The Soup

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For the Seinfeld episode, see The Soup (Seinfeld episode)
The Soup
Image:The Soup.jpg
The 'set' of The Soup with Joel McHale
Genre Comedy
Running time 22 Minutes
Creator(s) E!
Starring Joel McHale
Lou the Chihuahua
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Original channel E!
Original run July 1, 2004–
No. of episodes 104
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television series. This is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and reality show moments of the week with host and co-writer Joel McHale providing sarcastic and biting commentary on the various clips.

Contents

[edit] Format

The program was originally The What The? Awards prior to the name change, but was quickly reformatted, renamed and refocused (after four episodes) after receiving low ratings and unflattering comparisons to VH1's competing Best Week Ever.[1][2][3][4][5]

The shows have some similarities, but The Soup has managed to create its own unique niche with the one-host format and use of skits to skewer pop culture, along with the ability of the show to make fun of shows on its own network such as The Girls Next Door, Gastineau Girls and Taradise, while promoting them at the same time. One of Joel's favorite quotes is, "It's not A&E. It's just E!"

The show also uses frequent ad-libbing. Several times, McHale admits they doctored or edited a clip, saying the confession is "so we don't get sued."

[edit] Setting

Lou auditions for American Idol
Enlarge
Lou auditions for American Idol

The studio audience consists of a small group of E! employees, and family/friends thereof, along with the typical production personnel. The clips are introduced by McHale on a green screen set with a 'plasma screen' and 'window' overlooking Hollywood, but the crew will often laugh along at the clips and McHale's comments and cheer whenever a favorite segment/clip is shown. Also joining Joel occasionally is a chihuahua named Lou, used in skits and to add a cute touch to the show, and to also make fun of Paris Hilton's lazy petkeeping habits. As another connection to the show's past, former Talk Soup stage manager and comic foil Tom McNamara also works on The Soup in the same two roles. A female and male staff announcer also have occasional on-camera roles beyond their voiceover work for the show.

[edit] Regular features

  • A satirical look at Hollywood and celebrity news from the past week starts out the show, with commentary by McHale and jokes involving the subjects of the news. McHale ends the segment by yelling out "You're in 'The Soup' now!"

[edit] Chat Stew

  • "Chat Stew" shows clips from various talk shows with equal comments, usually with a joke involving how self-obsessed Tyra Banks is about herself on America's Next Top Model and her self-titled talk show, and something about Dr. Phil. The segment's name is a play off of the show's inspiration, Talk Soup, and is introduced with a CGI Crock Pot filled with talk show logos and host heads, while a woman voices about the "stew" being "so meaty!" McHale has voiced his embarrassment over the intro several times. Also regular fodder for the segment are Oprah, and The View.

[edit] Cybersmack

[edit] The Hollywood Access Extra Inside Entertainment Report

  • The "Hollywood Access Extra Inside Entertainment Report" reviews the week in infotainment shows such as Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Extra and The Insider, with Insider host Pat O'Brien usually the target of many jokes. The intro to the segment is a mash of all the logos of the shows listed in the title. Eventually, McHale started lackadaisically saying the names and often replacing some of the title with his own writing, such as calling it "'Extra Access Report' La-De-Dah Gaylord Perry On The Mound For The Mariners." But, as of September 8, 2006, instead of McHale saying the names and replacing it with his own writing, a female voice has (poorly) sung the title for the segment. McHale once wondered if the producers had hired a banshee.

[edit] Cruise Watch

  • Tom Cruise has been poked fun at regularly since the summer of 2005 with "Cruise Watch" looking at some of his antics on talk shows and interviews. The introduction shows Cruise on various shows, ending with him at the 2005 BET Awards show calling out "Much love!" On the November 17th episode, the Soup debuted "version 2.0" with a new intro of images on a golden background, ending with Cruise yelling to a crowd "See you in Harlem!"

