Kevin Smith has simultaneously bagged himself the easiest and toughest job in Hollywood. First, the cakewalk: In the animated TV re-creation of his belly-splitting, overly funny slacker flick, he’ll collect a Mankind-size paycheck for simply serving up the voice of Silent Bob. The stinky end of the stick? As a creator of the show, he also has to make hanging out at a New Jersey convenience store hilarious on a weekly basis-without using one curse word or showing anyone stoned off his ass.

One short-term solution will be to flex his celebrity-pal pecs. Among the guest shoppers are James Woods, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charles Barkley, and Chris Rock, who, naturally, provides the voice of Patrick Swayze. Smith has also upped the ante with intriguing plotlines such as attempts to destroy the world and a very special Blossom-like episode in which Dante the cashier confronts his homophobia. But will the TV Clerks still have enough of the film’s caustic bite? “We’re going to try and be funny without being crude,” Smith Says. “It will be fun to try to figure out 95 nice ways to say ‘blow job’. Which would make my mom really proud.”