• Sometimes, you just see a new Stash item and know you gotta own it. That’s what our thoughts are when we spotted this first look from Kevin at a brand new DVD box to store your collection. This one looks super colorful, and it’ll be ready in time for Christmas. The perfect gift for that VA fan in your family (or something to spend grandma’s christmas money on too). Details as they come.
• More Mattt Potter goodness comes your way today, in a new video, coming soon to a West Coast Stash near you — But hey, for those of you that can’t be there in person — how about a Quicktime video chock full of “Fat Boys”! Yeah!
• The Christian Science Monitor cites “Mallrats” as an example in an article they’re running on the crackdown on kids hanging out at the local shopping mall. We’re betting they hate people with no shopping agenda.
• Joblo.com is reporting via richard-kelly.net that Justin Timberlake and Mandy Moore have joined the cast of Southland Tales. The full article along with a couple pics of Miss Moore looking yummy is over at JoBlo. This is quite the ensemble that Kelly’s picking up for ST. We’re still hoping plot details stay as secretive as they’ve been.

• It’s just 8 days until NBC premieres their flagship comedy for the new season, “My Name Is Earl”. What’s perhaps amazing about this sitcom isn’t that it’s getting the most consistently GREAT reviews across the board, but that it stars not one, but TWO Mallrats/View Askew alumni. Both Jason Lee AND Ethan Suplee have major roles and well, that’s just got us here at News Askew stoked at the prospect of a hit sitcom that’s got two of our own in the spotlight.

But hey, it’s not only us. Lee’s been popping up everywhere in the media — The latest spot of amazement — Last weekend’s “Entertainemnt Weekly” hit the stands with a TALKING “My Name Is Earl” ad. You heard it right. Open up this week’s issue, and a chip in there when you hit the visal ad for Earl, speaks, in Jason Lee’s voice: “My name is Earl, Do good things and good things happen to you, do bad things and it will come back to haunt you. I’m talkin’ about karma. My name is Earl.” We believe it’s the first audio ad in a magazine ever. If anyone wants to shoot one off to us, we’d love to keep it for the archives.

If you wanna hear the Earl audio, you can surf HERE as well.

Want more “Lee” news. We sure got it:

• 
• In Toronto, TV Guide equivalent “Television” rated “Earl” among the best of the new fall season. They also added that Jason was the best casting choice of any new show this season.
• An artist by the name of Jeff Boyes has a unique, interesting print of Jason Lee for sale at Gig Posters.
• In the ‘Here’s Looking at You’ section of today’s Daily Quickie at ESPN.com, Jason Lee is compared to Randy Johnson.
• Chicago Tribune – Lee is a pearl of an `Earl’ in off-the-wall new series

  “After dropping out of high school in his senior year, Jason Lee decided to become a professional skateboarder, so he did.

  Then, a decade ago, after snagging a role in the Kevin Smith film “Mallrats,” he decided to become a legit, full-time actor. He did that, too, with a 10-year film career that has taken him to a level somewhere between the guy who steals the show and the star in movies such as “Almost Famous” and “The Ballad of Jack and Rose.”

  There was just one thing Lee was pretty sure he never wanted to do: cross over to the world of television…”

• Lee is featured in the “Stars We Love” section of E! Online today with a small interview. Here’s an interesting little tidbit from that:
  You’re known for working with director Kevin Smith. Is there any chance he’ll make an appearance on Earl?

  Yeah, we’ve definitely explored Kevin being a part of this in some way.

  You may remember, Lee mentioned Kevin coming on board to direct as a possibility. Given Kevin’s recent talent for super cool guest appearances, we’d love to see him on the program later this season, even. Don’t miss the little Lee video inset on that page as well, by the way.

• The New York Times – “Put on Your Best Gimme Hat. It’s the Upscale Redneck Show”

  “…Against the odds, the comedy here works. The actors Jason Lee, who is also a producer, and especially Jaime Pressly are superb in the lead roles, and the fact that this show gratifies some low impulses – to embrace stereotypes, say – doesn’t mean that it doesn’t also gratify some mid-level impulses: to laugh, say.”

“My Name Is Earl”. Tuesday, September 20th, 9:00 PM, NBC.

• If you haven’t entered yet (remember, one per person, folks) there’s still FOUR DAYS to send your answers in for our Mallrats DVD Contest. We’ve got 10 shiny new copies of the disc (courtesy Universal) to put into your greasy little hands, so don’t let this visit go by without tossing in an entry. We’ve had heaps so far, sure, but hey, it’s still a much better chance than winning $100,000 in a scratchoff lottery ticket, for example. Which leads us to our next story…

• Heads-up, Canucks! The Degrassi documentary that Kevin was interviewed for a whilo ago will be airing in Canada on CTV this Saturday evening (the 17th) at 7 p.m. It’s called “The Degrassi Story”. 1 hour in length. No airdates announced for Noggin yet. Canadians only, folks.
• NBC reports that Jason Lee will headline The Tonight Show with Jay Leno TOMORROW NIGHT (Wednesday). We’re sure he’ll be on board to promote “My Name Is Earl”, but given Kevin’s regularity on the show, we won’t be surprised at all if there’s a Smith name drop or two in there. NBC, Wednesday, 11:35 PM ET/PT.
• The podcast craze continues — Another reader and regular had done some preliminary Askew podcasts of his own — He does an audio version of a lot of the stuff covered here and adds in some favorite audio clips and the like. Will’s Radio Askew has all the links, 3 archived shows already, and more details. See ya next time, folks!

• We’re very pleased to present the new and improved

News Askew Forums, or NAF as the regulars affectionately call it, now open for business and awaiting your posts. The NAF now runs on the highly intuitive vBulletin platform, and brings with it greater speed, stability, and features. We’re currently experimenting with a fun new “reputation” system which allows uses to award reputation points to other users for doing good deeds, posting good info, and the like. You can also earn reputation points for being a regular visitor. Finally, we’ve added a calendar that’s wide open to the public — So every user can both read AND contribute to it. So far, we’ve got all of the upcoming View Askew stuff on there, as well as some other red letter dates, such as TV premieres. We think you’ll dig it.

All accounts older than 90 days at the NAF have been purged. Some of you might have to re-register your screen name. Browsing is free, though, so you can look around (just not post) without even signing up.

There’s a good group of regulars who have been posting at the NAF for quite a few years now. New users, just introduce yourselves, they’ll make you feel right at home. The NAF features separate forums to discuss the latest News Askew stories, cast members, and upcoming projects. We’ve also got general discussion forums for comics, film, tv, gaming, debating, and the highly popular “anything goes” area, where members like to hang out, chat, and just mess around.

For those of you looking to chat with Kevin himself, you’ll want to visit the View Askew Forums, where Kevin and many other cast and crew regularly hang out, post, and answer your questions. But if you want to try something else, in addition to your daily surf to View Askew’s site, stop on in and take a look around. We think you’ll like what we’ve done with the place.