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[teezzy]

Growing up, Kevin Smith movies were some of my most watched, and admired. I adored Kevin's dedication to DVD special features and ate them up like candy, in addition to his seminar DVDs, etc. As a movie obsessed fat kid, Kevin's work boosted my interest in the medium tenfold. I'll still defend Chasing Amy and Dogma to the death.

Needless to say, this led me down the path of being a Smodcast fan, which eventually led me to Tell em Steve Dave which is the only podcast apart from Retronauts where I refuse to miss a single episode. Kevin Smith's childhood friends proved to be much more fun to listen to than even the babbling director, himself

When the Tell em Steve Dave guys (Impractical Joker, Q, excluded) got their own Pawn Stars like show on AMC set in a comic book shop, I was beside myself.

I'm rewatching the show on Amazon Prime as a bit of a junk food watch, and I cant help but wonder how weird this show must've been to the average viewer.

First off, so many situations on the show are so obviously forced for the show, a la the Batmobile just happening to show up, or Uhura waltzing in and demanding a sealed Meego figure of herself within 2 hours. I'm not versed in reality TV, but this has to be one of the campiest shows - right?

But what really gets me are the fake podcast segments in between the Secret Stash footage which serves as a way of progressing the narrative of each episode. There you have Kevin Smith, in his godawful hockey jersey phase, hamming it up with the store staff and reflecting upon the guys' day.

It makes me wonder, isn't Kevin Smith like a C list celebrity at best? Wouldnt most average people be wondering, "Who is this guy? Why's he talking into these fake condenser mics while wearing the same damn clothes every episode?" Most importantly, "What the Hell is this Clerks movie he never shuts the Hell up about?"

Seriously, are Kevin Smith or Clerks anything more than cult favorites?
Maybe I'm wrong. The show did last for seven seasons ultimately, which is impressive by any metric.

 

[JSoup]

Fun fact, those same guys are the ones, along with the three big comic shops in California, that are bitching out DC for resuming shipping to smaller shops in about a month.

 

[TaroYamada]

It was a fun show and a guilty pleasure of mine. I watched the first two seasons. It's a fairly standard format for this type of show.

 

[Appleprosy]

Fun fact, those same guys are the ones, along with the three big comic shops in California, that are bitching out DC for resuming shipping to smaller shops in about a month.

SJW Marvel and DC (along with Diamond) have killed comics.

 

[GreyHorace]

Kevin Smith had a Pawn Stars-style show dedicated to comics?

I liked Pawn Stars btw, but even I could see it for the fakery that it was. I just liked what a bunch of characters the Harrisons (and Chumlee) were and the history behind the stuff that was brought in.

To see Kevin Smith doing a reality show shtick seems kind of a downgrade for him. But then again, I never thought much of him as a filmmaker, so he probably loves this stuff. More power to him.

 

[JSoup]

SJW Marvel and DC (along with Diamond) have killed comics.

Oh, but wait!
Big Boy Marvel and Momma Fat Pockets DC have a plan to save the comics industry!
Again!
For the 12th time!
But it'll totally work this time guys, and no it's not improving digital distribution, shut up before you ask!

 

[Appleprosy]

Oh, but wait!
Big Boy Marvel and Momma Fat Pockets DC have a plan to save the comics industry!
Again!
For the 12th time!
But it'll totally work this time guys, and no it's not improving digital distribution, shut up before you ask!

I read Alterna and support crowdfunding comics. I've been blocked by so many comic book creators that I'm happy they are sinking.

 

[Kagey K]

Kevin Smith had a Pawn Stars-style show dedicated to comics?

I liked Pawn Stars btw, but even I could see it for the fakery that it was. I just liked what a bunch of characters the Harrisons (and Chumlee) were and the history behind the stuff that was brought in.

To see Kevin Smith doing a reality show shtick seems kind of a downgrade for him. But then again, I never thought much of him as a filmmaker, so he probably loves this stuff. More power to him.

