Clerks/Episode Four

A Dissertation on the American Justice System by People Who Have Never Been Inside a Courtroom, Let Alone Know Anything About the Law, but Have Seen Way Too Many Legal Thrillers
Season 1, Episode 1
Airdate	May 31, 2000
Production Number	CLK-104
Teleplay by	Steve Lookner, David Mandel, Kevin Smith
Story by	Steve Lookner
Directed by	Steve Loter
— N/A	1x02 → Episode Two
Clerks — Season One

A Dissertation on the American Justice System by People Who Have Never Been Inside a Courtroom, Let Alone Know Anything About the Law, but Have Seen Way Too Many Legal Thrillers is the first episode of Clerks and the first of the aired episodes. In the episode, Jay sues Dante and QuickStop when he slips on some soda. The case is bought to the New Jersey courts, but when everything seems hopeless because of Randal's incompetent lawyering who will win the case?

Starring the Voice Talents of: Jeff Anderson (Randal Graves), Jason Mewes (Jay), Brian O'Halloran (Dante Hicks), Kevin Smith (Silent Bob)

Special Guest Voice: Judge Reinhold (Himself), Kenny Mayne (Himself), Dan Patrick (Himself), Charles Barkley (Himself), Grant Hill (Himself), Reggie Miller (Himself), Michael Buffer (Himself)

Also Starring: Tara Charendoff (Giggling Girl), Phil LaMarr (Axel Foley), Bryan Cranston (), Michael McKean (), Diana Devlin (), Michael McShane (), Paul Dini (George Lucas), Kevin M. Richardson (Announcer), Elon Gold (), Lauren Tom (), Mario Joyner (Lando), April Winchell (), Jim Wise ()

Notes

Charles Barkley Appearance

Charles Barkley is a member of the jury in this episode.

Trivia

The Show

• Full Title: A Dissertation on the American Justice System by People Who Have Never Been Inside a Courtroom, Let Alone Know Anything About the Law, but Have Seen Way Too Many Legal Thrillers
• Disclaimer End: "With that in mind, America lets rise up against our celebrities and make fun of them."

Behind the Scenes

• Censorship: The original disclaimer read, "rise up against our celebrities and kill them," but that was nixed by the legal department.

• Airdate: Although this episode was the fourth to be produced, and the fourth in the sequence of episodes, it was the first to premiere. This was largely a choice by the network, although the producers did have a hand in it.

• Cut Scene: This episode originally had a different beginning that was cut for time. In the original opening, Dante was teaching a class of "very challenged people" about economics and how a convenience store works. The scene made it as far as the animatic stage before it was changed.

• Bad Read: Randal's "Hey! Ho! Hey! Ho!" was one of the most difficult line reads in the entire series. He did so awkwardly that everyone had to start the chant, then have Jeff Anderson join them, and finally have everyone else drop out so he was the only one doing it.

Allusions and References

• JFK: After Randall gets a letter from someone suggesting that they have information about the case against Dante, what follows is a parody of JFK, directed by Oliver Stone. The movie was a dramatized account of the John F. Kennedy assassination and the perceived conspiracy behind it. The mysterious agent is "X", played by Donald Sutherland in the movie.