This misguided spoof of the ruthless world of children’s television programming is one of those wild Hollywood misfires, a movie of spectacular potential that makes an even more spectacular failure. The film traces an ongoing battle between two rival kid-show hosts – the disgraced, corrupt Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) and his
squeaky-clean replacement, Smoochy the Rhino (Edward Norton). Baffling gags about everything from a Nazi rally to self-immolation suggest director Danny De Vito was so intent on making this a black comedy, he forgot to include the comedy.
