Death to Smoochy is a black comedy about the ills of child television programming and its clear exploitation of kids for monetary gain.
The concept is ripe for the picking. Sadly, Death to Smoochy's execution of it is lacking. Neither funny, nor particularly compelling, its a movie devoid of all the essential ingredients of a good comedy. The characters—played at least with enthusiasm by Robin Williams as Rainbow Randolph and Edward Norton, the titular Smoochy—are generally unlikeable.
Randolph, who goes...
Death to Smoochy is a black comedy about the ills of child television programming and its clear exploitation of kids for monetary gain.
The concept is ripe for the picking. Sadly, Death to Smoochy's execution of it is lacking. Neither funny, nor particularly compelling, its a movie devoid of all the essential ingredients of a good comedy. The characters—played at least with enthusiasm by Robin Williams as Rainbow Randolph and Edward Norton, the titular Smoochy—are generally unlikeable.
Randolph, who goes through a sort of awakening after losing his prime TV spot, just sort of sucks; and considering none of his self-reflection ever involves acknowledging he was fired for good reason, I'm not sure the point of it.
Throw in a needless and bizarre romance angle, multiple mob sub-plots, Jon Stewart's weird haircut, and a character whose brain damage is played for laughs, and you get one of the more mediocre enterprises of the early 2000s.
Hence why it flopped, earning $8.3 million on a budget of $50 million (Why was it that high?); and why it earned poor reviews, 42% on Rotten Tomatoes with 119 of them.
Anyway, there are a couple of good jokes. So, sit back, plot revenge while sipping a Brotherly Love Hazy IPA from Victory Brewing, and remember: Your stepdad isn't mean ... He's just adjusting! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Capt. Cash, and Chumpzilla are all auditioning to be backup skaters in Smoochy on Ice!
This Week’s Segments:
- Introduction/Plot Breakdown – It's a kids show... with gangsters, bribery, and corruption! (00:00)
- Lingering Questions – The Double Turn Podcast has a Tornado Tag versus Smoochy and Rainbow Randolph, and then we discuss how a Robin Williams movie could be so unfunny. (32:16)
- The "It's a Rocket Ship!" Trivia Challenge – After a word from our brothers in beer at Hop Nation USA, Capt. Cash challenges the field to trivia about the movie. (39:46)
- Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We begin "Hops and Cosmic Terror Flops" with Hellraiser IV: Bloodline. (51:10)
And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—history of taking kids entertainment to the ice and more—from this week’s episode!
You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, Amazon Music, and more!
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