For years now fandom has been haunted by a conspiracy theory involving two of the biggest fanboys in Hollywood, director Kevin Smith and full-time JJ Abrams buddy Greg Grunberg. High-level geeks among the inner circle of nerdery have theorized the two men are actually one and the same. If true, Grunberg-Smith would have perpetrated the greatest long con in dork history (or at least since The Prestige)… and he’s only gotten bolder and more ambitious over the years. Case in point, this summer the “duo” of Smith and Grunberg are set to “co-host” a new talk show on AMC. How Grunberg-Smith will sustain his dual identities remains to be seen, but until then let’s explore why the theory may not be as far-fetched as it sounds.

Recently AMC announced a 30-minute talk show tentatively titled Geeking Out which would take a “timely look at pop culture through a fanboy lens,” according to the network. Nothing new there – AMC hopes to parlay Chris Hardwick’s successful @midnight show into a solid block of nerd programming. Makes sense. What doesn’t make too much sense, however, is who they’ve enlisted to host Geeking Out.

Greg Grunberg (Heroes, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Kevin Smith (Clerks, Comic Book Men).

(Long, long pause) Exactly.

Not sure why we paused? Check out this pair of quotes from the fanboys about their upcoming collaboration. WARNING: You may vomit in your mouth.

“AMC has been my TV family for five seasons of Comic Book Men now, so I know that Geeking Out is in the perfect, fan-friendly network hands,” said Smith. “I can’t wait to lose fluids on the airwaves of my favorite channel over the genre gems we’re gonna get insider access to due to gregarious Greg’s bonafides!” Grunberg said he plans on asking, “every single genre-based writer, director and actor I know to come on our show and geek out with us.” He gushed: “I love how Kevin Smith smells and we fit together like two hibernating fan-bears. Thanks to AMC and the Weinsteins, the rest of the world is going to get to see what’s inside our dark, dank geek cave. It’s going to be a fun 30 minutes, if I can just get Kevin to stop talking and smoking.”

Yep, the cringe is real. Now that you know the level of stereotypical try-hard fanboys we are dealing with, let’s explore the theory that Grunberg and Smith are the same person.

First things first, forget how polarizing these two professional nerds are. (I know this may be impossible and seems counter-intuitive since I just shared their cringe-worthy quotes above, but try to forget the pain.)

Forget their obsession with earning geek cred in everything they say or do. And please, for the love of Star Wars, disregard the literal “tears of joy” they’ve shed over advance screenings of fandom properties and access to tightly guarded sets. Forget all that, and just focus on what each of these men look like. (Pause)

They are the spitting image of each other. This eerie “twinning” effect formed the basis for a theory claiming Grunberg and Smith are the very same person. But let’s go to our tale of the tape:

Height

Kevin Smith 5’9”

Greg Grunberg 6’2”

How can the discrepancy be explained? Elevator shoes and Smith’s hair when properly teased can cover the 5 inch gap between his two personas.

Weight

Kevin Smith 250 lbs. (after recent 85 lb. weight loss)

Greg Grunberg 275 lbs.

How can the discrepancy be explained? Force Fit Spanx.

Age

Kevin Smith 45

Greg Grunberg 49

How can the discrepancy be explained? Greg Grunberg was 4 years old when he created his supernerd altar ego Kevin Smith with help from his 4-year old friend-til-the-end future director JJ Abrams.

Faith

Kevin Smith was raised Catholic

Greg Grunberg was raised Jewish

How can the discrepancy be explained? Young Greg began to see the benefits of leading a double life when he started dating. While he was attracted to Jewish girls, the “shiksas” or gentile women always excited him in ways he could not understand. Thanks to his Kevin Smith identity, Greg was able to swim in Catholic lady ponds whenever he felt the urge.

Those are just the basics. The “Grunberg-Smith” theory is much more extensive in scope and detail. The TL;DR version is simple: Using a strategic combination of body doubles, mirror work, and travels to and from opposite coasts, Greg Grunberg has been living a double life for over four decades. A truly masterful troll. It’s no coincidence he’s BFFs with Mr. Mystery Box. The two are in cahoots and cover for each other whenever possible. We’ve heard JJ even has a body suit that enables him to become “Kevin Smith” whenever Grunberg is unable to be on the East Coast.

The effect is so good, it’s hard to tell whether it’s Grunberg-Smith or Abrams-Smith in certain photos of Kevin Smith. The practical joke-loving bros have even managed to pull the wool over Grunberg-Smith’s families for years. Recently his “Smith” daughter Harley Quinn successfully pointed out her Uber driver was not the man he was supposed to be. But even her eagle eyes can’t tell Grunberg-Smith apart from Abrams-Smith. We reached out to Ms. Quinn via Twitter to see if she knew of the “Grunberg-Smith” theory, but she claimed to have “never even heard of Greg whoever.”

Conspiracy theorists also claim Grunberg and Smith are rarely photographed together. And the few photos of the “two” that do exist are very suspect. High-level geeks argue you can see faint seams within the images, telltale signs they have been photoshopped.

All of this is speculation of course. Still, it does make you wonder how Grunberg-Smith will portray two personas at the same time on Geeking Out. Will Grunberg-Smith resort to judiciously-placed split screens, body doubles, or mirrors and slight CG trickery?

Come July we’ll find out together when Geeking Out premieres with an episode focused on San Diego Comic-Con. According to AMC, the show will be a combination of clips, celebrity interviews, and segments filmed outside the studio. We’re hoping Grunberg-Smith covers Jake Lloyd’s SDCC Parking Lot Experience, because anyone who attended his Parking Lot Celebration last year will agree: Anakin always delivers!

That’s all for now, but we leave you with a very telling quote from Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV:

“Kevin and Greg are both true fans of this content, and are singleminded about engaging other fans who share their deep passion. But it is their natural chemistry as hosts that really brings it all together.”

What do you think of the “Grunberg-Smith” theory? Do you believe it or is it hogwash? Are there any other high-profile fakers out there on the level of Michael-Janet Jackson? Let us know in the comments or on our new messageboards!

-William Bobo