“There’s a subplot with Janeane Garafalo that I would love to restore in a longer version, with her character and with Kevin Smith. If you read the graphic novels, it’s the stuff about the science of the machine and the wave generator, and the ocean tides having an effect on human behavior — and more about the doomsday game that is being played, and the brother-and-sister type of relationship between Janeane Garafalo and Kevin Smith’s characters.”

What’s left? We’ll find out on November 9th with the rest of ya, we suppose.

“…I’d been shunned by TV’s voice in print — that which helped me navigate the crowded waters of prime time with its half-hour segmented grid for many a decade. With the crimson judgment of the mighty Jeer, TV Guide had cast me out from the Garden of TV-den, shaming that porky youth for daring to blight home screens nationwide by fulfilling his long-held whimsies of seeing himself on that box that’d meant so much to him. I was a broken man with little to live for.


Then, some two years later, despite TV Guide’s best efforts to see me off into that good night, TV came calling again, this time to direct the Reaper pilot. Here was a show so thoroughly in my wheelhouse, I had to double-check the front cover to make sure I hadn’t actually written it myself: Slacker Sam, on his 21st birthday, learns that his parents sold his soul to the Devil before he was even born and that he is now an indentured servant to Hell. It was one part Clerks, one part Dogma and one part Ghostbusters, with healthy dashes of Twin Peaks and X-Files mixed in. In many ways, it was the sum total of everything TV had taught me over the years: Make ’em laugh, make ’em love the characters and always… always keep ’em entertained.”

IGN TV: And you’re doing another Q&A for DVD right?

Smith: Yeah, we shot it on my birthday in Red Bank [New Jersey]. It comes out I think the first quarter of 08. Those are fun, and also there’s a never-ending font of material for that s***. I remember when we wrapped the last one, Evening Harder, there was instantly six new stories that I started doing at Q&As that just grew out of stuff that happened since we recorded the second one. So I feel like we had enough material to go off of. And I feel like they’re kind of a god-send, because once you do the DVD, you never have to tell those stories again. I haven’t told that Superman story in I can’t tell you how long. Probably since that DVD. Now if people ask I say, you know what, there’s a half hour version of that story on the DVD, you can totally check it out. It’s really nice for putting s*** to bed and forces you to come up with new s*** to talk about.

IGN TV: Have you cast the new actress [for Miri]?

Smith: Not yet. We have our Zack and Miri but nothing is locked yet. And lord knows if the Rosario situation taught me anything it’s to keep my f***ing fool mouth shut until I see a signed contract. So there are two people. One who is in, but our deal with him is not closed, and the Miri I’m going to go to I’m pretty sure she wants to do it.

IGN TV: I see this as another area where you can get into trouble. You talk so much about the process and what has happened along the way. Then you go to this actress and she knows that she’s second choice, in a way. Not that that doesn’t happen all the time in this town, but was there a way that you had to spin it?

Smith: I mean no, because she wasn’t even second choice. She would be first choice because in my mind Rosario was just doing it. She was like “Hey man, whatever you’re doing I want to do.” And said “Right on.” So there was almost no choice, it was just written with Rosario in mind. So then when Rosario took the other job, I was just like “Oh s***, no I have to go to a choice.” So this actress winds up being the first choice.

IGN TV: How about Ranger Danger and the Danger Rangers? You still planning on doing that?

Smith: Yeah, I think I’m going to be ready to do that one man. Once I’m done with Zack and Miri and Red State that’s the one I would like to do next. Especially after Reaper I feel way more comfortable shooting something that is a little more action-oriented.

IGN TV: So what’s next for you? The very next thing that I don’t know about.

Smith: Well, Zack and Miri hopefully. Mid-January we start, I think January 15th we’re looking at for a start date. So there’s that, and if there’s no strike, or if we can fit it in pre-strike we’ll go right into Red State, if I can get the f***ing money for it.

So there ya have it. From the sound of it, while Zack and Miri are in talks for the roles, nothing’s signed yet — So KEVIN knows, but we don’t. Bummer eh? Still, with a proposed mid-January start date, that sounds like we’ll be getting some big news soon, on actors, budget, shooting locations, and more. We’re stoked. As for “Red State”, it sounds like it’ll happen, but probably under different circumstances and distribution than the last flicks. It’s just a matter of the right folks getting the script (are you listening, Lion’s Gate?). Finally, with “Ranger Danger” still on his mind, it’s a good bet this will come at some point in the future, though we doubt this is the fabled View Askewniverse X film (10th film) that Kevin has mentioned in the past. We have a feeling THAT movie is something we haven’t heard a peep about it.

