Talk Soup

Talk Soup
Genre Comedy
Presented by Greg Kinnear
John Henson
Hal Sparks
Aisha Tyler
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 11
Production
Running time 22 minutes
Release
Original network E!
Original release January 7, 1991 – May 17, 2002
Chronology
Followed by The Soup
External links
Website

Talk Soup is a television show produced for cable network E! that debuted on January 7, 1991, and aired until August 2002. Talk Soup aired selected clips of the previous day's daily talk shows—ranging from daytime entries like The Jerry Springer Show and to celebrity interview shows like The Tonight Show—surrounded by humorous commentary delivered by the host. Although Talk Soup poked fun at the talk shows, it also advertised the topics and guests of upcoming broadcasts. Despite this, several talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, refused to allow clips of their shows to be shown on the series.[1] During its run, Talk Soup was nominated for five Daytime Emmy Awards, winning once in 1995 for Outstanding Special Class Program. It remains the only E! show to ever win an Emmy. A show based on it, The Soup, aired from 2004 to 2015.

The show frequently poked fun at actors Randolph Mantooth and Mario Van Peebles. Also featured was a womanizing Argentine sock puppet named Señor Sock that had bought several Thighmasters because he was madly in love with Suzanne Somers.

Hosts

Guest hosts and guest stars

The show has had number of guest hosts sitting in the soup chair over the years including Roseanne Barr, Brad Garrett, Juliette Lewis, Patrick Warburton, Sarah Silverman, Suzanne Somers, Jon Hamm, Julia Sweeney, Kevin Nealon, Robert McRay, David Brenner, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jerry Springer, Adam Carolla, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Jimmy Kimmel, Tom Arnold, Catherine O'Hara, David Spade, Donna D'Errico, Richard Lewis, George Hamilton, Wayne Brady, Rolonda Watts, French Stewart, Sally Jesse Raphael,

Celebrities who appeared in sketches and walk-on appearances include Eric Idle, David Duchovny, Danny Aiello, Montel Williams, Adam West, Florence Henderson, Danny Bonaduce, Joan Collins, Billy Barty, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, Ed Asner, Sherman Helmsley, Soupy Sales, Gary Coleman, Jenna Jameson, Robin Givens, Dawn Wells, The Moffatts,

Awards

The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Program in 1995. It has also been nominated for four other Daytime Emmys and three CableAce awards. The producer/writer Stan Evans won an Emmy and two CableAce awards.

Kinnear years

In 1993, the show was part of an episode of the CBS show 48 Hours with Dan Rather. The program was about the proliferation of talk shows on the TV landscape and featured a behind-the-scenes segment with the Talk Soup staff and host Kinnear.[2]

Later that same year, the show taped a series of shows at the Disney/MGM Studios at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It was the first time the show was done in front of a live studio audience.[3] During its run at Disney, the show premiered Talk Soup: The Motion Picture. Technically not a feature film but rather a grand trailer, it included Kinnear running in the middle of a crowded Wilshire Boulevard, throwing a staffer off the top of the E! building and being run over by a car in front of E! personality Arthel Neville.[4]

Talk show guests were not the only ones the show skewered. Footage of Sylvester Stallone's mother, Jackie Stallone, eating shrimp at an event covered by E! News was comic fodder for the show.[5]

Henson era

In 1995, after Kinnear left to devote his full attention to his Later show and his budding film career, E! hired stand-up comedian John Henson to take over the soup chair.

Dustin Hoffman appearance

Dustin Hoffman made an appearance on the show to do a sketch with Henson. Hoffman rarely does comedic bits on television so it was considered a major coup for the show. Jon Lovitz also appeared in the sketch.[6]

Pop culture references

"Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a song entitled "Talk Soup" for his album Alapalooza. The lyrics describe a man who is desperate to appear on some of the talk shows whose clips appeared in Talk Soup. The song ends with a sample of the E! sound clip played at the end of the television show's end credits. Yankovic on the origin of the song:

Well, to put it bluntly, [E!] kind of jerked me around. The producers of the show approached me, asking me to do a new theme song for the show. I wrote the lyrics (which they approved) and then recorded the song (which they said they "loved"). And then they never used it. Go figure.[7]

The Soup

Main article: The Soup

In 2004, E! leveraged the Talk Soup brand by renaming and reformatting The What The? Awards to create the show known today as The Soup with actor Joel McHale as host and co-writer, which aired until December 18, 2015.

One remnant from Talk Soup that carried over to The Soup is the Chat Stew segment which shows clips from various talk shows and funny comments. The segment is introduced with a CGI crock pot filled with talk show logos and host heads, while a woman (announcer Kelly Andrews) voices about the "stew" being "so meaty!"

On an episode of The Soup in January 2009, John Henson, a former host of Talk Soup, appeared as a guest star to promote his show, Wipeout. Aisha Tyler has also appeared on The Soup, claiming she wanted to "see the old studios."

The Soup has been mistakenly referred to as Talk Soup by Jean Bice, Mickey Rourke, and many others in the media.

References

  1. ↑ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 1171. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
  2. ↑ "Talk Soup Featured on 48 Hours with Dan Rather + Talk Soup Clips". YouTube. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  3. ↑ "Talk Soup at Disney World". YouTube. 2011-11-19. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  4. ↑ "Talk Soup The Motion Picture". YouTube. 2011-11-19. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  5. ↑ "Jackie Stallone Eats Jumbo Shrimp". YouTube. 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  6. ↑ "Talk Soup - Dustin Hoffman sketch". YouTube. 2008-12-13. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  7. ↑ ""Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ask Al Archive". Weirdal.com. Retrieved 2013-09-03.

External links

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