The Soup

Sam and me watch this show and it is hysterical. Joel McHale (the host of the soup) is Hilarius. Jewbacca is funny. Bikini man is Hilarius. Whats funny that Jewbacca talks about two wookies sitting in a deli. Whats cute that they show Gina Ds kids club show. A video of Tyra Banks was a total idiot. Kelly Andrews as Ripsi was cute. Whats also Hilarius that Jewbacca gives Joel McHale (the host of the soup) the cup and when Chewbacca was in jail in Hollywood California. Jewbacca looks like a yourkish Chewbacca. Joel McHale's dog was cute in The Soup. This show is Hilarius you will like the characters there are so Hilarius except of Tyra Banks video those are stupid. This show is on E but not on schedule if you want to watch the clips on the soup look up you tube.

The Soup has become one of those nifty little pleasures of cable TV for me recently. To say that it's a guilty pleasure might be a little hard to say, as it is basically just a summary of all of the weird, crazy, delirious, whatever-you-call-it, and plain bad and near offensive TV of the past week. So to say it's a guilty pleasure would mean that it's sort of wrong on a level to watch the show, hard to admit. But the whole program is like a full-on pop culture version with a little more goofiness of what the Daily Show does in its first eight or nine minutes of reviewing clips. It's satire, though of a fairly low denomination where very cheap graphics, sometimes lame jokes, and lots of tongue placed in as many firm cheeks as possible end up squeezing out jokes. It's hosted by Joel McHale in a very smarmy, sarcastic manner, but he makes it work for what it's worth, and one becomes sort of adjusted to what his shtick is after a while.

Ironically, McHale has his work cut out for him, because the clips are sometimes very funny on their own, without really a word or gesture or gag to add to it. Reality Show clip-time, Chat Stew ("so meaty"), What the Kids Are Watching, and Clip of the Week are among the regulars, and in this dire swamp of pop culture and other TV- sometimes stretching to international lengths with Spanish soap operas and inexplicable Japanese shows- is never-ending. If anything as time goes on, there's almost too much to choose from. There are new categories created each week by McHale and his writers, two of them being funny by themselves in just having no other choice but to make fun of where the Soup itself broadcasts from- the E network (Lets Take Some E! is one new segment, as well as a whole list of those un-Godly tabloid TV shows like E.T. and Access Hollywood). It's basically a fun way to spend half an hour on a Friday night or Saturday morning, and as someone who doesn't really watch much TV and tries, sometimes without success, to avoid bad TV even when it's ironically good or horrific celebrities and people on reality shows I shouldn't give a damn about, it's a great little treat.

"The Soup" provided a window into the trash-strewn world of television on a weekly basis, guilt-free. That's one of the (many) reasons I tuned in each week. Just the morbid fascination with the awfulness being peddled by major networks on a regular basis. The only way you can watch any reality TV is with someone viciously making fun of it, and Joel McHale was the perfect host. He had just the right balance of snark and likability to make the circus funny.

And I love the running gags; Mankini, Lou the Chihuahua, Whitney Houston's "KISSMYASS!", spaghetti cat, all of them. McHale's doesn't really need pity (he'll do fine), it's the writers and interns you have to feel bad for. They came up with some damn good material, week after week (all the while making their host look good). And you've gotta love a staff that so joyously lampoons their employers.

I give this show immense credit for completely differentiating itself from "Talk Soup" (apples and oranges, really), not to mention all of the knock-offs that came afterword (Web Junk, Web Soup, Tosh.0, yadda yadda yadda). It was something special, and it will indeed be missed.

10/10

In my opinion, this is a good sketch talk show. I enjoy seeing Joel McHale as the host. There are many reasons why I said that. One of the most hilarious things about this show is when Joel McHale pokes fun at or makes fun of other celebrities. If you ask me, Lou the Chihuahua is funny, too. Everything about this show makes me smile and laugh when I watch it. I especially enjoy watching it with friends and family. Before I wrap this up, I must say that I hope that this show will be on E! for many more years to come. Now, in conclusion, I highly recommend this show to all you die-hard sketch talk show fans. You will really enjoy it.

In an age where the Kardashians are revered and not reviled as they should be, a show like The Soup can make me feel that I am not the only one watching the horror show that is modern pop culture melting and devolving further and further into a sinking abyss of despair. Through Joel Mchale and staff's wit and irony they were able to somehow make this bitter pill more palatable and made it seem, well not so terrible. We as the audience felt a part of the mockery and could all laugh together and it seemed like those shows were made just for us Soup fans so we had something to laugh at. The honey boo boos and Duck Dynastys, RuPauls Drag Races and psychic whatevers , Ghost Hunting BS-ers and Finding Bigfoots et al could be hilarious and not horrifying. Now without Joel's charm and all the brilliant guest appearances (Lucy Lawless, Mankini and a paint roller full of cheese for one), bizarre regular characters (dancing maxi-Pad and the brilliant parody of Kim Fields) and sometimes even Shakespearean level (through sheer effort alone if anything) skits, E will degenerate into a steaming pile of garish reality, fashion criticisms and embarrassing red carpet interview shows without irony and without the channels' self-mockery provided by The Soup, there is just despair that anyone will really want to view these shows without the reasoning that they will be in on it when The Soup mocks them weekly.

I am deeply saddened. I have been watching The Soup for a long time. I became a fan of Community because of Joel and even trekked all the way to Rama, Ontario to see him live. There have been some very dark days indeed for me and though yes, pitiably enough you may think, but yes, often it was my lone life preserver to look forward to being thrown at me. The one short, shining period that I knew laughter would come and brighten my mood. Sometimes it was just enough to get me through. I am not simply referencing some self- indulgent depression here, I was recovering from a brutal crime. Not trying to elicit sympathy, I am merely pointing out it was really a bad time for me. Though times for me now are thankfully not so bad, who knows what else may come my way without the solace of The Soup to comfort me? This is a show that relies on freshness and current culture so re-reruns, though charming just don't have the same oomph. In fact isn't that one of the major functions of entertainment for us in general? The sweet escape, the feeling of belonging to a group and the comfort that it will be there for us, even when so many things in this life are not reliable. With heavy heart and many thanks I bid goodbye to The Soup, I will miss you greatly.