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.
