Séamus Hanly I first heard about this on viewaskew.com and was interested as a Jay and Silent Bob fan. I managed to see some episodes and I must say. ABC are stupid, this cartoon manages to be surreal and crazy without destroying the serious bit to the original film, and like any Kevin Smith piece Jay and Silent Bob pop up to annoy Dante and Randall. Now, if you are thinking, "But this show probably doesn't have cursing, how can there be Jay and Silent Bob without cursing?" I don't know how they did it but it works. The stoner duo manage to stay funny without four letter words. This cartoon series, that was sadly cancelled, should have been up there with the likes of Family Guy, Futurama, etc. Hopefully, like Family Guy, it will be resurrected.Probably not.

liquidcelluloid-1 Network: ABC; Genre: Animated Comedy, Parody, Movie Translation; Content Rating: TV-PG (for adult content and language); Available: on DVD; Classification: Contemporary (Star range: 1 - 4);Season Reviewed: 1 season (2 episodes)One may ask, why on Earth would I feel the need to review a show that only lasted for 2 episodes. For two reasons. One, in part of my chronicling of TV fads, Kevin Smith's animated 'Clerks' is part of the big adult animation boom that graced us at the end of the millennium. And secondly, unlike 'Bob Patterson' or the number of short lived shows I've deemed unnecessary for discussion, there is something worth talking about here. It's a formidable series - even if it isn't a complete success. For the uninitiated into writer/director Kevin Smith's View Askew-niverse (and the filmmaker's continued franchising of it), 'Clerks' is Smith's adaptation of his own 1994 live action, black-and-white film. Coming out of nowhere with a shoe-string budget (perennially quoted as costing $27,000) the movie's wit, cartoon-like lightening fast dialog, Tarantino-esque movie knowledge and outrageously scatological sense of humor has made it a modern classic. A lot gets lost in the translation from screen to television, live action to animation and frank R-rated comedy to PG-rated network series. There is an undeniable weirdness in seeing Dante, Randall, Jay and Silent Bob in color much less animated. All, by the way, voiced by movie counter part actors Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively. Which is a cool thing. The excesses that made 'Clerks' such shocking - and honest - fun have been neutered for network and viewer approval. Now the show is top heavy with pop culture parody, the likes of which you can find in abundance on any other adult animated series from 'The Simpsons' to 'South Park'. Had the show come out with the movie in 1994 it might have made a splash. However, that would have been impossible because Smith had yet to build the fan base and publicity to get the series off the ground. It comes out now at the height of his career after the creative masterwork 'Dogma' and at the tail end of the animation boom. That begs another question. Why is this show animated in the first place? One would think that a dialog driven series, set primarily in one location would have been fertile ground for a live-action sitcom. In retrospect this could have been like 'The Office' in a convenience store. How great would that have been? Instead, we get the same old parody, the same old quirky characters and the same old celebrity guest stars playing themselves - such as Charles Barkley, for no comedic reason at all. The malaise of the film is nowhere in sight (apparently thinking TV viewers won't pick up that kind of nuance) and Smith regulars Jay and Silent Bob are no longer pot smoking drug dealers but simply "mischief makers". Everything hear feels warmed over. It is too little, too late and too much of a cop-out of its original cinematic vision. It is not a total dud; Smith's pop culture riffs and talented ear for dialog remains somewhat intact, but by now we've seen all of this before and much better. The show makes a Jump the Shark joke in a fruitless attempt to prove that its above absurdity. There is also the requisite and tired Japanemation sequence in here. If seeing Jay and Silent Bob animated hasn't creeped you out enough this sure will. The 2nd episode, a parody of sitcom clip-shows in which the cast gets locked in the cooler, in particular finds itself beating a dead horse coming a few years after 'South Park' had already put a moratorium on the head of clip-show parodies with their brilliant season 2 episode 'City on the Edge of Forever'. That's pretty much 'Clerks' the series. With so many new heavy-hitters competing in the realm of the adult animated series, 'Clerks' is more like the moldy old 'The Critic' than state-of-the-art juggernauts 'Family Guy', 'South Park' and 'Futurama'. Animation is a medium that can capture the imagination, create original worlds and show us things we've never seen before. 'Clerks' doesn't get any mileage out of it, instead using the style simply because it seemed to be the fad at the time. * * /4

Vide0gamefreak64 Although this short-lived series differs in many ways from the original motion picture, I believe it had many admirable qualities. Some people found that the transaction from actors to animated characters a bit sketchy, but I believe that it went well. I love the technique, and the script, although a bit crude, gave hours of laughs in the six episodes. (4 to begin with, and 2 never before seen released in a Comedy Central special and on the DVD.) Lines such as "Who is driving? Oh my god, bear is driving!" and "Snooch to the Nooch" added to the subtle humor and insane qualities we can always associate with the fun-loving Jay and the silent but genius Silent Bob. The sound quality could use a bit of work, but it is a nice touch. Overall Id say this is the perfect movie to watch if your looking for a good laugh. And in closing, Id like to say, Snoothcie bootchies everyone.

GeorgeCarlin Although it would have been passable as an original television show, it had the misfortune of disgracing the best comedic movie that I've ever seen. While the movie Clerks was deep and funny on many levels, the show displayed a disgusting amount of shallowness. The characters so well conceived and portrayed in the movie were discarded and replaced with annoyingly main stream likenesses. Where Randall was an intelligent smart alec, he is now a non-caring idiot. Previously, Dante had been a guy with a bad luck streak cause by his inability to stand up for himself. While the bad luck is still there, it seems to have only a cosmic explanation. Jay and Bob were once dealers who knew where they were and were secure in it, with a sense of humor to boot. Now, they're imbecilic menaces who apparently have nothing better to do. Gone is the sophisticated humor (bet you twenty bucks you don't get that movie) which was actually funny, now replaced by pop culture references similar to the Simpsons but with worse characters. Call me a purist, but the original movie was far too deep and meaningful for this to do it any justice. Avoid especially if you love the movie clerks.