Robin Williams reportedly wished more people had seen *Death to Smoochy*, the 2002 black comedy in which he played disgraced children’s television host Rainbow Randolph. He praised the film’s deliberately bleak and unpleasant tone, but it failed to find a wide audience on release, making it a lesser-known entry in his varied career.

Directed by Danny DeVito, the film stars Edward Norton as the wholesome replacement presenter Smoochy, alongside Catherine Keener, Jon Stewart and DeVito. Its dark satire of children’s entertainment, corruption and rivalry divided critics and audiences, and it grossed about $8.3 million against a reported $50 million budget; it has since developed a modest cult following.