Clerks: The Animated Series (2000)
The Voice Cast
Brian O'Halloran .... Dante Hicks
Jeff Anderson .... Randal Graves
Jason Mewes .... Jay
Kevin Smith .... Silent Bob
Alec Baldwin .... Leonardo Leonardo
Charles Barkley .... Himself
Based on Kevin Smith's 1994 movie, Clerks, this was an attempt to create a heavily cleaned up, animated version of the popular cult movie. Being that it was created for broadcast at ABC, of all networks, the House of Mouse pretty much screwed Kevin Smith's animated aspirations over. Six episodes were fully created, with only two of them actually airing. To get an idea of how screwed up the whole situation was, the first episode that aired was the second episode, which parodied old clip shows with flashbacks to the first episode, which was never aired, thereby confusing everyone that watched it. Nobody really "got" the joke, because ABC eliminated the joke. Thankfully (a matter of opinion actually), all 6 episodes were eventually released on DVD, & here's my review of them.
Episode 1 - "The Pilot" or "Leonardo Leonardo Returns & Dante has an Important Decision to Make"
First of all, 5 of the 6 episodes have ricockulously long titles, which are cute to begin with, but eventually lose the edge. Like a lot of the episodes, it just reeks of trying too hard to be funny. TV's a much more lowest-common-denominator medium than film is, so Clerks was pretty much screwed off the bat. The first episode serves as a reintroduction to the Clerks universe, so to speak, introducing Leonardo Leonardo as Dante & Randal's supposed nemesis. Kudos to Alec Baldwin for completely buying into the character, probably his best work, this side of The Cooler & Glengarry Glen Ross. Which is just fuckin' sad in so many ways. The pilot episode serves it's purpose & generates some actual laughs at the expense of Canada, but we're good-humoured about it, so we can take it. 3.5 / 5
Episode 2 - "The Clipshow Wherein Dante & Randal Are Locked in the Freezer & Remember Some of the Great Moments in Their Lives"
The afforementioned first show aired. The joke is kinda funny if you've seen the first ep, but otherwise it's just kinda snobbishly funny. There's a couple running gags that are continued in this ep, namely Leonardo Leonardo's excellent catchphrase "Well played Clerks" in a particularily menacing Baldwin voice. Good thing about the stupid long titles given the episodes is that I don't really have to provide a synopsis for it. Nooch. 3 / 5
Episode 3 - "Leonardo Is Caught In The Grip of an Outbreak of Randal's Imagination & Patrick Swayze Either Does or Doesn't Work In The New Pet Store"
Basically, Randal's an idiot & mistakes Leonardo Leonardo's illness on a bite from a monkey, rather than the Discreeto Burritos that he didn't throw out because of the huge bee by the dumpster. Featuring guest stars James Woods & Gilbert Gottfried (as Patrick Swayze, tee hee!), it's a pretty funny episode, though it was probably unaired by ABC due to the possible offensiveness of Randal & Dante's foreign clerking memories. 3.5 / 5
Episode 4 - "A Dissertation on the American Justice System by People Who Have Never Been Inside a Courtroom, Let Alone Know Anything About the Law, But Have Seen Too Many Legal Thrillers"
My fingers hurt. Anyways, Jay slips on some soda that Randal negligently left on the Quick Stop's floor, & ends up suing Dante & the Quick Stop for $10 million. In my opinion, easily the funniest episode created, though you have to appreciate the Kevin Smith-style of comedy to really enjoy it. I think this was the only other episode aired. 4 / 5
Episode 5 - "Dante & Randal & Jay & Silent Bob & A Bunch of New Characters & Lando Take Part In A Whole Bunch of Movie Parodies Including, But Not Exclusive To, The Bad News Bears, The Last Starfighter, Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom, Plus a High School Reunion"
Ricockulous, those titles. Funny running gag with all of Randal's past lovers turning to lesbianism because of their experiences with him. An alright episode, with the Kid In The Helmet finally being shown to us. Stunning that for an animated prime time show, there is an amazing amount of attention paid to continuity & detail. But that's probably just Kevin Smith for you. 3.5 / 5
Episode 6 - "The Last Episode Ever"
That's more like it, bitch! Basically, Randal & Dante go to a comic book convention & discover that their hardcore fans are disgusted by the show, so they resolve to make it more like the movie. Which isn't necessarily the best thing in the case of an animated TV show. It's an alright, if fairly anti-climatic ending to the series that didn't even get the chance to become a series. 3.5 / 5
In summation, the series was never given a chance, but even if it had been given a fair shake, it would not have lasted too much longer. It's simply too high brow for a casual TV viewer, especially since Kevin Smith's movies are viewed as cult classics, not actual accomplished films. I enjoyed it for what it was, but it simply asks too much knowledge of the viewer. 3.5 outta 5.