Clerks is an American adultanimated sitcom that was first broadcast in 2000 on ABC that was based on Kevin Smith's 1994 comedy of the same title. It was developed for television by Smith, Smith's producing partner Scott Mosier and former Seinfeld writer David Mandel with character designs by Stephen Silver, known for character designs in Disney's Kim Possible and Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom. It is the first television show to be set in Smith's View Askewniverse. Six episodes of the show were produced; only two episodes aired before the show was cancelled by ABC.
Production
Clerks: The Animated Series was produced by Miramax and View Askew Productions in association with Touchstone Television. Produced with Touchstone Television, Clerks was Disney's second adult animated series, after The PJs, but it was also the first and, so far, only adult animated series produced with Disney Television Animation, which was uncredited. According to the commentary for the series premiere episode, Smith and Mosier first had the idea of the animated series in 1995. In that same commentary, Mosier claimed that they pitched the series to "every" network, including HBO, Fox, The WB, and several others. They were given a thirteen-episode order from UPN, but turned down the offer in order to be on a bigger channel like ABC and were told that UPN would be off the air within a year. On a DVD bonus feature, Smith revealed that they initially cast Alan Rickman as the voice of Leonardo Leonardo, so they decided to design the character after Hans Gruber from Die Hard. Rickman disapproved on the design because he didn't want to play that character again. ABC eventually turned Rickman down for budgetary reasons and recast the role with Alec Baldwin.
Broadcast history
Only two episodes were broadcast on ABC in the year 2000 before the series was canceled. Several factors contributed to the cancellation, including low ratings, the show's not fitting in with ABC's other programming, unsuccessful test-screening to older audiences, and ABC's decision to air the shows out of order. ABC aired the fourth episode first, as opposed to the intended first episode, and then aired the second episode despite the fact that the second episode is the 'flashback' episode, and derives much of its humor from the fact that it flashes back to the first episode rather frequently. Additionally, the second episode aired without the scene from "Flintstone's List", the fictional RST Video rental that spoofed Schindler's List. All six episodes were released on DVD in 2001, marking one of the first occasions in which a short-lived TV series found success in this format. The DVD commentary features cast and crew who frequently cite their disagreements with the network over the show's development. The entire series was eventually aired on Comedy Central, with the unaired episodes airing for the first time on television on December 14, 2002. In 2006, digital Freeview channel ITV 4 in the UK, began broadcasting episodes late on Monday nights. Starting November 14, 2008, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim aired the series on Friday nights. It also aired on the El Rey Network during their "Jay and Silent Bob Takeover Marathon." Several scenes filmed for, but cut from, the film Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back contain metafictional moments when Randal makes references to the animated series, as well as its cancellation. On his DVD commentary for the film, Smith said the intent was to make the quick cancellation of the series a running gag.
According to the DVD commentary, these were some ideas that were being considered for episodes of the show if it were to continue:
Randal exploits Jay by making "snoogans" a catchphrase, leading to Jay becoming a recording artist.
Randal buys KITT from Knight Rider at a used car lot. The car becomes envious of Randal's relationship with Dante and attempts to kill Dante and impersonate him at the store. He manages to trick everyone except Dante with his thin disguise.
Jay joins a boy band. Silent Bob is sad that Jay is gone, so Randal and Dante bring Bob in to work at the Quick Stop. He turns the store around and it becomes a great success. Silent Bob is given a piece of gum and says, "Mmm, Juicy Fruit," which shocks Dante and Randal asking him, "You can talk!?".
Allegedly in the 7th or 8th episode, Dante and Randal would have added to their cast of friends a boy ward, named Robin, in a direct reference/parody of Batman's own "boy wonder", though like Lando, would probably not have been featured prominently. This plot element was most likely not intended to actually be part of series as it was described by Kevin Smith after mentioning that Paul Dini, best known for his work on , had also worked on Clerks: The Animated Series.
The DVD commentary briefly mentioned an episode idea where Ben Affleck would play the King of Canada. The episode premise was also described as "the Aladdin parody."
There was also going to be a Saturday Morning spin-off called Li'l Clerks, which would feature child versions of the characters.
Another spin-off, titled Old Jay, would feature Jay as a grandfather. This evolved from the last segment of Episode 2, which was a parody of Stand By Me.
''Clerks: Sell Out''/possible revival
For several years following the series' cancellation, Smith announced plans to make an animated film. He revealed in a commentary on Episode 6 that it would go theatrical, but later made plans to godirect-to-video. The basic plot involved Dante and Randal making a movie about their lives at the Quick Stop, a reference to the production of the original film. In an interview, Smith expanded on the delays surrounding the film. Apparently, when the Weinsteins left Miramax, owned at the time by Disney, the split was not completely amicable. The rights to the Clerks television show were still owned by the Disney company, who as a result were reluctant to work with The Weinstein Company, throwing the future of Clerks: Sell Out into question. At the 2007 Cornell Q&A, Smith said due to the Miramax/Weinstein argument "you will see a Jay and Silent Bob cartoon before Clerks: Sell Out." However, when Miramax was purchased by Filmyard Holdings in 2011, Smith revealed on Twitter that Miramax had contacted him for new projects, and the possibility of reviving the series came up. In October 2019, Smith announced that a repurposed version of the script for Sell Out would serve as the basis for the live-action Clerks III. In 2020, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith has teased about bring the show back in someway, hopefully on Hulu.
Reception
Clerks: The Animated Series was named the 98th best animated series by IGN, comparing it to Firefly due to its partial, out of sequence airing. They specifically praised the second episode for its parody of the old television staple of clip shows, by showing clips of the previous episode as well as clips from the episode itself.
Home release
The show was released on DVD in a two-disc collector's edition set called "Clerks Uncensored." The "Uncensored" of the title refers to the restoration of a segment that was cut from the ABC broadcast of the second episode, as well as an uncensored episode introduced by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, portraying their Jay and Silent Bob characters. The DVD was also given an R-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America for some sexual humor.
