Jay And Silent Bob And Alanis Visit Degrassi, Eh!

[MTV.COM]
Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes to make fictional sequel to ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.’

Jason Mewes as Jay and Kevin Smith as Silent Bob in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”

Bluntman and Chronic are firing themselves up for another adventure, and this time they’re bringing God along.

Director/writer/actor Kevin Smith, loyal accomplice Jason Mewes and singer/occasional actress Alanis Morissette will guest star on

U.S. airwaves next month in a special three-episode arc of the cable TV program “Degrassi: The Next Generation.” Smith and Mewes will appear as themselves portraying their cult-classic creations Jay and Silent Bob (as seen in “Clerks,” “Mallrats” and the other films in the so-called “New Jersey” series), while Morissette will step down off the heavenly cloud she inhabited in “Dogma” to play the only high school principal willing to give diplomas to the infamous Quick Stop loiterers.

For years, Smith has made no secret of his love of “Degrassi,” an unapologetic teenage Canadian cheese-fest that the future Hollywood player first caught in reruns while working the graveyard shift at a New Jersey convenience store. After naming a “Clerks” character for a “Degrassi” personality and referring to the show throughout his films (Jason Lee’s character in “Chasing Amy” considered the perfect evening to include pizza and the teenage soap), Smith and series producer Linda Schuyler hatched the plan to bring their two worlds together.

Although the original “Degrassi Junior High” was canceled in the early ’90s, the program’s loyal following led to the 2001 revival “Next Generation,” which will feature the special guests in the three-part season finale of the show’s fourth season. The plot has Smith and Mewes traveling to the Great White North to film a fictional sequel to “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” entitled “Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh!” In the film, the fast-talking drug dealer and his mute friend make a pilgrimage to their neighboring country when they discover that it contains the only high school that will allow them to go back and get their diplomas. With Smith selecting Degrassi as the ideal location for the film shoot, the school’s residents take jobs on both sides of the camera and interact with Smith, Mewes and Morissette (winkingly appearing as herself playing a character in the fictional movie).

“The plot of the movie within the show is so funny,” Smith said in a statement, “it almost makes me want to shoot the flick for real.”

The episodes will air on cable channel the N at 8 p.m. ET on August 12, 19 and 26.

As American fans of the series are all too aware, each program airs one season behind its Canadian debut, so Smith and friends have already rolled out on “Degrassi” for our tuque-wearing friends to the North. According to the show’s production company, plans are currently under way to have Smith return for a very special episode of season five, in which he may premiere “Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh!” at the high school. Because as his fans recall, Smith and his characters hate people but they love gatherings.

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Larry Carroll