[edit] Celebrity Hook-Up Name Generator

  • When news comes of a new celebrity couple, McHale will pull out the Celebrity Hook-Up Name Generator which will mash the two star's names to form a new one, often quite silly. (For example, Lost stars Dominic Monaghan and Evangeline Lilly's name was "Dolly Llama" and Michael Bolton and Nicolette Sheridan were given the name of "Bol-Shid".)

[edit] Chicks, Man

  • "Chicks, Man" focuses on female celebrity news, with the segment's logo being a photo of baby chicks, followed by recording of one of the writers saying "Chicks, Man!" in a laid-back voice. A recent off-shoot is "'Oprah, Girlfriend," which looks at Oprah Winfrey with McHale again announcing the title. A clip of Ryan Seacrest from the 103'd episode is used now, with him saying "Chicks, Man!" in a laid-back fashion. As with most of the new intros, McHale does not like his E! stablemate introducing the segment.

[edit] Big-Time Celebrity Guest Star!

  • One of the most recent segments incorporated is having a Big Time Celebrity Guest Star! appear on the show, usually minor ones such as one of the stars of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. The appearances usually involve the stars mocking themselves.

[edit] Reality Show Clip Time!

  • At the mid-point, the show will feature "Reality Show Clip Time!" where clips from various reality shows are played with McHale adding comedic comments. At one point in the above, a clip will usually run from Iron Chef America where the secret ingredient is shown, the crew cheering at the way it's announced in a loud manner.

[edit] Let's Take Some E!

  • "Let's Take Some E!" is an offshoot of 'Reality Show Clip Time' focusing on E! shows such as The Simple Life and The Girls Next Door, while "grudgingly fulfilling my contractual obligation to promote these shows", as McHale has pointed out. The animation and McHale's comments about the opening sequence are based on the drug Ecstasy and rave culture.

[edit] Local Newsbreak

  • "Local Newsbreak", a relatively new feature, is basically explained in the title; this segment features clips from local news shows stationed in Los Angeles, California, where the show is filmed[6].

[edit] Souper Fantastic Ultra Wish Time!

  • "Souper Fantastic Ultra Wish Time" features wild clips from Japanese television. The introduction has an anime-style image of McHale. So far, there have been four or so showings of this segment, the first having a clip from a Japanese game show where the contestant had to look really close to a butt, (The start of the clip saw the butt censored out, but the next near showing , they censored it with a The Soup Logo) the second showed a clip which McHale describes as "How to stay safe and keep fit at the same time", ending with three women (on the set) saying in rhythm to the song (was repeated three times):
   
“
 "What the hell was that?"
   
”

The third showed a "tweaked version" of last week's clip, and a more recent airing (on September 10, 2006) involved two clips; a candy bar commercial starring a scantily-clad, well-endowed Japanese woman, and a talk show 'hosted' by a monkey.

[edit] Tales from Home Shopping

  • "Tales from Home Shopping", a segment where something non-sensical from QVC or HSN is shown and commented on by McHale, mostly involving Suzanne Somers' various statements on HSN.

[edit] Most Disturbing Video of the Week

  • "Most Disturbing Video of the Week," which is what The Soup staff consider to be the oddest clip that's been shown on television for the past week.

[edit] What the Kids are Watching

  • "What the Kids are Watching" showcases disturbing clips from children's shows, particularly 4Kids TV's Bratz series based on the doll line, as well as commercials aimed at kids. The sequence introducing the segment with a screaming claymation child was called even more disturbing by McHale than the "Chat Stew" intro. The segment sometimes includes daytime talk-show clips the producers feel would be disturbing for children to have seen while "surfing channels" in the afternoon.

[edit] What the Old People are Watching

[edit] What Your Boyfriend Is Looking At

  • The most recent feature to be featured on The Soup, this segment showcases clips from shows that young males will be interested in. So far, this segment has primarily aired clips from only one show, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, mostly due to the attractiveness of the competing girls.

[edit] Ad Nauseum

[edit] The Kick Ass Clip of the Week

  • "The Clip of the Week", which is what the Soup staff consider to be the best, or worst depending on the viewer's opinion, clip that's been shown on TV that past week. A video with Lou being "neutered" ("clipped") by Joel in full surgical gear introduces the segment.

