Talk Soup
Encyclopedia
- For the "Weird Al" Yankovic"Weird Al" YankovicAlfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
song, see Talk Soup (song)Talk Soup (song)Talk Soup is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. The song's title is a reference to the cable show Talk Soup, which appeared on E!The lyrics describe a man who is desperate to appear on Geraldo, Sally Jessy Raphael, or any other daytime talk show and talk about his bizarre relationships, uncommon family...
.
Talk Soup was 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
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
and to celebrity interview shows like The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
—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 of them.
Some of the humor is derived from the reactions to the jokes by various stagehands, who either chuckle softly or groan depending on the severity of the joke. The show used a computerized backdrop of moving spoons, with the same animations of the spoons playing on one side of the screen after being shown on the opposite side in a repeating fashion, behind the show's host. One episode was recorded in front of a live studio audience. A similar version, The Soup
The Soup
The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...
, now airs weekly on E!.
The show frequently poked fun at actors Randolph Mantooth
Randolph Mantooth
Randolph Donald Mantooth is an American character actor of stage, film and television. Mantooth is best known for his work in the 1970s medical drama, Emergency!, as Johnny Gage, a Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic...
and Mario Van Peebles
Mario Van Peebles
Mario "Chip" Cain Van Peebles is an American director and actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films. He is son of filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles.-Life and career:...
. Also featured was a womanizing Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
sock puppet
Sock puppet
A sock puppet is a puppet made from a sock or similar garment. When the manipulator fits a hand into the closed end of the sock, the puppet can be seemingly made to "talk". The puppet's mouth is formed by the region between the sock's heel and toe, with the puppeteer's thumb forming a jaw...
named Señor Sock that had bought several Thighmaster
Thighmaster
The Thighmaster is an exercise product designed to shape one's thighs. The device is basically two pieces of metal tube bent in a loop and connected with a hinge. The intended use is to put the Thighmaster between the knees and squeeze them together. This exercises the hip adductors...
s because he was madly in love with Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....
.
Pop culture references
"Weird Al" Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
recorded a song entitled "Talk Soup
Talk Soup (song)
Talk Soup is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. The song's title is a reference to the cable show Talk Soup, which appeared on E!The lyrics describe a man who is desperate to appear on Geraldo, Sally Jessy Raphael, or any other daytime talk show and talk about his bizarre relationships, uncommon family...
" for his album Alapalooza
Alapalooza
Alapalooza is the eighth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1993. The cover sleeve is a spoof on the movie poster of the hit movie Jurassic Park. The name is a parody of the music festival Lollapalooza....
. 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!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
sound clip played at the end of the television show's end credits. Al on the origin of the song:
Well, to put it bluntly,[ E!E!E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...] 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.
The Soup
In 2004, E!E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
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
Joel McHale
Joel Edward McHale is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television producer, television personality, and voice artist. He is best known for hosting The Soup and for his role as Jeff Winger on Community....
as host and co-writer, which continues to air today.
One remnant from Talk Soup that got carried over to The Soup is the segment Chat Stew. Chat Stew shows clips from various talk shows and funny comments. The segment is introduced with a CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
crock pot filled with talk show logos and host heads, while a woman (current announcer Kelly Andrews) voices about the "stew" being "so meaty!"
On an episode of The Soup in January 2009, John Henson
John Henson
John Morris Henson is an American comedian, talk show host, and actor. He is the co-host of ABC's Wipeout, a prime-time series game show now in its fourth season.-Biography:...
, a former host of Talk Soup, appeared as a guest star to promote his current show, Wipeout. Aisha Tyler has also appeared on The Soup, wearing a cow girls outfit claiming she wanted to "see the old studios."
The Soup has been mistakenly referred to as Talk Soup by Jean Bice, Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
, and many others in the media.