SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO : Dr. Seuss’ doozy of a daisy comes to TNT with a moral

Your home library may include “The Cat in the Hat” and “Horton Hears a Who” and “Green Eggs and Ham.” And you may think you have the complete collection of Dr. Seuss tales. But you don’t.

Stashed in a desk, the unknown story of Daisy-Head Mayzie by Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) was found by his widow, Audrey, after Geisel’s death in 1991. The 20-year-old manuscript had never been published.

Now, in the tradition of the “Cat in the Hat” and the seasonal favorite, “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” an animated version of “Daisy” comes to the television screen in a TNT festival of Dr. Seuss tales on Sunday.

The animation of the “Daisy-Head Mayzie” manuscript got its start when British producer and director Tony Collingwood paid a visit to the New York office of Geisel’s r. Seuss’ agent.

“He pulled it out of the bottom of his drawer,” Collingwood says from his London office. “It was just incredible. No one had ever seen it before. The manuscript was peppered with his original doodles and sketches and I read it right there in the office. It was a simple, beautiful story and just had to be made, just as Dr. Seuss had envisioned it.”

The cautionary tale of sudden fame and fortune features narration by Seuss’ most famous character, the Cat in the Hat (voiced by Henry Gibson). Mayzie McGrew wakes up one morning and, inexplicably, finds a daisy growing out of the top of her head. Razzed by her classmates, she becomes the target of a smooth-talking agent, Finagle (Tim Curry) who exploits her specialness. Fortunately, the Cat in the Hat and her daisy help Mayzie learn the value of true friends.

Jonathan Winters, George Hearn and Lewis Arquette also lend their voices to the show, part of a national “Seuss-a-Brathon” that started last November with TNT’s “In Search of Dr. Seuss.”

“She gets it all and she still isn’t happy,” says Arquette from his Culver City home. “She misses the basics and learns what’s really meaningful.”

Collingwood points out that Dr. Seuss’ work “is so lyrical it lends itself to songs and music.” The director assures that his team spent “a lot of time working on characters to keep them as true to his (Dr. Seuss’) work as possible.

“It’s a very simple premise,” he says. “That’s the moral of the story, as they say in the show, that love means more than fame and glory.”

“Really, only family and friends are true constants and all that matters,” he adds. “Money and fame are transitory. The story is an affirmation of love.”

“Daisy-Head Mayzie” airs Sunday at 4, 4:30, 5 and 5:30 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. on TNT. For ages 2 and up. “The Cat in the Hat” airs at 3 p.m.; “The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat” airs at 3:30 p.m.

More Family Shows

This week, two longtime popular sitcoms tackle a pressing topical issue for young people: gun control.

“In our 24 episodes, we do maybe one or two of a more serious matter,” says supervising producer Fred Fox Jr. of Family Matters (Friday 8 p.m. ABC), who penned this week’s “The Gun.”

After she’s held up at gunpoint, Laura (Kellie Williams) considers getting herself a gun.

“It’s such a problem today, we felt that if we could bring attention to it, if it helps even a few kids from bringing guns to school, then we’ve accomplished something,” Fox says. “At the end of the show, we offer a tag with Jaleel White (Urkel) and Kellie saying every day in America, children carry guns to school and are killed by firearms.” The message implores kids to tell a teacher or counselor if they know a peer is toting a gun.

The show also encourages kids to just walk away, before guns come into the picture. For ages 6 and up.

In this week’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode titled “Bullets Over Bel-Air” (Monday 8 p.m. NBC), Will (Will Smith) and Carleton (Alfonso Ribeiro) are robbed at gunpoint and Carleton decides to buy a gun. It’s up to his fresh cousin to convince Carleton he’s making a mistake. For ages 6 and up.