It’s been 15 years since the last time Kevin Smith wrote some fictional TV (that CLERKS animated series still makes me laugh), and now he’s jumping back into the game for a show with a decided focus on one of his most public hobbies: weedsmoking.
HOLLYWEED, which is a half-hour comedy Smith is writing, directing, and co-leading, is about two guys, played by Smith and CHAPPELLE’S SHOW alum Donnell Rawlings, who run a pot dispensary in L.A. Like the TV CLERKS, they have to contend with a rich, more legitimate neighbor, this time the head of a cookie company (Kristin Bauer van Straten, so good as Pam on TRUE BLOOD). They also “enlist the help of a charming porn star,” played by Frankie Shaw, who made a big impression as the tragic, drug dealing Shayla on MR. ROBOT.
Crazy enough, the show was shot on spec and was co-financed by five huge cannabis entities: Weedmaps, Grenco Science, RAW, DNA Genetics, and ACME Elixirs. It seems like Smith’s very frequent and public discussions about herb (including his sponsored strains of “Mr. Tusk” and “White Walrus” bud, seen above) have paid off, as some heavy hitters want to get into business with him and directly finance this project, which they can safely assume will have it’s heart in the right place regarding the central, currently Schedule 1 narcotic.
One thing that excites me, other than the subject matter and the dank supporting cast, is Smith taking a lead acting role. As he says:
“When I wrote CLERKS I wrote the role of Randal to play myself. But as we got close to shooting, I got scared and chickened out of trying to act with dialogue, opting to play Silent Bob instead. Two decades later, the universe, StarStream and FremantleMedia are giving me the chance to play a clerk with dialogue that I wrote. The fact that it’s a dispensary instead of a convenience store makes it even better.”
Because it’s on spec, and has no deal in place with any cable or streaming outlets, there’s the chance this will never get past the pilot stage, and will sneak around the underground like the live-action CLERKS TV series pilot (starring Jim Bruer as Randal). There’s a bunch of dispensary-centric series in development, but the fact that it’s coming from the guy who not only wrote and directed CLERKS, but who also has paid more lip service to cannabis than pretty much everyone in the industry makes me hope that something comes of this.
Smith and Rawlings running a dispensary in between banter sounds like it could be funny as shit, no?
