Clerks - Die Ladenhüter

Recently, I began re-watching my Kevin Smith collection. I've been a fan for some time, but sadly, I only owned "Dogma", "Chasing Amy" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back". So I went on a hunt for the films missing from my collection. I found "Clerks - The Animated Series Uncensored" used at an electronics store. I knew I was in for something good as soon as I payed for it. There were two guys at the counter. One of them says hi and then took the DVD and looked it. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Oh, man! We had CLERKS?" he said to his companion. "Yep," the other man replied. "When did this come in?" he asked, running it through the scanner. "I dunno." With a final shake of his head, the man placed the DVD in a bag and said, "I wish I'd known we had this. I would've picked it up!" I smiled and walked out of the store. Oh, yeah. I couldn't wait to watch these babies.

In late May 2000, "Clerks: The Animated Series" made its debut on ABC-TV. The show continues the wacky adventures of Quick Stop clerks Dante and Randal and the two stoners who hang out outside the store: Jay and Silent Bob. All the characters in the show were voiced by the actors in the films; many characters from the View Askewniverse have quick, but fan-satisfying appearances, such as Steve-Dave or Fanboy.

In the first episode, Dante and Randal try to prevent the destruction of their Quick Stop when a futuristic "Quicker Stop" is invented by billionaire Leonardo Leonardo (voiced by Alec Baldwin). In the second episode, Dante and Randal remember their previous adventures while locked in a freezer. In the third episode, Leonardo Leonardo succumbs to a deadly virus, and the Quick Stop is investigated by an FBI agent (voiced by James Woods). For the fourth episode, the clerks find themselves being sued by Jay in a court led by the honorable Judge Reinhold (voiced by Judge Reinhold). For the fifth episode, Dante becomes the coach of Leonardo Leonardo's pathetic Little League team; and, for the final episode - there really isn't a plot.

"Clerks" the series is 100% film-nerd material. Film nerds (I know - I am one) will enjoy the show much more than the casual movie watcher. There are multiple references to films and TV shows throughout the series.

In the end, I really don't know what to say about "Clerks" other than seeing is believing. It completely surpassed my expectations, and is one of - if not the funniest - cartoon I've ever seen. This is the sort of thing slackers sit around and watch all day long. But if you have to be a slacker to watch this series, count me in. I'm proud to have this DVD in my collection.

It's really too bad that Clerks was up against the two highest rated events of the summer season- Survivor on CBS and the NBA Finals on NBC. I'm sure that the unfortunate scheduling contributed heavily to the lack of ratings; in some markets, including mine, the second episode wasn't even shown, because of the heavyweight competition. (Luckily, my local station sent me a videocassette of ep. 2.)

Both episodes of Clerks were hilarious, but not uniformly so. There are parts of both episodes that dragged, and parts of both that actually kind of shocked me. (Randall explaining to the jury how alike they and Dante are; the Indian convenience store). My friends and I, while enjoying the show immensely, realized there was no way the average viewer would even understand much of the cartoon, let alone appreciate the in-jokes and find the whole affair funny- in fact, there are parts of each that many would find downright offensive. While we wish the show would have continued (and perhaps with more equal competition, the show could have matured into something really good), perhaps it's best that the shows just come out on video for the benefit of the converted.

My main problem with the show was the stylistic similarity to "The Critic"- most of the jokes were not only pop-culture based, but they were essentially non-sequiters, contributing nothing to the story. Their use in the original movie fit in with the feel of the film- that of bored coworkers who are just killing time. They felt awkward, though, nestled in the sitcom-like plot of the cartoon.

All in all- recommended for the Clerks fans out there; everyone else may want to see the movies before seeing the cartoon.

"Clerks: The Animated Series" didn't get enough airtime considering it was one of the best cartoons on a national network. The cartoon series is a continuation of the adventures of Dante and Randall, two begrudging peddlers of the convenience store trade who make Star Wars references, talk about past relationships, and trying to move up in the world. Granted, it's not going to be like the movie but that's alright. Smith decides to replace it with a particularly offbeat brand of humor with Dante and Randall getting into adventure after adventure. All done on a grand scale. Alec Baldwin is particularly funny as the show's closeted capitalist villain as well as Charles Barkley, completely f**king up his image in good spirits, as himself. Definitely worth a look for it's off the wall comedy.

I am a die hard Kevin Smith Fan, and I was anxiously awaiting the release of these shows on DVD. When I finally got them, I was a little disappointed. I, like many others, loved the original Clerks movie. I was hoping that this would be similar, but it's not. In the movie, Randall is a sarcastic smart-ass with non-stop funny remarks. In the animated series, he's just a really annoying sidekick. There are a few good laughs in every episode, but the show on a whole is very redundant (which suck because they repeat all the bad jokes). It does have its bright moments with its celebrity impressions (Some of them even did their own voices). To sum it all up, the show is a disappointment and I am not surprised at all that ABC cancelled it.

I am looking forward to the Animated Clerks Movie "Clerks: Sell Out" that is due out in the near future.

Laugh-Out-Loud Episode: Episode 4, bear with the first half because the last 10 minutes are hilarious. Recommended for anyone with a sense of humor and a knowledge of popular foreign cartoons.

My "Clerks" story.

I saw the first episode of "Clerks" ever broadcast (I think it was the 4th episode made). I didn't know there was a movie called "Clerks." But I loved the show. And I also watched the 2nd episode of "Clerks" (which was the second episode), and loved it even more. How absurd! How hilarious to make the 2nd episode a clip show!

I was disappointed to learn it was cancelled, but I bought the video of all the episodes, and after watching all of them, I saw the original movie "Clerks" as well. Sure, the movie was better, but I think they pulled off the show quite well without using the dirty words.

Bottom line: Watch "Clerks" the movie, and watch "Clerks: The Animated Series" too.