[edit] Fake polls and commercials

  • Fake polls are flashed after the end of commercial breaks, with sensical answers to start out with and a satirical majority or minority factoid at the end of the segment.
  • During the commercial breaks, fake commercials are shown, such as the track listing from Kevin Federline's upcoming rap album, featuring phony track titles such as "Pope John Pao" and "Ppp Ppp Ppp."

[edit] One-shot Features

  • Sometimes, the show will introduce a "new feature" that will only appear once on the show and never be heard from again. A couple of examples are "Milk Milk Lemonade", a collection of clips featuring thinly-veiled innuendos, and "Oh, Dear!", where an off-screen female voice saying that will be heard after Joel describes a particularly embarrassing celebrity moment (such as British musician George Michael leaving a sexual escapade in a bush with an elderly gentleman).

[edit] Regular Features and Gags

[edit] Seattle references

  • Affectionate mentions of Seattle by McHale are sometimes made (including a "Go Seahawks!" shout-out during their Super Bowl run, and a mention that he subscribes to the King County Review of Books), as Seattle is his hometown, and where he started out his comedy career as a cast member on KING-TV's local comedy show, Almost Live!

[edit] Kong Monkeys

  • One regular gag was the Kong Monkeys, which were usually dressed in costumes from recent movies, more recently they included Brokeback Mountain and Memoirs of a Geisha. These films were called Brokeback Kong and Memoirs of a Geisha Kong, in a "cross-promotion" with King Kong. When Brokeback Mountain lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to Crash, McHale announced an official end to all Brokeback jokes and retired the monkey via gunshot.

[edit] Ryan Seacrest

  • Since early 2006, McHale has made fun of Ryan Seacrest being hired on E! McHale will regularly show clips of Seacrest's E! appearances, making fun of his comments and wardrobe. One clip showed McHale and Seacrest together at the 2006 Emmy Awards, Seacrest visibly stepping on a platform to get on equal footing with McHale. "Here's the scary part," McHale commented. "I'm five foot-three." (in reality, McHale is 6"1').

[edit] Little Gay

  • Starting in September, 2006, if someone said "that's a little gay" following a clip being played, McHale would then respond "No, THIS is a Little Gay!" He would hold out his palm and a small man would appear and act in a stereotypical way.

[edit] Hamwinkies

  • A fictional product called Hamwinkies, which consists of a Twinkie stuffed with a slice of smoked ham, covered with chocolate, and then deep fried, has made appearances on the show as of late. The box art for the product is modified from the Twinkies packaging, with the name Mostess replacing Hostess, and a contented cartoon pig resting atop of a chocolate-covered Hamwinkie. An 'ad' for the product (which had the highest production values in the show's history, according to Joel) noted that this unique treat was "Britney-approved!" and Joel has eaten Hamwinkies on camera several times.

[edit] "Kiss my ass!" Clip

  • "Kiss my ass!" Clip - Among the many clips that have been shown, one has become a regular gag: A clip from Being Bobby Brown. The events leading up to the clip involve Bobby Brown accusing George W. Bush of being a terrorist, with Whitney Houston strongly opposing him. Bobby Brown states that
   
“
 I've been to jail before, and that's American!
   
”

which leads to the clip, which shows Whitney's reply of

   
“
 Kiss my ass!
   
”

The clip popped up in nearly every episode for the rest of 2005, always to a loud ovation, with McHale at one point calling it "the 'Hey Jude' of clips." On the special year-end Clipdown '05, it was named the number one clip of 2005. At the end of that clip, Elmo is seen saying,

   
“
 Elmo says (voice changes to Whitney's) kiss my ass!
   
”

After a long absence, the clip was used in August 2006 to mark Houston's 43rd birthday and on a later broadcast discussing the rumor that Osama bin Laden wanted to make Houston one of his wives. The clip was also recently used as part of a montage of favorite Whitney and Bobby moments, (With only one other clip being used) following the announcement that Whitney had filed for divorce. The clip has also been used when covering the Michael Richards racial outburst, when Joel said

   
“
 When asked for comment, they (black people) had this to say.
   
