For twelve seasons, actor and presenter Joel McHale supplied sarcastic quips and consistent giggles on his E! channel comedy series "The Soup", itself a revamped spin-off of the network's prior franchise "Talk Soup." With his trademark sardonic charm, McHale lampooned and poked fun at popular culture, taking a specific aim at television and news media. And it was a fantastic bit of low-budget and even lower-brow fun with a simple format- show some clips and crack some jokes. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and "The Soup" was cancelled during the 2015 Holiday season.
Or was it?
Well, yeah. It was. But that didn't stop good-old streaming empire Netflix from digging it up, dusting it off and giving it a fresh new spit-and-polish. While it technically can't go by its classic name, "The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale" is for all intents and purposes a reboot of the beloved cult comedy series, boasting a near-identical format and even much of the original crew behind the scenes. And the result is a refreshing bit of fun for all fans who were hoping for another hearty helping of 'soup.'
With a slightly (and I do mean "slightly") boosted budget, McHale and his merry crew are once again showing us the best of the worst that the entertainment world has to offer, giving us clips from everything from television reality shows to sporting events to viral internet videos, and playfully poking fun at just how silly it really is. Mixed in with dopey skits, themed segments ("Sports Segment... brought to you by... BEVERAGES!") and other assorted goofiness, "The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale" is just about everything a fan of "The Soup" could want. Heck, the pilot even had a mini-impromptu "Community" reunion to boot, which was a nice treat for fans of McHale's other famous comedy series! (Side Note: Netflix, you already have about half the cast in your employ... make "Community" the next show you revive, please!)
Now all that being said, there is definitely going to be a bit of a transition. And I can already see the unease in the early reviews here that are lambasting the show for its faults. It's been a couple years, guys. Don't dismiss the show due to a slightly rough-around-the-edges pilot. McHale and the writers are clearly getting back into the swing of things, and you can already tell they're all having a blast and that it's gonna get better and better as it goes along. A few mistimed gags in the first episode aren't enough to derail the whole experience. As a longtime fan of both McHale and "The Soup", I had an absolute blast with "The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale", and I'll definitely be tuning in every week to see what they have up their sleeves next.
I'm giving "The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale" a very good 8 out of 10. It has plenty of laughs to go around, and I can't wait to see the next episode.
(Note: This review may be updated in the future based on the strengths and weaknesses of future episodes.)
