Death to Smoochy

Randolph Smiley has it all--as star of the highest rated kid's show on TV, "Rainbow Randolph" has a penthouse, a Times Square billboard, cars, boats and all the indulgence that celebrity brings. Randolph also has an alcohol problem and a penchant for taking bribes from stage parents. These under-the-table transactions are quite lucrative until the Feds get wise. Busted and instantly reviled, Randolph is a star no more. Scandals don't play well to the under-8 demographic. Enter Sheldon Mopes and his alter ego "Smoochy," a puffy, fuscia rhinoceros. Eager to expand his audience beyond a Brooklyn methadone clinic, Smoochy--with his innocence and unrelenting ethics--is the perfect remedy for what ails the networks. Also, the kids love him! Sheldon soon learns, however, that children's television is a dangerous world, steeped in corruption, back stabbing and violence. Broke and homeless, Randolph doesn't share America's enthusiasm for his replacement--and thusly plots fierce revenge against Smoochy.