”

following with the clip.

[edit] Sci-Fi Channel

  • The show frequently discusses Sci-Fi Channel's original movies with McHale mocking the cheap special effects and bad acting involved.

[edit] Spanish language television

  • At one point in the 2005 season, clips and re-enactments of scenes from popular Mexican telenovela La madrastra were featured weekly. In 2006, this was re-introduced with Peregrina taking the place of La Madrastra, mainly because the latter had finished its run. With Peregrina's recent demise, The Soup has shifted its gaze to what McHale calls "the most evil practical-joke show in the world": Infarto. Also, a new telenovela (Mi Vida Eres Tú) has had a scene featured as a Clip of the Week, namely a poorly-done special effects scene involving a teddy bear with a bomb in it.

[edit] Muppets

   
“
 George Bush doesn't care about Muppets!
   
”

This treatment was also given to Kermit the Frog when he guest-hosted Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where the dubbed Muppet insinuated that Ty Pennington was eaten by Miss Piggy, that he was eyeing up a high school's female basketball team sexually (saying he gets older but their age stays the same), and was about to commit contractor fraud by moving money in the show's construction budget elsewhere so he could "clear a cool $50,000."

[edit] Iron Chef America

  • McHale makes references to the "Food Network"'s TV show "Iron Chef America". McHale plays upon the over exaggerated introduction of the secret ingredient at the beginning of each episode

[edit] The "Indestructable" Cheerleader

  • After being infatuated with Claire Bennet from Heroes, Joel decides to hire an "indestructable cheerleader" of their own and harm her with various weapons. She is, in fact, a cheerleader, but unfortunately, this one isn't indestructable (her first appearance involved her getting "cut" with a chainsaw, albeit with her being offscreen, and her second saw her having one arm missing). Each time, she has protested
   
“
 Joel, I'm telling you, i'm not indestructable! But I am a cheerleader!
   
”

[edit] Katie Holmes

  • Another running gag is from a two-second clip of Katie Holmes saying "Sure!" in a close-up (used to mock her indoctrination into Scientology with the monotonic sound of her voice), with McHale asking her questions that make no sense in contrast to the original interview, or are contrary to her relationship with Tom Cruise. For example in answer to the allegations Cruise bought a sonogram machine to monitor his unborn child, McHale 'asks' if she doesn't mind the child being exposed to radiation. The answer to every question asked is always "Sure!"

[edit] Heather Mills' publicist (PT Cruiser Incident)

  • A recent running gag is from a clip of Paul McCartney's former wife, Heather Mills' publicist deflecting claims that she was a golddigger. The highlight of the clip is when the heavily accented publicist claims she has an allowance and drives a PT Cruiser, and not a luxury car as most celebrity wives would drive. McHale would use it when stories of the couple's divorce would appear, or in random spots.
  • On one incident, a fast- paced mashup of the publicist and Barabra Walters was shown briefly at the start of one episode. Barbara was describing Star Jones' leave from the View, saying "She gave us no warning." The clips got faster and faster until reaching its peak refrain of "Warning cruiser. Warning cruiser. Warning cruiser." McHale stopped the clip and, referencing the accents yelled, "Can we PLEASE work on our 'Rs'?! You're in the Soup now!"

[edit] Hypno-Harry

  • A puppet named Hypno Harry, a recurring character, was introduced in a "What the Kids Are Watching" segment, where the controversial new DVD-only spin-off of Sesame Street, Sesame Beginnings was mocked for targeting merchandise to preschool children. In one (partially edited) clip of the DVD, Hypno Harry tried to hypnotize children into buying nothing but Sesame Street products, convincing them their parents do not love them when they [the parents] said no, then said not to watch Bratz because "they are whores." Later, he tried to convince McHale and the audience that Taradise was an Emmy-worthy program and to "watch The Daily 10, it's informative!" and in a subsequent episode was Denise Richards' divorce attorney, trying to hypnotize the public into not believing Charlie Sheen.