Want more? Read the full interview for details on Kevin’s comics career, the “Red State” role he offered to Bruce Willis, and more. Yeah, we TOLD ya, it’s worth reading! So what’s stopping ya?

This is your ONLY CHANCE to catch Kevin in Jersey (or on the east coast for that matter) as part of this book tour, and it’s an absolutely perfect Fall day outside — So what are you waiting for? Get yourself over to the big book signing in downtown Red Bank NOW!

GN TV: So is [Heroes: Origins] completely self-contained or are you going to have any of the regular character in it?

Smith: No, self-contained. No characters from the series. The origin of Origins so to speak, is that last year Heroes went off the air for a month to catch up with their production schedule. It’s a big show, it’s tough to just churn it out because they’re essentially making a feature a week. So, what they wanted to do was kind of have a series to plug in for that moment when they need to go off the air for a mini-hiatus to catch up with their production schedule. So, Tim was like let’s do a show that kind of introduces new characters that might possibly be on in the next season. So it’ll still be Heroes but at the same time it won’t be Heroes “proper.” But it will take place in the Heroes universe. So the idea is that if I went in and was like “I want to use Hayden, Quinto and Ali Larter,” they’d be like “You’re high, dude. The whole reason we’re doing this spin-off is so that we can concentrate on Heroes without losing air time.” So no, the short answer is no. There won’t be any of the main characters in my show. However, it takes place, at least in my episode, and I hadn’t really even thought to ask because it really sounded like they need their cast. But what I’m doing is set firmly in their universe and it’s tied in by reference points, but I’m not going to be using that cast when they’re busy on the main show.

IGN TV: What kind of “hero” are you working on? Can you give me a hint without getting in trouble?

Smith: Girl.

IGN TV: Girl?

Smith: I’m doing a girl. That is the most I can say at this point.

IGN TV: So are you thinking that you’ll go back and do some more Reaper? I know you have two features in the works.

Smith: Yeah, hopefully. Based on the reception to the pilot it looks like the show might catch on. I hope so, for the girls’ sake. If that’s the case I would totally go back. I think right now they’re on episode six, so I think if I was going to do it I would get involved in the later half of the season. If it goes to 22. If we’re knee deep in Zach and Miri or Red State at that point, if we can get that done before a strike, I would hope to wait until the beginning of season 2 and do the first episode there. But that’s kind of up to them. I told them I’m happy to come back whenever.

So let’s summarize! A FEMALE hero from Kevin! Too cool. We can’t wait. And that’s the first we’ve seen a definite confirmation that he WILL go back to “Reaper” if the show continues into a full season. COOL! Of course, don’t miss the entire start-to-finish of this interview, courtesy of IGN. Part two ends with two full pages of “Red State” discussion, which we’ll leave for you to discover, as it’s good but nothing revealing that hasn’t already been reported here. We’ll summarize part 3 and let you know when it’s up.

First up, the Toronto Star prints a nice little article on the tour, the book, and “Reaper” today. It’s short, so let’s run it all:

Boring-ass life? Not this geek

Wearing his trademark “Silent Bob” black overcoat and Vans deck shoes with an image of Homer Simpson imprinted on them, Kevin Smith makes a sit-down chat turn into an exploration of all things geeky.

What else would you expect from the writer/director/actor who’s been letting his nerd flag fly high ever since he broke onto the scene with ’90s indie hit Clerks?

Smith, 37, has inspired a fervent cult audience for whatever he decides to do – from comics he’s written to guest-starring on Degrassi: The Next Generation, one of his favourite shows.

The pop culture vulture has two movies in development, directed the series pilot for the devilishly good new series Reaper and started work on an episode of Heroes: Origins, the upcoming spinoff of the NBC hit series Heroes.

Then there’s the reason he’s in town, doing a media blitz for his new book, My Boring-Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith, a collection of blog entries from Smith’s website, ViewAskew.com.

“It’s kind of nice to back into a book, but I was like `who’s going to buy it when you can read it for free online,'” Smith said yesterday at the Toronto offices of publisher Random House.

“They said, `well, not everyone has a computer.’ Like really, everyone I know has a computer. So at the end of the day I didn’t have to do much for it, as it was already written.”

Smith has been posting to his website since 1996. He says the blog/book started after one of his fans asked how he spends his days. So he started cataloguing everything he did.

“It moved beyond the initial question, where I was like, I would like to have all this, so 20 years down the road I can look back and know exactly what I was doing on a specific day – and look at it how much I wasted my youth.”

But like most bloggers, the idea of feeding the online beast became an issue.

Documenting his life from March, 2005 to November, 2006, My Boring-Ass Life begins with daily writings that evolve into longer, more sporadic posts as time goes by.

