Magnolia Synopsis - Magnolia is set in a rainy Los Angeles and is a multi-strand telling of two stories that are intercut, and to some extent interchangeable, and linked by a game show "What Do Kids Know". The presenter of the game show is dying. His difficult relationship with his estranged daughter Claudia, a drug addict, comes to a head when she accuses him of molesting her. Police Officer Jim Kurring (who is looking for love through dating services) is called to the scene and falls for Claudia. Earl a former producer on the gameshow is also dying, his much younger wife Linda ( a gold digger who married him for his money) begins to fall in love with Earl for real. Earl asks his kind hearted male nurse Phil for his estranged son, Frank, to be located and brought to him. Frank is a motivational speaker, and is currently running a seminar on dating from an extreme misogynist perspective.The current whizzkid on the game show is Stanley, a young boy being exploited by his father to make money. Stanley is on the verge of breaking the all time record for appearances and will win lots of money if he succeeds. The record he will break was set by original whizzkid Donnie Smith, who was on the the game show many years ago and who has now fallen on hard times.