swim has ever pulled? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-03-31 20:41