[edit] Edited Clips

  • Occasionally, whenever "The Soup" plays a clip from a show that contains easily-disliked characters, they edit the clip so that the characters "die" in some way (although the fact that they're edited is usually noticeable). A couple examples include two characters from Laguna Beach's second season finale being ran over by a bus, and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition's Ty Pennington being flattened by a partially raised house that he's underneath. These aren't the only times when obviously edited clips are featured on the show; sometimes, Joel and/or another cast member will make an "appearance" in other shows thanks to this technique.

[edit] Entertainment Tonight's birthday segment

  • Before the first commercial break, the show parodies Entertainment Tonight's birthday segment, along with the trivia segment of various shows which end with 'the answer after the break', with some nonsense question like
   
“
 What famous musician auditioned for Wife Swap three times before learning what the show is really about?
   
”

that mocks a current celebrity, usually Paris Hilton, and an odd silhouette to disguise the celebrity's identity. The question is never answered after the break. On one occasion, an answer to the previous week's question was shown, which read:

   
“
 9 shots of tequila, a kinkajou, and you thought she was Mary-Kate Olsen.
   
”

It has also parodied ET's birthday segment, only instead of a real celebrity, it's usually an obscure extra from a forgettable movie. For example:

   
“
 Celebrating a birthday today, 'Girl On Bus' from Police Academy 4 is 37.
   
”

But, recently it has parodied real celebrities' birthdays, with a female voice (similar to the one who did the original ET birthday segment parodies) announcing the name of the celebrity whose birthday is on that day or in that week and stating his/her age and also saying some sly comment about his/her age or his/her personality like for example:

   
“
 Kim Cattrall turns 50 today. So, no more old sex jokes, okay!
   
”

[edit] The Paris and Nicole Debt Reduction Drive

  • In December 2005, the show began the Paris and Nicole Debt Reduction Drive where, to offset the cost of having The Simple Life on E!, McHale would auction off actual interview clips from the E! archives on eBay; examples include a Pauly Shore interview from an early 1990s press junket, and a Full House interview with Jodie Sweetin (Bob Saget was thrown in as a 'bonus'). In the first new episode of 2006, McHale announced the drive was being ended (after taking in $396.50) so they could begin the Pass the Hat for Ryan Seacrest Fund, a similar auction to "balance the cost" of bringing Seacrest to E!

[edit] Tony Danza

  • During the latter half of 2005, the show would poke a lot of fun at Tony Danza and his poor talk show skills. Most notable was a segment entitled "Danzitions" where Danza's awkward topic transitions were highlighted. However, in March 2006, when it was announced Danza's show was going off the air, a suddenly contrite McHale (who admitted they needed something to make fun of) began the Save Danza from Cancellation Fund, where clips of Danza from the E! archives were put up on eBay.


[edit] McHale Mocking Himself

To show how good a sport he is, McHale has not been above poking fun at his own appearances on TV, such as a guest spot on "CSI: Miami" or talk shows. During Star Jackson's feud with "The View," McHale was brought in for a TV show talking about it under the title "Star Wars" and thus came on camera dressed in a Darth Vader helmet ("Yes, my big chance at a television appearance and I resort to prop comedy."). Also, when "Dateline" did an interview with Madonna, they used a "Soup" clip as an example of how the media "villified" Madonna for her adoption of an African child. McHale sarcastically thanked "Dateline" for "giving us more promotion than our own network."

[edit] The What The? Awards Recaps

  1. ^ The "What The?" Awards: Episode One
  2. ^ The "What The?" Awards: Episode Two
  3. ^ The "What The?" Awards: Episode Three
  4. ^ The "What The?" Awards: Episode Four
  5. ^ TWoP Forums _ Pop Culture Shows _ The Soup (aka E! What The ? Awards)
  6. ^ [1]

[edit] External links

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