Kevin Smith working on a TV show inspired by his Red Bank comic book shop

Kevin Smith, the Highlands native best known as the writer and producer of "Clerks," is working on a new show for NBC, according to Variety.

“Local Heroes,” about a group of comic book store regulars who band together to solve crimes in their hometown, is inspired by Smith's comic book shop, which opened in Red Bank in 1997. Smith, Variety reported, is executive producer and writer on the show, along with “30 Rock” alums Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan.

The project also comes from Hazy Mills’ Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner, as well as Jordan Cerf, Variety said.

“We pride ourselves on facilitating collaborations,” Jim Donnelly, Universal TV comedy development executive vice president, told Variety. “Sean Hayes’ company has been here for a long time. Josh and Dylan are overall deal writers who have worked in Mike Schur’s and Tina Fey’s camps. And Kevin Smith is a hero of mine and has his finger on the pulse of the genre world. This murder mystery show in a comic book store really fits into NBC’s single-camera workplace, large-ensemble shows.”

Smith's "Comic Book Men" ran for seven seasons on AMC. The unscripted series was shot at Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, Smith's Red Bank comic book store.

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2024 has been a big year for Smith.

The filmmaker entered the New Jersey Hall of Fame on Nov. 16 via a pre-taped presentation. Highlands-native Jason Mewes — who achieved pop culture icon status as Jay in 1994's "Clerks," part of a comic relief drug dealer tandem with writer/director Smith's Silent Bob — did the induction.

Smith became misty-eyed during his speech, thanking Jersey greats like Bruce Springsteen and Uncle Floyd for lending an “authenticity” to the Jersey image.

Also in November, during the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles, Smith indicated he is working on a sequel for “Dogma,” his quirky religious comedy.

A cult fave and a hit at the box office, “Dogma,” released in 1999, starred Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek and Jason Lee. Smith said Affleck and Damon will return for the “Dogma” sequel as Smith was instrumental in getting their breakthrough, “Good Will Hunting,” made in 1997.

He clarified his remarks later on X.

“To be fair, I said I started writing a sequel in my head on Thursday night,” Smith said. “So a 'Dogma' sequel script is eventually happening … but that doesn’t mean a movie is getting made necessarily. And while I plan to include Bartleby and Loki, I’ve not spoken to Ben or Matt about it yet.”

Smith's coming-of-age comedy, “The 4:30 Movie,” was released in September. It was filmed at Smodcastle Cinemas, the Atlantic Highlands movie theater that Smith co-owns.

In April, at a packed Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Smith shared his thoughts on seeing the Boss in “Springsteen on Broadway.” Smith and Mewes took the Pony stage, seated behind a table and microphones, in their “Jay & Silent Bob Get Old” podcast show.

Chris Jordan contributed to this story.