A satire of network television, the movie follows the adventures of an ambitious mailroom clerk, Steven Post (Kurt Russell) at the fictional struggling UBC (United Broadcasting Corporation) Network. Post discovers that a chimpanzee named Raffles, left in the care of his girlfriend Jennifer Scott (played by Heather North) by neighbors who moved to San Francisco, has the uncanny ability to choose which television programs will succeed or fail with audiences. While watching a program, Raffles Blowing a raspberry at shows he hates and claps his hands at shows he likes.