He did and it was really good. I read Ricks book and he goes into detail there about how they could only work the floor during filming because of tourists and how History had people lined up for filming days.

I imagine Comic Book Men was set up very similarly, but it doesn’t stop it from being an entertaining show. Right down to having their own Chumlee.

Fun fact Walt and Bryan are in lot of Kevin’s movies and they use the Comic Stash logo for the comic shops in the movies. (In Mallrats it’s Walts Comic Stash)

 

[Jooxed]

SJW Marvel and DC (along with Diamond) have killed comics.

Man I have cut out most of my comic pickups, but i really love what marvel is letting Hickman do with X-Men. Pretty much gets me to go to my local comic book store again weekly before all this Covid stuff went down. I am glad they are not pursuing digital only (for now) I vastly prefer physical books.

 

[Nymphae]

I used to enjoy the Askewniverse, pre-pot Kevin Smith. Shit ruined that guy's brain I think. I'm glad he's having fun and is still relatively successful with what he does, but I stopped listening to his podcasts years ago and his movies just aren't doing it for me anymore. J&SB Reboot was a cringefest. I have no idea how he got AMC to produce a show about his hometown meganerd pals that no one knows.

That's an odd split. They're right about it "trying to mock the same audience nostalgia it's mining", the vibe is "hey old man here's some references you will remember and oh hey women are badass and cis scum need to make room", kind of surprised the critics weren't on board for this and that the audience largely ate it up.

 

[teezzy]

Nymphae To be fair, that 66% would make it his biggest critical success since Dogma if we're going by RT scores alone, and even that only has a 67%.

You're right though, that the dude has certainly changed since he started smoking weed. He was so much cooler when he was more of a stoic, reserved dude telling stories and flaunting his impressive vernacular than trying to market himself as a cartoon character of sorts.

I'm not sure what happened there. His focus on podcasting over filmmaking maybe. He became a product he intended to sell. Hes always hammed up the "it's me, your buddy - Kevin Smith, buy my products" angle.

I'm just glad Kevin's still with us, and doing his thing, tbh. I enjoyed Reboot for what it was, and cant wait to check out Clerks 3 if it ever actually releases. Dude announces and drops projects like nobody else I'm aware of. Maybe I just follow his career too closely.

I remember when this weird pilot for an online show with K.S. running a dispensary dropped and... I dont know man



... yeah.

 

[Nymphae]

I'm not sure what happened there. His focus on podcasting over filmmaking maybe.

He had a total meltdown after a couple bad experiences with Cop Out and Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Seth got him heavy into pot in a depressing time in his life, and since he had never done it before really, and is a rich dude who can do whatever the fuck he wants with all of his time, he enjoyed the hell out of it and I think it did give him a creative spark again for a while.

For a long time after the meltdown and pot usage, he was on fire on his pods, he was so much funnier with Mosier on his podcast during that time, but yeah, he came up with all these vanity projects like Tusk and Yoga Hosers and leaned waaaay into podcasts as his primary concern.

I'm glad he's still kicking it too and seems to be a healthier guy now.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I watched the first few seasons but it seemed a little too manufactured and scripted (because it is). I'm just kinda done with Kevin Smith in general at this point. I like a few of his movies but something about him just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe the fact that he doesn't like Lord of The Rings lol.

 

[teezzy]

He had a total meltdown after a couple bad experiences with Cop Out and Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Seth got him heavy into pot in a depressing time in his life, and since he had never done it before really, and is a rich dude who can do whatever the fuck he wants with all of his time, he enjoyed the hell out of it and I think it did give him a creative spark again for a while.

For a long time after the meltdown and pot usage, he was on fire on his pods, he was so much funnier with Mosier on his podcast during that time, but yeah, he came up with all these vanity projects like Tusk and Yoga Hosers and leaned waaaay into podcasts as his primary concern.