If there is a highlight, Smith says it’s the almost 70 pages called “Me and my Shadow,” where he details the journey of best friend Jason Mewes (Jay from the Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob movies) as he battles drug addiction.

“He’s actually lived through something, as opposed to me. I am pretty boring,” Smith said. His fans wouldn’t agree, but it’s all on the page for anyone to judge.

In January, Smith starts filming Zach and Miri Make a Porno. Afterwards he hopes to start on Red State, which he describes as “a political horror movie.”

Other projects Smith is working on include a weekly podcast with friend, producer Scott Mosier – they call it a Smodcast – at quickstopentertainment.com.

As for Smith’s take on this age where all things geek have gone very mainstream, he’s sanguine about it.

He doesn’t think that there will be a backlash, but rather “people will just sooner or later just become disinterested.” Perhaps, but his career is solid evidence to the contrary.

Kevin’s interview on the CBC’s “The Hour with George Strombolopoulos” can be seen on its website. Be sure to check out the hilarious cold open of the show featuring Kevin doing a “bit of business”, as he often likes to say. There’s other guests on the program, so you may need to skip in a bit to see Kev’s bit — The show streams in several pieces, so be patient, you may need to wait a few seconds here and there to let it catch up with you, depending on your connection speed.

One fan was nice enough to break out a camera and film a few minutes of what went down at a pre-book signing Q&A this week, too. Watch the shaky cam though, it’s a little rough. Sounds like a HUGE turnout for the signing there, though – Canada loves Kevin! Check out a couple short clips, direct from Canada, via YouTube : Canada Book Signing, 9/27/07 – Part One and Canada Book Signing, 9/27/07 – Part Two.

So what about that hilarious stint on Letterman last night, Kevin’s first meeting with Dave? You saw it, right? NO?!?!? Sure you did. But in case you wanna see it again, here’s the complete seven minute rundown, courtesy of the mighty YouTube. Watch Kevin tell a very short version of the Bruce Willis story (you’ll see a longer one soon, trust us), pimp the book AND “Reaper”, talk about “A Bear’s Life”, and get some much-deserved cheers for “Clerks”. TV history. Here’s hoping Kevin can make some regular trips back to the show when he’s in town. Watch while ya can, as the ‘Tube has been known to pull down TV clips sometimes.

IGN TV: Do you think you’d ever write a straight memoir?

Smith: I don’t think so man. I think it’s much easier to do it incrementally in blog style. To look back I don’t know if I would be patient enough to do that. And I also figure like, who would f***ing want to hear it at this point? I spend so much time chronicling my life in the present, that it just feels like what is a look back going to do that I haven’t done at a Q&A, or in the blogs, or now in the blog-book. It just feels like, if I were to sit down and write memoirs twenty or thirty years down the road, I’d have to sit down and tell that Superman story yet again. I have no interest in ever telling that story again man. It’s on DVD, you can watch it. So I can’t see myself doing the memoir thing and I certainly couldn’t do a tell-all ’cause lord knows I spend most of my time telling all anyway in the present.

IGN TV: [Reaper] ranked near the top in a recent TV critics poll. It was number two, right under Pushing Daisies.

Smith: Under Pushing Daisies? Right on, man. Go figure. If you would have asked me in advance if this would be one of the highest rated pilots of the new season I would have said “Um, I doubt anyone will ever see this.” It seemed implausible that CW would pick it up because they have a show that’s pretty f***ing close, in Supernatural. Supernatural is the earnest version of Reaper, right down to a guy named Sam, with him and another dude running around hunting monsters, for lack of a better description. Reaper is the comedic version of that and I was always a little perplexed at why the greenlit the pilot to be made. I thought “They’re not going to pick it up. They’re going to take one look at it, be like Supernatural is far better looking.” You watch Supernatural and it looks like a film. It’s slick and polished and s*** like that, and Reaper just has this kind of warm do-it-yourself look to it. I do think it is our most visually accomplished effort, oddly enough. I think me and Dave [Klein, Smith’s director of photography] made a better looking TV show than we’ve ever made a movie. There’s just more kinetic energy in the pilot for some reason. The camera is always moving and stuff. So I just never thought that anyone would see it because I thought that the CW would see it and whether it was good or bad, they would just be like “What were we thinking? We already have this show. F*** off!” But they kind of went for it, thank god.

Don’t miss the entire interview, exclusively available at the awesome IGN entertainment portal. Part two is on the way tomorrow.

Will’s always good enough to do these captures, and never even asks us for a plug, but we’re giving him one anyway, darn it — RadioAskew is now back with some new programming, so be sure to take a listen to his professional podcast at the official site – All the latest pop culture stuff with an Askew slant to it.