Joel McHale to Host Weekly Netflix Topical Show
It has been over two years since E! unceremoniously cut its last tie to tradition, cancelling the cable outlet’s flagship topical clip show series, The Soup, hosted by Joel McHale. However, that weekly vacancy is about to be filled… on Netflix (of course).
Netflix has revealed plans for a new weekly topical series, titled, appropriately enough, The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale. The 30-minute show will put its eponymous part-time actor host in a setting in which he should thrive, back in front of a green screen, recapping the weekly occurrences in television, politics, sports, celebrities and whatever clips happen to be breaking the Internet, along with a variety of sketches and celebrity guests. Indeed, judging by this teaser, it’s all looking a lot like The Soup will be back, only with a new title and network.
The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale will arrive on Netflix on Sunday, February 18, kicking off with the first weekly offering of its 13-episode inaugural season. Besides hosting the show, McHale will serve as executive producer, joined in that capacity by Paul Feig, KP Anderson (former head writer of The Soup), Jessie Henderson, Brad Stevens and Boyd Vico.
For McHale, who was the longest-serving host of E!’s longtime clip show staple – launched in 1991 as Talk Soup – as the face of relaunch The Soup from 2004-2015, this endeavor marks a return to hosting form. The actor/comedian juggled that gig during the entire 2009-2015 run of his acclaimed NBC sitcom, Community, only to have E! cancel his clip show platform shortly after his sitcom ended. Afterwards, he fielded a recurring role on Fox’s revived The X-Files (which he reprises this season,) and subsequently starred in CBS sitcom The Great Indoors, which was cancelled in 2017 after one 22-episode season.
Netflix is already boosting its talk show lineup, having nabbed former late-night titan David Letterman to host My Guest Needs No Introduction. However, the Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale will also serve as a fortuitous topical show replacement after Netflix recently cancelled Chelsea, hosted by fellow E! alumna, Chelsea Handler.
