• We’re extremely pleased and excited for Jason Lee and his new sitcom, debuting this Fall on NBC. “My Name is Earl” has received nothing but positive marks from the network and many critics. Now Entertainment Weekly cites the show as one of the “Most Promising oft he new season, with a piece on Lee to go along with it. Check out both scans right here, for your reading pleasure.

This article, from CRFA talk radio, even mentions Lee’s View Askew ties with the show’s listing.

• Retro returns today with a really neat treat — Again, never before heard anywhere (unless you were within earshot of this radio broadcast)…A radio spot for a special screening of “Clerks”, sponsored by a radio station called “The Laser”. This ad aired right around the release of the film way back during the dawn of View Askew in 1994. Enjoy, and we’ll see you back here next Sunday with another audio blast from the View Askew past.

• With Sith now breaking records (and generally rocking the house, perhaps except for that excruciating “Nooooo!” towards the end, you know what we mean), articles a-plenty are on the web. This one, from Canoe, refers to Kevin’s way early review from a couple weeks back (which, now that we’ve seen the movie and can read it, can agree with whole-heartedly). The whole article can be found HERE.
• The London Evening Standard’s TV critic has named a rerun of Chasing Amy as film of the week on UK television for 20th – 26th June. Nigel Pizey’s excellent review of 19th May 2005 says:

• Slight correction for those picking up the Superfriends II DVD due to Kevin’s apparent appearance in the extras: While the press release of the disc claims that Kevin is part of the “Pajama-Rama Super Friends Retrospective,” he isn’t, according to a scooper who screened it. We’re waiting to hear back from Warner’s. FYI.

• Kevin’s done it again, this time with a brand new piece he’s written for Rolling Stone magazine (hitting newsstands today). In this one, titled “Darth and Me”, Kevin relates experiences from watching Sith and all the way back to his childhood love of the original Star Wars, Episode IV. As always, some funny anecdotes ensure, and Kevin tells the story of his love for Star Wars and the villanous Darth Vader like no other can.

Sure, you should pick up the issue right away. But because you’re a pal, we’ve also got the 2 pages for you right here. You know what to do. Enjoy folks. Consider it a pre-weekend present.

• JoBlo has what it’s claiming to be an official Clerks 2 theatrical teaser poster up at their site. JoBlo’s proven rather reliable in the past, so we’re not ruling this out, just haven’t heard an official word on this being done yet. If it’s actually being printed, that’s news to us, though the tagline does work and the fact it’s using archived art made it an effective brand-recognition solution. Looks like they grabbed the art from Ming’s Clerks 2 news page HERE. So, whether this is web-only or the real deal, see for yourself. We’re sure Kevin or Ming can clear this up soon.

• And finally today, an appropriate newsbite on this very monumental day in Star Wars history. From the USA Today Website:

How about that! Chewie digs the song (and Clerks!). Gotta love it. See the complete article at the USA Today website. Enjoy Revenge of the Sith, everyone. I know we’re gonna.

• Yes folks, we’re talking Paris, Mewes, uncensored, clear as day, and yes, even some exposed breasts — Apparently Golden Palace, the gambling website, has quite a stake in the film “Bottoms Up” for sponsorship. So much so that a preliminary reel of clips from the film where the plugs appear has been made available. So, what you’re going to see here is 3 almost complete scenes, featuring Paris and a little bit of Mewes (and, as we said, quite a bit of Golden Palace, including an ad on a barechested female model, guys). So, enjoy. We figure in making this mention you folks are gonna flood the site and it’s gonna slow down, so enjoy it while it lasts! Mewes & Paris Go “Bottoms Up” – First Live Footage Here!

• Chris Moore used his space in the Project Greenlight blog to indicate that he’s rather certain that the project, following the 3rd outing, is quite likely, dead . This is sad news, as we not only believed in the project itself, but were HUGE fans of the reality TV program that came of it — In fact, it may very well have been the best reality on TV. So, Greenlight, should this be your last run, you shall be missed. Let’s hope Feast becomes a huge success despite the Bravo ratings for the TV show (which are what Moore cites as responsible for the prognosis). Let’s not count Greenlight totally out yet, spread the word on Feast, and perhaps it can still be saved. We’d love to see a year 4.

• Just a quick note here to say thanks for all your concerns regarding the blog’s disappearance over the weekend — We’re now happy to report that the missing blog is only temporary, and those of you who wrote to tell us how much you enjoyed having that format, the RSS feed, and all that good stuff…Well, we think you’ll be quite pleased again in a short amount of time. Preparations are being made, so stay tuned, and don’t stray too far — Good things are coming. Thanks for your patience during this transition.

• We told you it’d be back — Didn’t we? Yes folks, your voices were heard…You wanted the blog back and now you’ve got it — Kevin’s “My Boring Ass Life” posts can now once again be read in a daily calendar format, at a brand new url: www.silentbobspeaks.com!

You’ll find the new domain contains all you knew and loved and a bit more — A photos section, fully functional RSS 2.0 and RSS .92 feeds (bug fixed, thanks to some speedy detective work from Ming), and more. You may notice that comments now link you back to “The Board”, as it’s easier to have all the chatter in one spot.

So, there you have it, folks. What a day, eh? Lucas closes out the prequel trilogy and the blog is BACK! Enjoy.

• And just to continue with the Lee news for the day, TV Guide, always a tough critic, had good things to say about the show (and an interestng tidbit we hadn’t heard before):

• Raquel Castro attended last week’s Nintendo World grand opening celebration in New York City (and even made off with a Nintendo DS, games, and a hefty store play gift card, for coming to the event). Pretty good work if you can get it, eh? The store opened officially to the public on Saturday. Anyone been?
• Mark Hamill relates his Jay & Bob story in this profile for the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette:

He has resisted offers to play obvious spin-offs or satires of Skywalker over the years, but he relented when Kevin Smith came calling.

Smith, a notorious comic book and ?Star Wars? geek, asked Skywalker to play a temperamental version of himself and somewhat profane variation on Skywalker for his movie ?Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.?

?When I read the script, I laughed and said to my wife, ?There is no way Lucasfilm is going to sanction this movie. This thing is filthy. There are 30 f-words on every page, lesbian sex, pot-smoking. This is just not going to fly.?

?When I called Kevin back I said, ?I?d love to do it, but you?re going to have a problem clearing it with legal.? And he told me he?d already sent the script to Lucasfilm and the only thing they objected to was the color of the light sabers. They wanted the light sabers to be a different color from the ones in the ?Star Wars? movies.

?If that doesn?t give you an idea about what a bunch of nerds they are,? Hamill says, laughing.