I'm glad he's still kicking it too and seems to be a healthier guy now.

Solid observation.

Tusk, and especially Red State, were both cool to see him branch out of his comfort zone. I thought it was badass when he told the entire industry to fuck off at Sundance during that era.

Clerks 2 was also fantastic, I might even enjoy it more than the original now.

I still look at Chasing Amy, and cant help but wonder how much different the dude's career could've been if he had stuck to making little indie dramas like that. Theres something special about that one that stands out from the rest.

Dude is simultaneously overrated and underrated. It's odd.

 

[Nymphae]

Tusk, and especially Red State, were both cool to see him branch out of his comfort zone. I thought it was badass when he told the entire industry to fuck off at Sundance during that era.

Yeah I actually did enjoy both of those, I liked seeing him try something different for a change, and Michael Parks was great in both.

Dude is simultaneously overrated and underrated. It's odd.

Yeah he is an odd duck for sure. Honestly I think the best thing he ever produced is some of the episodes of Smodcast with Mosier, they are so fucking funny riffing with each other.

I think my favourite one is the one where Mosier is playing the dude from Foreigner signing "Feels Like the First Time" in public and getting called out for it, or anything involving Mosier speaking in a Canadian accent.

 

[A Rifter in Space]

Maybe the fact that he doesn't like Lord of The Rings lol.

There are a few objective truths in this world. One of them is that LOTR is a masterpiece. Kevin Smith is objectively wrong and should be ashamed of himself for being so wrong.

Really, though, I feel the same way. He strikes me as your typical reddit powermod where he gets an inflated sense of importance because he's king of a very small niche that grants him limited celebrity. Sorta like Patton Oswalt.

 

[GV82]

I still watch any old crap with Kevin Smith in, earlier today I was watching Joe Quesada interview him on the marvel channel thing. Though with Kev these days a lot of times you will get the same story repeated more than ever before cos he’s high all the time lol, as stated above.

I do like watching Fatman Beyond formerly on Batman, I like Marc Bernadin too except Marc tends to lean towards more of the SJW side of pop culture sometimes, like he kept insisting Joker was going to actually cause incels to go out & shoot other people & all that sort of stuff which is fine each to their own but when you lean a little too much into it it really turns me off the person going on & on about it & actually him & Kev had a disagreement on one episode about it as Kevin said something like “nah I just don’t see the Joker film doing something like that, people are worried over nothing” & Kev was right.

But overall I just like them chatting to the bar about Nerd crap & I either try to ignore the stuff they go on about that I have no interest in or I pick up the remote & skip forward.


Oops I didn’t comment on Comicbook men, I watched all 7 seasons, I dunno I just liked seeing people from the stash doing a thing which was different from Kev all the time, he was barely in each episode 2-3 mins, but overall it wasn’t amazing TV.

The more I think about it it was like 7 seasons long of a Fucking commercial for the stash with Celebs on it.

 

[teezzy]

Fatman on Batman was so much cooler when it was about exploring the obscure history of Batman

GV82 it's just a standard nerd pop culture podcast now right?

 

[GV82]

Fatman on Batman was so much cooler when it was about exploring the obscure history of Batman

GV82 it's just a standard nerd pop culture podcast now right?

Yeah it’s no longer just batman stuff nor d.c it’s everything chatting live from a bar in L.A? About what they saw recently, TV shows, films etc, & break it down a little bit sometimes they interview “celebs” of pop culture like recently was Jim Lee, also nerd news, then have a mini q&a with fans at the end

 

[Sleepydays]

I love TESD, and Comic Book Men is good for what it is, and got KS's buds a solid payday. Where I jumped off was when his talentless daughter was inserted.

Movie-wise, the first two, Clerks 2 as a laser-guided missle of pure fan service, and not much else.

I guess he's doing the he-man reboot? I'm interested in what that'll look like. Evil Lyn sucking 37 dicks in a row.