Kevin Smith’s Clerks, which made its debut in 1994 as a black-and-white Sundance hit film, moves to the small screen May 31 as an animated series on ABC. It figures to be one of the liveliest offerings of summer–and one of the shortest. The Quick Stop crew (Dante, Randal, Jay and Silent Bob) will only be on for six episodes. We talked with Smith about his creation’s brief run on the tube–and what’s in store for his slackers in the future.

What will the Clerks characters be doing on the show?

Not being at the convenience store very much. They just get into wacky scrapes and adventures that kind of escalate beyond anything we could have done on the microbudget of the movie.

There’s one episode where the evil town billionaire, Leonardo Leonardo, moves back to town and opens a Quicker Stop across from the Kwik Stop. It’s a massive convenience store of the future.

The third episode is an Outbreak takeoff. A pet store opens down the block, and Patrick Swayze works in it, and there’s a monkey in it, and Randal insists that the monkey is carrying the motoba virus, and the store is sealed in a hermetic bubble.

Why Alec Baldwin as the town bad guy, Leonardo Leonardo?

I love Alec Baldwin. The weird thing is the dude is incredibly funny. He’s got a knack for comedy that isn’t nearly as explored as it should be. He needs the material to be funny with.

You’ve been waiting for the animated series to air for a while–why the delay?

We pitched it when [ABC owner] Disney’s stock was down. They were a third-place network, and anything was worth a shot. Now, with Regis and Millionaire, which pretty much dominates the schedule, Disney’s stock is way up. Now, risks don’t seem to be necessary.

It was great to do, and I had my own cartoon for a few episodes. It was a shitload of fun, and who knows what will come of it, because we may turn it into an animated feature.

So, what’s up for the summer?

I’m taking some time to work on what will eventually be the next film. Just do some writing. It’s the last Askewniverse film, the last Jay and Silent Bob movie, and then we move on to greener pastures.

But Jay and Silent Bob are the staples of your movies. You’re not going to kill them off, are you?

They certainly wouldn’t die. In case those greener pastures aren’t too green, it’ll be the adventures of the 50-year-old Jay and Silent Bob, ’cause I got a mortgage.

If it really is the end of Jay and Silent Bob, what will Jay (Jason Mewes) do for work?

That’s a good question. I have no clue, but what he should do is continue acting. Back in the old days, between flicks he used to deliver pizzas. There’s always that possibility.

Hopefully he’ll get his shit together and become a real actor. Wouldn’t it be great if he turned out to be like Olivier? Like, once the role of Jay was cast aside the dude really blossomed into a classical actor, and people said, “Man, you stifled him for years with that snoochie nonsense.”