Adult Swim April Fool’s Day Cost Us Some Sleep But Pibby Was Worth It

So remember when Adult Swim debuted Come and Learn with Pibby! last Halloween? Crafted by Dodge Greenley, the special found Pibby ripped out of her safe, preschool world and thrown into unknown lands. And if she wants to stop the cartoon apocalypse then she’s going to need to grow up, get caught up, and embrace her inner badass. And to do that, Pibby and her friends must face some of the ghosts from Warner’s multimedia past & present. But once it made the online impact that it did, fans were wondering what was next. And then, a new year came and the calendar turned to April 1, 2022. And we all know that’s a special day when it comes to Cartoon Network’s late-night programming block. Did we think it was going to send us down a three-hour rabbit hole? Nope. But for Pibby, it was more than worth it… and just to be clear? What you’re about to read was finished just before 3 am on Friday morning so be kind because we can get a bit loopy.

Now before we get to what this has to do with Adult Swim celebrating April Fool’s Day, it’s probably best to start things off with a look back at the short that started a sensation:

Well, it appears Pibby’s war to stop the apocalypse has made its way onto tonight’s Adult Swim broadcast universe. As you can see below, we have an “infection” happening on Smiling Friends.

We can also confirm that there was an “infection” at the beginning of Rick and Morty S02E04 “Total Rickall” (contrary to what Adult Swim’s Master Control is reporting):

UPDATE: Morty suffered from a brief “infection,” as you’re about to see below:

At 12:30 ET, Adult Swim began a special broadcast on YouTube that appears to be broadcasting the episodes and the “infections” that have been plaguing the channel since midnight. Meanwhile, Smiling Friends S01E08 “Charlie Dies and Doesn’t Come Back” is also showing signs of “infection.” Though reports out of Atlanta have us gravely concerned over who’s actually in charge:

UPDATE: “Infections” have made their way to The Eric Andre Show S02E06 (with guests Wink Martindale & Sarah Burns; musical guest Fredro Starr)

And even the promos… along with a cry for help:

UPDATE: Even the Aqua Teen Hunger Force isn’t safe, with Aqua TV Show Show S10E01 “Muscles” also showing numerous examples of “infections” (including direct contact with Master Shake)

UPDATE: The “infections” continued into the promo prior to Birdgirl and were found sporadically throughout S01E02 “ShareBear” as well as into more promos:

UPDATE: We have another promo “infection” leading into Joe Pera Talks With You S01E06 “Joe Pera Reads You The Church Announcements” (which also happens to be our favorite episode of a really sweet series, which included a Pibby presence at the end but appeared to be “infection”-free):

And the messages are getting much more disturbing as the “infection” grows:

And then just like that, the “infections” (and Pibby) were gone… but for how long? Okay, we need to get some sleep but since we’ll be awake by the time you read this, here’s a look at the complete special broadcast followed by a compilation of just the “infections”. And while we’re hoping this is a sign of better things to come, BCTV officially endorses a Pibby series: