The Soup


The Soup is an American television series that aired weekly on E! from July 1, 2004, until December 18, 2015 as a revamped version of Talk Soup that focused on recaps of various popular culture and television moments of the week. The show was hosted by comedian Joel McHale, who provided sarcastic and satirical commentary on the various clips. On November 18, 2015, The Soup was cancelled by E! and its last episode aired December 18, 2015. On February 18, 2018, The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale, a spiritual successor to The Soup, premiered on Netflix.
The series returned on February 12, 2020, with new host Jade Catta-Preta.

History

The Soup started on July 1, 2004 as the "What The...? Awards", but the name was changed to maintain name recognition with Talk Soup.
On January 9, 2013, The Soup debuted a new graphics package, including a new logo designed by Newspeak Agency.
Starting June 2, 2014, The Soup began airing live episodes. Originally only to last for one month, the program continued as a live show.
On November 18, 2015 The Soup was canceled, the number of episodes that were to be produced was later reduced by one. A decision was made not to air the episode that had been filmed and intended to air the same day as the November 2015 Paris attacks due to multiple references to "killing Baby Hitler". As the episode was pre-filmed, it later aired on November 27, likely replacing a clip show due to it being the day after Thanksgiving.
On January 9, 2020, it was revealed E! would be reviving The Soup, now hosted by Jade Catta-Pretathe first new episode aired on February 12, 2020. It went on an unexpected hiatus after the March 11 episode due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down production across the industry.

Format

The show features the host on a green-screened set with a screen to their right. The show is broken up into various segments that focus on themes such as reality television shows or shows on E!. The host introduces each clip, which is then played, then comments on the clip before moving on to the next one. There is a live audience on the show, composed of a small group of E! employees, their family, and friends, along with the typical production personnel. The audience is involved in the show, laughing and cheering along with the clips. The 2020 revival includes a second camera position stage right, where the host can present other content on a second auxiliary video display.
Although the show is scripted, a large portion of it is ad-libbed.
On April 22, 2008, a blog was started for The Soup on E!'s website.

Regular characters

During its original 2004–2015 run, The Soup used its own cast of recurring characters. They include Mankini, a dancing maxi pad, two nerds who dress as Star Wars characters, an intern named Matt whom McHale shoots with a gun, Jewbacca, and "Spaghetti Cat", a cat eating spaghetti from The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. Additionally, Tom McNamara, The Soup's stage manager and former stage manager on Talk Soup, and Kelly Levy, the show's former announcer and a producer, made appearances on the show, with Kelly portraying Courtney Stodden. Executive producer Edward Boyd's chihuahua Lou appeared regularly in segment openings, most notably the "Clip of the Week", and elsewhere in the show. He also appeared with McHale at the show's intro, which showed them watching a different TV show each week until the intro was changed in early 2010. The replacement intro juxtaposes brief clips introduced by announcer Anndi McAfee and a "reaction" by another clip, wildly out of context.

Regular features

2004–2015 episodes

The show has a number of segments that focus on various genres of television shows. Regular segments include:
The Soup has also featured other recurring segments:

2004–2015 episodes

The show has a number of recurring jokes and segments. One of the most frequent jokes is Joel McHale making fun of Ryan Seacrest. He usually comments on Seacrest's height, sexuality, clothing, busy work schedule, income, or demeanor.
Joel has also spoofed other actors, most notably ' leading man David Caruso, who plays Lieutenant Horatio Caine. He usually makes fun of the character's tendency to always put on his sunglasses and say corny one-liners at the start of every episode. Joel also will sometimes spoof a person after a clip.
Joel also jokes about how self-centered Tyra Banks is on her self-titled talk show. More jokes are Joel making fun of Spencer Pratt's "creepy flesh colored beard" as well as the ages of Larry King and Regis Philbin and how they are still alive. Also, McHale often comically berates or abuses "interns" for the show, usually ending with a poorly timed audio clip of a gun firing after McHale uses a prop gun on them. McHale has often attempted to "shoot" Mankini, but with no effect.
The Spaghetti Cat from The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet has been used a number of times, usually with a model of the cat rolling in, looking at Joel, and then rolling back out.
Joel has often made fun of Bruno Tonioli's flamboyancy while giving comments on Dancing with the Stars stating that he was reading excerpts from his romance novel Jazz Hands and Cold Feet.
The Soup makes jokes at the A&E TV Series, '. Whenever Joel would introduce a clip from the show, a sound clip would say "That's Right It's Steven Seagal", followed by Joel drinking a Steven Seagal energy drink that would humorously float into frame.
Due to NFL Coach Jimmy Johnson's recent appearance on , Joel usually mentions his "Extenze-enhanced penis", followed by a clip of Johnson saying, "I do."

Clips

A number of clips have been repeatedly shown on The Soup. One clip features Oprah Winfrey saying "My va-jay-jay is painin'!" while hanging from a harness at the Miraval resort. Another clip involves Whitney Houston yelling "Kiss My Ass!" at her husband. McHale has mentioned that this clip is one of his favorites. Still another clip that is often shown is of The Today Show's news correspondent Ann Curry starting her report by saying, "Good morning, good morning everybody, in the news this morning, good morning", which Olbermann mimicked on his appearance on the July 25, 2008 show. Joel often shows a clip of Kendra Wilkinson from The Girls Next Door laughing. When someone mentions marriage on the show, they will often show a clip of Elizabeth Taylor screaming "Marriage?! Noooooo!" Shorter clips are sometimes used as interjections. Clips of Danny Noriega, and more recently, Tatiana Del Toro giggling uncontrollably, have been used as part of McHale's reactions to clips. Recent favorites include Gary Busey exclaiming "I'm going to pull your endocrine system out of your body", Tila Tequila yelling out "A pig's vagina!", Michelle Galdenzi from Scream Queens saying "and by record, I mean vagina.", Big Brother contestants Jase Wirey and Michelle Costa "talking" to one another using animal and computer sounds, respectively; "Chicken Tetrazzini" clip from Maury, Spencer Pratt from The Hills whispering "That's the problem", Billy Bush saying "It's Gross", and Kate Gosselin squealing in a chirpy/grating-sounding voice "Come and Getcher POPcoooooorn!". Recently, the Jeffrey Osborne song, "On the Wings of Love", has been used to mock the current season of The Bachelor. Vonda, a woman featured on the TruTv show Over the Limit has been featured saying, "Dunka Doo Balls." This clip has become a new favorite. Recently, a clip from Fantasia for Real featuring Fantasia's Aunt Bunny saying, "Gurl Please", has become a new favorite. Also, a clip of "Ma" from TruTV's Ma's Roadhouse saying "He's a douchebag," after Joel ask what she thinks of a less than favourable man, such as Mel Gibson, has come into use. Another clip of Ryan Seacrest saying, "Hell no, say what", has been used as reactions to clips. Calvin Tran, a contestant on Bravo's The Fashion Show, has recently been featured in a clip saying, "Oh, here go Hell Come." Frequently following Good Day New York clips, McHale will ask Greg Kelly to explain how something works, and this will follow with a clip of Kelly shrugging and saying, "Science".

Edited clips

The Soup will often make blatant and obvious edits to clips of shows, often killing off characters or splicing McHale and other characters into the shows. McHale will often punctuate the clip by saying "We doctored that." However, if a clip was shown that may have made the audience think that it was edited by The Soup for broadcast while watching it, McHale would state before hand "We did not doctor this."

Original content

Original skits are integrated into the show as responses or jokes to clips. Fake movie trailers and advertisements are created as spoofs to segments or clips. Among the movies spoofed are Spider-Man 3, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Made of Honor, Righteous Kill, Mamma Mia, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Quarantine,, Prom Night, Fast & Furious, and a Tyler Perry movie.

2020–present episodes

, the revived series has only aired two episodes, so "Recurring" is not yet a certainty.

International broadcasts

2004–2015 episodes

In addition to regular episodes, special "Best of..." episodes from the 2004–2015 run have been shown under the header "The Soup Presents". Episodes of this nature have been produced on topics such as models and modeling shows, fights on television, and talk shows, two "Chicks, Man/Ladies, Ladies, Ladies" specials focusing on reality TV females, a show about love and marriage called "Love and Other Burning Sensations", and most recently, a show dedicated to television programs that have had recurring appearances on The Soup. During the holiday seasons, two-part episodes showcasing the best clips of the year are aired.

Reception

In 2004, The Soup started off as a relatively quiet show, but became one of the most popular programs on E!. By 2006 it was the third highest rated show on the network.
In July 2013, The Soup averaged 682,000 viewers, and about 56 percent of viewers watch a recorded version of the show. The 500th episode of The Soup recorded 909,000 viewers, with 653,000 of those in the 18—49 demographic.
The one-hour finale on December 18, 2015 ended with 561,000 viewers.

Other versions

Since E! is owned by Comcast Entertainment Group, their now-defunct sibling networks aired tailored versions for their networks, including Style, Versus and G4, all taped in the same studio and utilizing the same crew.

''The Dish''

On August 16, 2008, Style premiered The Dish, hosted by Danielle Fishel. The show focused more on celebrity, magazine, and fashion industry trends, along with style and fashion-related reality programs in more detail, including Project Runway and various shows on the shopping channels, HGTV and DIY Network. It was canceled on March 20, 2011, two months after the merger of NBC and Comcast was complete. It was thought the cancellation was the direct result of former competitors Bravo and Oxygen coming under common NBCUniversal ownership with Style; the two networks and their programming had been among the major comedic targets of The Dish.

''Sports Soup''

On September 15, 2008, E! parent Comcast Entertainment Group announced another spin-off, this time sports-related, of the series, which aired on the group's sports network, Versus, called Sports Soup and was hosted by Matt Iseman. Debuted on October 14, the program once aired twice weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Later, production was reduced to weekly at 10 pm ET on Tuesdays. It was canceled on July 15, 2010.

''Web Soup''

A third version, airing on G4, titled Web Soup, hosted by Chris Hardwick debuted June 7, 2009 at 9 pm ET. This version is more of a blend of the commentary and reaction portions of The Soup and two other G4 programs; Whacked Out Videos and the Around the Net viral video segment which opens Attack of the Show. This show ended after its 3rd season on July 20, 2011.

''Celebrity Soup''

Celebrity Soup was the British version of the American show hosted by comedian Iain Lee. Unlike The Soup, Celebrity Soup airs 19 episodes in a season, instead of year-round like in the United States. It had some of the same features as the original, but also has its own running gags and features. The series had a similar set, with a window overlooking London's Big Ben instead of Hollywood, as in the U.S. original.

''The Soup Investigates''

The Soup Investigates featured most of the same crew, including Joel McHale as the host. In the spin-off, the reporters go looking for potentially funny celebrity news stories. It is a spoof of investigative journalism.