The Soup is razor sharp and riotously silly in its take on the bad behavior of such dignity don’ts as Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Tara Reid. But it really comes alive when it zeroes in on television, from the countless curious moments on daytime talk shows (Ellen’s doggie dilemma, Oprah complainin’ that her “va-jay-jay is painin’,” everything Tyra says or does) to the ongoing car-crash horror of all those celebreality shows on VH1 and E!
Yes, that E! The guys on The Soup aren’t afraid to bite the hand that feeds them, and they do so in a weekly segment titled Let’s Take Some E! Nobody on the network is safe—not the Kardashians or Hugh Hefner or Dr. Rey and his breast-implant beauties—and especially not the painfully overexposed E! News host Ryan Seacrest, one of McHale’s favorite targets. McHale once told me that Seacrest forbids E! employees to make eye-contact with him in the hallways or the restrooms at E!’s offices and production facilities. He was joshing. I think.
The Soup even tears into the telenovelas on Univision and Telemundo. What other show does that?
Much of the credit for the success of The Soup goes to the multi-talented McHale, who was great last night in a guest role as a polygamist dog-breeder on ABC’s new hit Pushing Daisies. (Friends on The Soup’s MySpace page went wild within minutes of his character’s death.) Clearly, he deserves a bigger and broader career beyond that of basic cable clip show host. But I hate to think of The Soup without him. Maybe he’ll consider keeping that gig on the side when something better comes along, as it inevitably will.
By: Ed Martin
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