Jay Silent Bob

'Jay and Silent Bob' relaunch popular podcast

The creative team behind comedic hits "Clerks" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" relaunched their popular SModcast network Monday to create the SModcast Internet Radio station.

The SModcast network, according to a release, originally began simply as "SModcast," created by writer/director Kevin Smith (best known for portraying the character of Silent Bob in his View Askew film series) and producer Scott Mosier in early 2007. Since its inception, the project developed into a full network, hosting "Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave," "Jay and Silent Bob Get Old" and "Plus One," among other programs.

In a telephone interview, Jason Mewes, Smith's frequent collaborator known for his foul-mouthed degenerate character Jay, said the idea to relaunch the network began as a brainchild of Smith's.

"We'd been doing this weekly podcast and we'd throw it on the network, and we started videotaping them also," he said. "The more and more we were doing it, the more we were like ‘People were asking to hear it before the week was up,' and people were asking to see video. Kevin thought now that they have the technology to stream stuff, we could do a radio show where it's live."

Mewes said the entire SModcast network lineup, including "Babble-On," "Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave" and the original "SModcast," are confirmed or expected to be on the schedule. S.I.R. will also feature new programs created specifically for the station, such as "SMornings with Kev and Jen," Smith's morning show with his wife, Jen Schwalbach, and "Jay and Silent Bob Get Jobs," a two-hour midday live show recorded at the Jon Lovtiz Podcast Theater.

"We're going to interview people, talk about what's what, and maybe doing a thing called ‘Mewes News,'" he said. "‘Mewes News' wouldn't be so much about current events, like what's going on with Osama, but it'd be about things I'm into, like a new comic book, or new comic book movie or gadgets; I'm really into electronics and gadgets."

In the release, Kevin Smith said creating podcasts took him back to his earliest years as a filmmaker with its ability to enable all levels of people to share ideas.

"Podcasting is what indie film was to me in the early 90s," Smith said. "The power to broadcast's now in everybody's hands. Podcasts democratize talk radio, allowing anyone a platform and everyone a voice. With S.I.R., we're just taking that notion and running with it."

For the launch, mobile provider Stitcher was chosen as the official app partner for S.I.R. for its SmartRadio app.

Jay and Silent Bob hit the radio : The Kentucky Kernel

Silent Bob is silent no more.

Director Kevin Smith and partner Jason Mewes, known for their roles as Jay and Silent Bob in Kevin Smith’s films, have started their own internet radio station.

Kevin Smith has been podcasting since 2007, beginning with SModcast, a talk show he started with friend and producer Scott Mosier. Over the next 4 years it grew into an entire network of shows, most of which feature Kevin Smith.

The most notable shows other than SModcast are Jay and Silent Bob get Old, which features Smith and Mewes; Plus One, which features Smith and wife Jennifer Schwalbach.

Smith announced his retirement from film at this year’s Sundance, and apparently his focus has shifted to running a 24/7 internet radio station.

SModcast Internet Radio launced May 9th, and is preparing to enter its second week. Jay Mewes was extremely satisfied with the station’s first week.

“We had some glitches with calls and stuff like that, but we took a call from a soldier over in Iraq over Skype and I’m just looking forward to talking to all kinds of people,” Mewes said.

The station currently features only four hours of live content a day, beginning with “Plus One Per Diem” with Smith and wife Schwalbach at 8 a.m. PST, followed by “Jay and Silent Bob get Jobs” immediately after. The rest of the day is a mixture of repeated material from S.I.R. and catalogue content from the SModcast network’s extensive catalogue of podcasts. However, Smith predicted in an episode of SModcast that most of the material would be live within six months.

“When I committed I never really thought about what it would mean to be a part of something where I have to be in there to do the show everyday, but it’ll work out,” Mewes said. “It’s just a lot of fun.

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