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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Clerks animated series

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

23:29 / 03.11.05

This was released on ABC in 2000, I believe. It debuted the same season as Family Guy, Mission Hill, Baby Blues and The Oblongs, all of which were on different networks (I'm pretty sure, anyway). They all ended up on Adult Swim over on Cartoon Network except Clerks, because it's just not as good as the others (except Baby Blues, which is pretty lame).

It's not that the show didn't have its moments. The second episode was a flashback episode (Dante and Randall get locked in a freezer, a la Three's Company, and talk about shared memories). But since it's only the second episode, so all the flashback clips are from the first episode and earlier parts of the second ("hey, remember when we got locked in a freezer?" cue flashback effects). This provides a decent running joke throughout the episode. And Alec Baldwin does a good job as the villian of the series, Leonardo Leonardo, and Charles Barkley has some funny bits.

So there are some good parts, but by far the funniest part is a scene which depicts the Writer's Room of clerks, and someone bursts through the door holding a book that is titled How to Write Cartoons and the author is Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy. In the audio commentary Kevin Smith goes on about what a terrible show Family Guy is: "A talking baby. Yeah, that's funny." and so forth. And later he calls it a "Stupid, stupid show". Well, I'm not sure when that was recorded, but Clerks lasted six episodes, only four of which were actually played on television, making it the least successful of all the primetime cartoons released that season, so screw you Kevin Smith.

So all in all its worth renting (I think it might be available on a special edition release of Clerks), if you don't mind lame gay jokes. It might make you laugh here and there, and Kevin Smith makes some stupid comments. Go for it.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

01:27 / 04.11.05

"Do you guys sell Black Tar Heroin?"

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

03:01 / 04.11.05

For a show that basically exploited some of Kevin Smith's best characters, it had some pretty good lines.

The town thinks a virus is on the loose, and at the press conference the sheriff (dressed as Big Mac) steps up to the microphone:

Big Mac: Hello good people of Leonardo. I, like the mayor, was on my way to a costume party, but incidentally, not the same costume party. I am able to remove my costume but I have decided to wear it as protection against the deadly virus. Are there any questions?

Tovah Hernandaz-Carlson: Who are you supposed to be?

Big Mac: I'm Big Mac. Beloved constable and best friend to Ronald McDonald. Now are there any questions about the virus?

Steve-Dave: Will this administration ever bring the Hamburglar to justice?

Big Mac: No... Yes. Look, does anybody have any questions about the virus that could kill us all?

Reporter: Can the virus kill the Grimace?

Big Mac: (grimly) Nothing can kill the Grimace. All right, we're done here.

That same episode had James Woods voicing a character. Gwyneth Paltrow plays herself in an episode, as does Judge Reinhold and a few famous NBA players.

03:40 / 04.11.05

The anime episode is classic, the high point of the series. Though the final episode with its meta-jokes is pretty solid as well. I think the series works as someone who's clearly watched a lot of 80/early 90s family sitcoms breaking the genre down, as in the flashback episode, with its great Wonder Years inspired finale.

I too cannot stand Family Guy, but this show worked for me. I think it's because this has a fundamental love of the characters and genre, while Family Guy is so negative.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

06:06 / 04.11.05

Family Guy is negative? About what?

06:43 / 04.11.05

The first ep was so-so, even if I laughed like an idiot through it the first time I watched. After that... it steadily increased in quality and in humor. That Bad News Bears/Indiana Jones/Last Starfighter orgy of the eighties big screen episode was fulfilling in very sad, geeky ways that I am unashamed of.

I just don't really like 'Family Guy'. There's a kind of bitter fratboy ambience crawling beneath its skin that kills too many of the jokes for me.

01:16 / 05.11.05

Family Guy is negative? About what?

I guess cynical might have been a better word, all the people on the show seem to look down on, and make fun of, everything. I don't sense any love behind the show, it's more like 'look, isn't this stupid.'

