Clerks was Smith's first film, and introduces several characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob, who reappear in his later films. The film is black-and-white and imperfectly edited due to an extremely tight budget (less than $30,000 USD), however, it became a surprising success after it was taken by Miramax and polished with additions to the soundtrack.
The MPAA originally gave Clerks the NC-17 rating, based purely on the film's explicit dialogue--it contains no real violence, and no clearly depicted nudity. This was a fiscal death sentence, as very few cinemas in the United States will screen NC-17 movies. Miramax hired civil-liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz to appeal the decision; the MPAA relented and re-rated the film with the more commercial 'R', without one single altered frame or word.
There was also a short-lived 6-episode animated series of the same name, featuring the same characters, plus a villain named Leonardo Leonardo (after the town the movie and show take place in, which is Leonardo, New Jersey). The show constrasted heavily with the movie, mainly due to the additional freedom animation provides combined with the lack of profanity and other vulgarity that network TV demands. The show aired in the United States on ABC, but was cancelled after the second episode aired, partly due to low ratings and partly because ABC somehow felt the show conflicted with their interests. The episodes were later released on DVD and aired on Comedy Central.
It has also spawned several graphic novels written by Kevin Smith.
See also: New Jersey films.