Other Titles • Death to Smoochy • Tötet Smoochy (2003)
Synopses for Death to Smoochy (2002)
1.
Guaranteed to please anyone who thinks Barney is Satan's spawn, Death to Smoochy mines comedy gold by skewering children's television. Adam Resnick's easy-target satire blossoms under the demented influence of director-costar Danny DeVito, who honors his legacy of venom-laced humor with the raucous rivalry of scandalized former kid-show host Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) and his squeaky-clean replacement, Sheldon Mopes, a.k.a. Smoochy the Rhino (Edward Norton). Randolph is insanely obsessed with getting his job back, but Smoochy's a smash, and their war for kid-vid supremacy places a jaded "KidNet" producer (Catherine Keener) in the middle of a Rainbow/Rhino smackdown. A few lulls are easily forgiven since much of Death to Smoochy is laugh-out-loud hilarious, with DeVito, Robert Prosky, Jon Stewart, and Harvey Fierstein in choice supporting roles. It's no wonder DeVito's taboo-busting drew fire from family groups and actual kid-show producers; only the humorless would fail to laugh at Smoochy's uncompromised irreverence. --Jeff Shannon
2.
Robin Williams goes berserk as Rainbow Randolph, the disgraced host of a children's television show, in director Danny DeVito's fast-paced satire, DEATH TO SMOOCHY. Busted by the Feds for accepting a bribe to get a child on his show, Randolph gets booted from his network, Kidnet, and is replaced by the earnest do-gooder Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), who plays Smoochy, a loveable pink rhino with a strong resemblance to Barney. Sheldon sums up his own personality with a classic line, "When my brothers and I played cowboys and Indians, I was always the Chinese railroad worker." As Sheldon becomes a superstar, Randolph plots his revenge. Sheldon's refusal to push cheap toys and sugary drinks angers the Kidnet execs, especially tough-as-nails Nora (Catherine Keener). Sheldon also runs up against the Irish mob and his agent (DeVito) gets him into trouble with a corrupt charity. Meanwhile, Nora finds herself falling for the principled performer.
Robin Williams is amazing, completely shedding his "nice guy" persona and making the shockingly foulmouthed kiddie show host simultaneously hilarious and frightening. Norton does a great job of winning the audience over to his buffoonish but truly good hearted character. He and Keener lend heart to the scathingly funny script by Adam Resnick.
3.
Children’s television…it’s a tough racket.
Randolph Smiley (ROBIN WILLIAMS) has it all – as the costumed star of the highest rated kid’s show on TV, “Rainbow Randolph” has a Manhattan penthouse, a Times Square billboard featuring his beloved character, cars, boats, horses and all the indulgence that celebrity brings.
There’s something else Randolph has – a healthy taste for Johnnie Walker and a penchant for taking bribes from stage parents who want their kids on his program. These under-the-table transactions are quite lucrative for the debt-ridden children’s icon…until the Feds get wise.
Busted and instantly reviled, Randolph is a star no more. He’s become the one thing a children’s performer fears most: a scandal. Scandals don’t play well to the under-8 demographic, and weasely network president Frank Stokes (JON STEWART) needs a squeaky clean replacement – fast.
Enter Sheldon Mopes (EDWARD NORTON) and his alter-ego “Smoochy,” a puffy, fuscia rhinoceros. Eager to expand his audience beyond the Coney Island methadone clinic, Smoochy – with his innocence and unrelenting ethics – is the perfect remedy for what ails the network…and it doesn’t hurt that kids love him. Now it’s Smoochy who’s got the swanky penthouse, the Times Square billboard and the smooth-talking agent (DANNY DEVITO). He’s even captured the attention of Randolph’s ex-girlfriend Nora (CATHERINE KEENER), the network’s senior programming executive.
Sheldon soon learns, however, that children’s television is a dangerous world steeped in corruption, back-stabbing and violence. But his biggest problem isn’t ratings or corporate politics. It’s Rainbow Randolph.
Broke and homeless, Randolph doesn’t share America’s enthusiasm for his opportunistic replacement. The way Randolph sees it, the righteous rhino has stolen his job, his house and his girl. He’s convinced that the foam rubber carpetbagger is the face of evil sent by the devil to destroy him.
Revenge is the means, assassination is the end and Rainbow Randolph will not sleep until Smoochy takes a permanent dirt nap.
4.
The bleaker you go, the funnier it gets. ROBIN WILLIAMS plays Rainbow Randolph, a disgraced kiddie-show host determined to off the innocent schmo (EDWARD NORTON) whose righteous Smoochy the Rhino creation now rules the TV time slot once held by Randolph. Directed by comic genius Danny DeVito, kids' TV will never be the same.
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