Clerks/Episode Two

The Clipshow Wherein Dante and Randal are Locked in the Freezer and Remember Some of the Great Moments in Their Lives
Season 1, Episode 2
Airdate	June 7, 2000
Production Number	CLK-102
Teleplay by	David Mandel & Kevin Smith
Story by	Paul Dini & David Mandel & Kevin Smith
Directed by	Nick Filippi
← 1x01 Episode Four	1x03 → Episode One
Clerks — Season One

The Clipshow Wherein Dante and Randal are Locked in the Freezer and Remember Some of the Great Moments in Their Lives is the second episode of Clerks and the last of the aired episodes. The joke behind the episode is that they were going to do a clip show with only one episode aired, so they would constantly cut back to the first episode. But, because the first episode was never aired, the joke was ultimately lost on the viewers.

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

Special Guest Voice: Alec Baldwin (Leonardo Leonardo)

and Charles Barkley (Himself), Gwenyth Paltrow (Herself), Gilbert Gottfried (Jerry Seinfeld)

Also Starring: Jeff Bennett (), Dana Gould (), Tara Charendoff (), Michael McShane (), Diana Devlin (), Kevin M. Richardson (Announcer), Lorin Dreyfuss (Old Jay), Kath Souci ()

Plot Overview

The QuickStop has been robbed and Dante is called in for work. But, when he comes in, it turns out that the mess that the police assumed was from the robbery was actually how Dante and Randal left the store the night prior. Regardless, Dante calls in a professional to replace the locks. Randal claims that the lock appears flimsy, so Dante goes into the walk-in freezer to prove that the lock does, in fact, work. But when he closes the door, he realizes that Randal somehow got into the freezer with him and they're locked in. When they realize they'll be stuck in the freezer for a while, they start to reminisce about the past. But because there aren't any episodes other than the pilot, they keep reminiscing about the same day. Aside from the episode one flashbacks, the two remember when they first met as kids, prom night and the last three times they were stuck in the freezer, although they can't remember how they got out previously. Back in the freezer, Dante and Randal are suddenly joined by Jay and Silent Bob who inexplicably decided to jump into the room.

The second act of the episode was entirely flashbacks, there was very little plot progression in the act. The flashbacks included Dante's girlfriend cheating on him in various places with painters, Randal accidentally ordering a Japanese mail-order husband and Dante and Randal getting married. After the scene where the two were married, Silent Bob pulls out a crowbar and cracks open the door. They all leave and go to the video-store to close up, but when Randal locks the door the key breaks off. Then, when they turn the air conditioning up, they accidentally break off the knob.

In the video store, the two contemplate watching a movie but instead pass to again flashback to the various celebrities they've come in contact with, including Jerry Seinfeld, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Scorsese and Matt Damon. They then flashback to the time when they worked in a convenience store in England and in the Middle East. They also flashback to when they were on the Real World and Randal was kicked out and eventually to episodes of Happy Days. The episode cuts to later when they've been rescued by a worried parent and they're talking about their experience. They realize that they've been locked into the hockey rink but manage to escape through another burn ward. The episode ends with a brief narrator sequence with a very old Jay and a Rainy Day Fun where Jay and Silent Bob teach the kids how to do magic/sell their souls.

Notes

Charles Barkley Appearance

• Rainy Day Fun: Charles Barkley once again appears in the final tack on segment where he's told to leave by Jay and Silent Bob.

Trivia

The Show

• Full Title: "The Clipshow Wherein Dante And Randal Are Locked In The Freezer And Remember Some Of The Great Moments Of Their Lives."
• Disclaimer End: In retaliation, this show endorses no celebrities. (Except for Ben Affleck pre-Reindeer Games)
• Oops: Gwyneth Paltrow's name is misspelled in the credits.

Behind the Scenes

• Network Notes: The network censor hated the crackling sound of Randal opening the pornographic magazine. They also hated the term "porn book," but both were kept in the show. Additionally, the other burn ward that Dante and Randal walk into was originally supposed to have a sign on it that said "Pediatric Burn Ward" but that joke was shut down by the network.
• Cut Scene: In the original airing of the episode, the Flintstone's List sequence was taken out and replaced with Dante and Randal watching TV to background noise.
• Song Rights: "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" was used in the birthday party scene instead of "Happy Birthday" because of budgetary reasons, the rights for "Happy Birthday" would have cost too much to secure for broadcast.

Allusions and References

• The Shadow: The line, "the weeds of crime bear bitter fruit" is a direct steal from the The Shadow, a pulp adventure hero originally serialized in 1930s radio dramas and later published as a comic book in the 1940s through the 1990s. Incidentally, Alec Baldwin starred in a 1994 film adaptation of the drama.

• Deep Blue Sea: The bit where Samuel L. Jackson is eaten by a shark is a parody of the scene from Deep Blue Sea in which, after making a big speech about survival, he is suddenly eaten by a shark.

• The Real World: The scene where Randal is kicked out of the house on The Real World is a reference to the second season of the show where a member of the house was ejected after being compared to a rapist.

• Stand By Me: The ending narration bit with Old Jay is a parody of the end of Stand By Me, the narrator is even a Richard Dreyfuss sound-a-like.

Memorable Moments

• The constant flashbacks to Dante and Randal climbing up the Leonardo Tower.
• Silent Bob breaking out a crowbar and opening the locked door.
• The final narration bit with Old Jay narrating his life story.

Goofs

• The last shot of the kids has them cut off at the very bottom. The same goes for Silent Bob, although it appears there was some part of his frame drawn, but not coloured in.

Quotes

• Randal: You know, if this were a sitcom and we got locked in a freezer, we'd probably flash back to all our old episodes.

• Dante: Boy, it wasn't until years later that we found out what fag really meant. Right, mate?

Randal: You're a fag.

Dante: No, a fag's a cigarette. Remember?

Randal: You're a cigarette.