The Smouse Show

Jay Smouse barges into Zoe Grant's newspaper meeting with balloons for a made-up "anniversary," and Zoe explodes: they are not friends! To help Jay figure out what went wrong, Whit sends him into the Room of Consequence, where Jay wakes up as the star of The Smouse Show - a program watched by 19.8 million fans who vote on his every move. At first Jay loves the fame, but soon the audience is forcing him onto roller coasters, denying him extra cherries, and voting down his friendship with Zoe by all but fifty-four votes. Dodging camera crews in a fake mustache, Jay finally realizes these fans aren't friends at all... because real friends listen. He wins a 51 percent vote for forgiveness, races to Zoe, and for once lets her talk first, owning up to the flirting and teasing she has asked him to stop. Then comes the twist: Zoe was never a simulation - Whit slipped the real Zoe into the adventure, and the two leave as true friends, celebrating with sundaes and absolutely no mustard.

Found on A New Perspective Album 77 · 6 episodes

The run See every episode

0983 One Last Treasure Hunt On her twelfth birthday, a girl receives one final treasure hunt planned by her late father, and each clue brings her closer to a truth she's been afraid to face.

1 of 3 0984 Running the Race A skeptical teenager who thinks commitment and contentment are "a bunch of hooey" is sent into the Imagination Station to live scenes from the early life of Olympic runner Eric Liddell.

2 of 3 0985 Running the Race A gifted Scottish runner with an unorthodox style faces the choice of a lifetime when his deepest conviction collides with his shot at Olympic glory.

3 of 3 0986 Running the Race A skeptical teen steps into the life of Olympic champion Eric Liddell to discover whether trading fame for a missionary's life in war-torn China was a waste - or the greatest race he ever ran.

0987 Quiet as a Smouse Three kids must track down their elusive fourth teammate - the only one who knows the password to their contest entry - before their audio drama plays, following a trail of his strange errands across town.

0988 The Heavens Declare A skeptical scientist agrees to let Whit's new interactive gallery make the case that faith and science aren't enemies - before she tells a young girl exactly what she thinks of religion.

0989 The Smouse Show When Jay Smouse's over-the-top antics finally push Zoe too far, Whit's Room of Consequence drops Jay into a world where 19.8 million fans vote on his every move - and he must figure out what real friendship actually requires.

0990 Painted into a Corner Invited to show her paintings at a glamorous charity auction, Penny Bassett discovers the event's organizer is the mother-in-law who has never acknowledged she exists - and is soon asked to keep her true identity a secret.

0991 Making Nice When Odyssey High's mascot lands in hot water with the soccer team, he schemes his way onto the football roster as a self-appointed "life coach," forcing the star quarterback to learn the difference between being nice and being kind.

0992 Unmanageable A teen singer chasing her band's big break starts to wonder whether her bandmates' "harmless" schemes - and her sister's heavy-handed faith - are shaping her more than she thinks.

0993 Facing the Music A surprise week-long visit from her boyfriend should be the highlight of Jules Kendall's big performance week, but the secrets piling up around her band threaten to unravel everything she cares about.

0994 The Hero's Laundry When a news reporter profiles Odyssey's most accomplished family for his "Difference Makers" series, an intern must figure out what to do about the one unremarkable son who doesn't seem to fit the story.

0995 Worth Her Wage A hardworking burger joint employee facing a broken-down car and a denied raise must decide what her integrity is worth when temptation opens the cash register.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 3 more roles

3 supporting roles

Firefighter Rudy Rudy Haerr Andy Rome Alkaio Thiele Hot Dog Contest Announcer Evan David

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Abigail Geiger Writer · Director Marshal Younger Director Luke Guenot Sound Designer Nathan Hoobler Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 4 min

At a meeting of the school newspaper, the Odyssey Owl, Zoe Grant is finally getting her chance to pitch a story she has worked on for a month when Jay Smouse barges in with an armload of balloons. He announces that it is their "anniversary," the anniversary of the first time he asked her for homework answers, and insists on whisking her away for ice cream. Zoe, embarrassed and fed up, refuses to leave her meeting, and when Jay keeps pushing she explodes: "We are not friends!" She orders him out of the room.

Jay carries his hurt feelings to Whit's End, where Mr. Whittaker gently points out that interrupting Zoe's important meeting was not the act of a good friend. Jay decides he must win Zoe back, and Whit offers a different kind of help: the Room of Consequence. Jay is nervous about climbing in again, but Whit tells him the adventure will end only when he figures out what is missing in his friendship with Zoe.

The adventure drops Jay into a carnival, where he is plopped into a hot-dog-eating contest with a bib and a pile of mustard he never asked for. Olivia Parker is there with a camera crew, because in this world Jay is the star of The Smouse Show, a program watched by 19.8 million people and broadcast from cameras hidden all over Odyssey. The show is completely viewer-directed: an app lets the fans vote on everything Jay does, and when they vote, he delivers. Jay loves the fame at first, declaring that after wars, meteors, and continental drift, "They've earned me, and I'm happy to give me to them." But the shine wears off fast. The fans make him ride a roller coaster even though he hates them, deny him extra cherries on his sundae, cancel his dream of directing his own show, and send him to the arcade to shoot baskets he keeps missing.

When Jay spots Zoe through the window, he chases after her to the library, but the crew hustles her away. Olivia delivers the crushing news: the audience does not want Jay to be friends with Zoe. Jay demands a poll asking whether he should be allowed to make his own decisions, and out of nearly twenty million viewers, exactly fifty-four people vote yes. Furious, Jay bolts. He disguises himself with a mustache and a terrible French accent on the bus, but the driver suddenly reroutes everyone to the zoo. He climbs through four backyards, only to be turned away by a firefighter who admits he voted no on "the whole Zoe thing." When Jay finally reaches Zoe's door, Olivia is waiting with a list of replacement best friends, including a robot monkey and an earless puppet named Morty.

That is when everything clicks. Jay realizes these so-called fans are not his friends at all, because real friends listen. They would care that he hates roller coasters and mustard, and that he wants to fix whatever he did to make Zoe mad. Speaking straight into the doorbell camera, Jay tells the world he needs five minutes to apologize, urging everyone to vote for forgiveness and friendship. The vote squeaks by at 51 percent, and Jay races to the library with fifteen minutes on the clock.

He finds Zoe hiding behind the bushes, and when she says she has things to tell him too, Jay makes his big choice: "I think it's best if I listen first." Zoe admits she did not mean what she said at school and that she wants to be friends, but explains that his constant flirting makes everything awkward, and that he treats it like a joke and never stops when she asks. Jay confesses he thought she liked the attention, then owns up to not listening, not respecting her, and not giving her space, and he apologizes. Zoe forgives him and admits her own fault: instead of bottling things up until she blows up at him, she needs to tell him clearly what bothers her.

Then comes the surprise. Zoe asks, "Is that it, Mr. Whittaker?" and the adventure ends, because Zoe was never a simulation. Whit slipped her into the Room of Consequence ten minutes after Jay so the two could work out their communication problems together. Jay is flabbergasted that Whit tricked him into being sincere to a real person, but he gathers his courage and apologizes all over again, this time knowing Zoe is real, promising to stop the flirting for good. Zoe forgives him, apologizes for blowing up at him, and suggests they celebrate with ice cream sundaes, hers with extra sprinkles, his with ten extra cherries, and absolutely no mustard. Whit figures that is one decision 100 percent of the audience would agree with.