Comic Book Men
Comic Book Men is an American reality television series which aired on the AMC network from 2012 to 2018. It is set at Kevin Smith's comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in Red Bank, New Jersey. Production history. Filmmaker Kevin Smith was drawn to television through his love of podcasting, through which he says he realized his true calling: telling stories with words rather than pictures. His website, SModcast.com, features a number of podcasts, including "I Sell Comics!", hosted by Mike Zapcic and Ming Chen, and "Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!", co-hosted  by Walt Flanagan and Bryan Johnson. The latter was the inspiration for "Comic Book Men". Brian Quinn, the third co-host of "Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!", was unable to be featured in the series due to the conditions of his contract for the TruTV series "Impractical Jokers". NJ.com reported in July 2011 that AMC was interested in the TV show that was being developed by Smith, which was set at Smith's store, and described as ""Pawn Stars" for geeks". The series would be part of AMC network's active entry into reality television. AMC decided to pick up the  show to follow "The Walking Dead". The working title was "Secret Stash", before it was finalized as "Comic Book Men". The first season ran for six one-hour episodes, the premiere of which aired on February 12, 2012, following the return of "The Walking Dead"s second season. On May 9, AMC announced that "Comic Book Men" was renewed for a second season of 16 half-hour episodes. Season 2 premiered October 14, 2012, initially following the third season of "The Walking Dead" with its first 8 episodes; the second 8 episodes spearheaded AMC's new "Real Original Thursdays" lineup along  with two new series, "Freakshow" and "Immortalized". On its new night, it initially aired at 9:00 PM EST (with repeats at 10:30PM and 12:00 Midnight EST), but after a month was moved to 10:00PM EST with a repeat episode airing at 10:30 PM (and repeats of both episodes at 1:00AM and 1:30AM EST, respectively) AMC commissioned a third season in April 2013. Season 3 premiered October 13, 2013, following the third season of "Talking Dead". A fourth season was commissioned in March 2014. It was also announced that guest cast member Robert Bruce would be the focus of a companion  series that will follow him as he searches for collectibles at sales, auctions and flea markets across the country. AMC announced in October 2014 they were cancelling all unscripted shows except for "Comic Book Men" and "Talking Dead" and, as a result, Bruce's show did not progress past the pilot stage. Season five was confirmed on June 7, 2015, premiered on October 18, 2015, and ran through 2016. In May 2016, Smith confirmed that the series was renewed for a sixth season.  It began on October 23, 2016. A seventh season was confirmed in May 2017 by Kevin Smith . On June 24, 2018, Kevin Smith confirmed the show was cancelled. Companion podcast. "Comic Book Men" is a companion television show to Award Winning podcast, titled "Tell 'em Steve Dave" and the lesser known 'I Sell Comics", which is hosted on the SModcast network. During the first season of "I Sell Comics", some podcast episodes were pre-recorded during the filming of the show, while others were recorded live on the SModco Internet Radio station (S.I.R.) directly following the first airing of an episode, allowing the audience to participate by calling in to the show. For the show's second  season, the episodes were all recorded in the Secret Stash and hosted by Ming Chen, occasionally joined by some of the others from the show including Walt, Bryan, Mike, and frequent series contributor (and "pop culturalist") Rob Bruce. Reception. As of December 2012, Metacritic scores the first season 55 out of 100 based on 7 professional TV critics. Ellen Gray of "The Philadelphia Inquirer" remarked, ""Comic Book Men" may not be as complicated as "Rubicon", but it's smarter than it looks at first." Mike Hale of "The New York Times" opined that the series is an authentic portrayal of  post-collegiate American life, and concluded, "It’s diverting, a little sad, a little boring, full of geeky macho posturing and ultimately pointless, much like a Wednesday afternoon in a comic-book shop." David Wiegand of the "San Francisco Chronicle" called the show an "amusing geekfest".