Imaginary Mongoose Solutions

15:11 / 05.11.05

The short-lived Clerks cartoon is probably my favourite 90's cartoon side by side with Futurama. I dig it a great deal more than Family Guy. There's a persistent rumor that Smith is in talks with HBO to do another run, but I put that up there with Mark Millar's rumors about the Wanted movie.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

20:17 / 08.11.05

I'm surprised at the ill feelings towards Family Guy. Yeah, the movie was disappointing, and I'm almost tired of the flashback gag (there needs to be a limit on how many times that can be used per episode), but its certainly superior to Clerks (not Futurama, though).

The anime episode is classic, the high point of the series.

Yeah.

"Who driving?! Oh my god bear driving car!! How can that be?!"

That transformer bit where he transforms from a car back into a robot and crushes the humans riding inside was awesome. I had always wanted to see that. And I thought Judge Rienhold was a pretty good sport about that whole episode.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

23:34 / 10.11.05

Let me clear that up: Family Guy, while better than Clerks IMHO, is not as good as Futurama, which is golden.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

20:25 / 12.11.05

I liked the Clerks cartoon a lot, and it's pretty clear that it didn't fail so much as ABC stangled it in its crib before it even started.

The DVD has sold amazingly well, and made tons of money...and I laughed when I saw it.

Family Guy, on the other hand, was not funny at all for it's first season, IMHO. It wasn't until McFarlane let go to the reins a bit and brought in new writers in the second and third season that I thought the series was funny.

American Dad follws the same trajectory of jokes that are cringe-inducing, and when they work out the kinks (i.e. hire some funny writers) it will probably be better as well.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

21:30 / 12.11.05

The first season or so of Family Guy are indeed excerable, and that's why it took me a while to get into it. I was so against it on Futurama principle and the episodes that were airing at the time were laughably mundane. These days though, it's just got such great pacing, and I can't think of another show that lets things meander so long and so hilariously.

04:30 / 13.11.05

It's hard to compare the two shows because ABC never gave Clerks a fair shot. Family Guy might be better but I think it's only by virtue of the fact that there was time for improvement (and despite these improvements, the show is still highly repetitive and predictable). Stewie is the exception because he was, is and will always be funny.

I can't stand Kevin Smith but I think the Clerks animated series would have turned out quite well. The Judge Reinhold episode with the bannana-in-the-tailpipe- joke was hilarious and better than anything I've seen in Family Guy.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

19:03 / 13.11.05

I liked the Clerks cartoon a lot, and it's pretty clear that it didn't fail so much as ABC stangled it in its crib before it even started.

I have a hard time believing that Clerks would have done well even with ABC's full support. I don't think mainstream network audiences were really interested.

Not that we should be surprised. Even Family Guy was canceled by Fox (hell, Arrested Development was too, and that show is fuckin' awesome) and was not brought back until a cable network, which had a far more receptive audience, made it popular (and the top selling DVD in america).

It sounds like the thread is leaning towards "Clerks was good, and was canceled prematurely; Family Guy's first season sucked, and it was canceled fairly". Maybe I'm misunderstanding things. But I would disagree with that assesment of the situation.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

17:28 / 15.03.06

Clerks:TAS is being shown in the UK on ITV4, 10:30s on a wednesday evening.

01:21 / 16.03.06

I have a hard time believing that Clerks would have done well even with ABC's full support. I don't think mainstream network audiences were really interested.

I was one of the six people in America who watched the two --no, for real: two -- episodes that ABC aired (in the summertime, no less) before they axed it, and it's an hour I'll be begging for on my deathbed. I think ABC "strangled it in its crib" because someone at the network actually watched what they'd paid for before it aired, and I think the reason mainstream audiences weren't interested was because it was fucking awful. I've heard the uncensored versions are better, but honestly I can't see how. Maybe if the uncensored episodes of Clerks are actually episodes of something else altogether...