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** Also, any time he's appearing in something, like Sons of Anarchy or his stand up gigs.
** Most of their special guests are promoting something, and making a gag pointing out how transparent the purpose of their visit is commonly used.
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** One week, due to lighting/bad makeup job/who knows, Joel complexion looked especially ghoulish (and he had shaven off his trademark scruff, adding to it). He immediately mocked himself at the beginning of the next week's show for it.

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** One week, due to lighting/bad makeup job/who knows, Joel Joel's complexion looked especially ghoulish (and he had shaven off his trademark scruff, adding to it). He immediately mocked himself at the beginning of the next week's show for it.



*** They did one skit with the head of E! programming, mocking his programming decisions. BitingTheHand

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*** They did one skit with the head of E! programming, mocking his programming decisions. BitingTheHandBitingTheHandHumor
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** Many, many targets of their jokes have appeared on the show to do skits with Joel poking fun at themselves, Joel, or both. Greg Kelly, one of their favorite targets to mock mercilessly, has appeared TWICE.
*** They did one skit with the head of E! programming, mocking his programming decisions. BitingTheHand
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* TakeThat: Basically the show's premise in regard to all bad television.

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* TakeThat: Basically the show's premise in regard to all bad television. Also their own audience, as they constantly jab at their own network and programming, and the kinds of people who would watch E!



* ThroughHisStomach: A woman on ''Maury'' accuses another of luring away her man by cooking him "CHICKEN TETRAZZINI!" ''TheSoup'' turned this into one of their running gags, and the segment was the Clip of the Year for 2009.

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* ThroughHisStomach: A woman on ''Maury'' accuses another of luring away her man by cooking him "CHICKEN TETRAZZINI!" ''TheSoup'' turned this into one of their running gags, and the segment was the Clip of the Year for 2009.2009, with the lady herself from the clip showing up to receive the award and spout her catchphrase.
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** Ryan Seacrest jokes, poking fun at his height, questioning his sexuality, his seemingly 800 jobs in showbiz, and the fact that Joel resembles him (albeit a much taller version).
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** One week, due to lighting/bad makeup job/who knows, Joel complexion looked especially ghoulish (and he had shaven off his trademark scruff, adding to it). He immediately mocked himself at the beginning of the next week's show for it.
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** A recent episode featured a two-minute long skit celebrating the fact that standards and practices were allowing them to say "wet muff" and proceeded to say it about 117 times.

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** Explaining any sports reference, assuming most E! viewers are unfamiliar with the ball...foot...bat thingy. (Joel is a former football player and die hard Seattle Seahawks fan)


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** Explaining any sports reference, assuming most E! viewers are unfamiliar with the ball...foot...bat thingy. (Joel is a former football player and die hard Seattle Seahawks fan)
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** Explaining any sports reference, assuming most E! viewers are unfamiliar with the ball...foot...bat thingy. (Joel is a former football player and die hard Seattle Seahawks fan)
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* ShamelessSelfPromoter: Joel [=McHale=] spends quite a bit of time on the show urging people to watch ''Series/Community''.

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* ShamelessSelfPromoter: Joel [=McHale=] spends quite a bit of time on the show urging people to watch ''Series/Community''.''Series/{{Community}}''.
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* ShamelessSelfPromoter: Joel McHale spends quite a bit of time on the show urging people to watch Community.

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* ShamelessSelfPromoter: Joel McHale [=McHale=] spends quite a bit of time on the show urging people to watch Community.''Series/Community''.
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* BerserkButton: Joel has a low opinion of a lot of the shows he mocks, but he absolutely ''loathes'' Bigfoot hunting shows, and how pointless they are since Bigfoot isn't real.
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* ProductPlacement: Parodied when people show up to plug their DVD collections or new seasons of their TV series. Got recursive with Joel's (and some of his castmates, like Yvette Nicole Brown and Alison Brie - in fact, all of the show's main cast with the [[SarcasmMode surprising]] exception of Chevy Chase) plugging of ''Series/{{Community}}'', starring [=Joel McHale=], Thursdays on NBC.

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* ProductPlacement: Parodied when people show up to plug their DVD collections or new seasons of their TV series. Got recursive with Joel's (and some of his castmates, like Yvette Nicole Brown and Alison Brie - in fact, all of the show's main cast cast, with the [[SarcasmMode surprising]] exception of Chevy Chase) plugging of ''Series/{{Community}}'', starring [=Joel McHale=], Thursdays on NBC.NBC. Even Dan Harmon showed up on the 2013 Top 40 Clips show.
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** And now with Creator/{{NBC}} and {{Comcast}} merged, it has started with a description of anal alcohol intake from ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' turned into a fake ''TheMoreYouKnow'' {{PSA}}.

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** And now with Creator/{{NBC}} and {{Comcast}} merged, it has started with a description of anal alcohol intake from ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' turned into a fake ''TheMoreYouKnow'' {{PSA}}.{{P|ublicServiceAnnouncement}}SA.
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* TestosteronePoisoning: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJVP-FMDkmo The intro to Gay Shows.]]

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* TestosteronePoisoning: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJVP-FMDkmo com/watch?v=QK8NywIdfQY The intro to Gay Shows.]]

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* EveryoneHasStandards: Perhaps the only clip that actually made Joel legitimately ''lose it'' was the incredibly disgusting moment from ''Toddlers And Tiaras'' where a mother whispers threats to her daughter to behave because they're on TV and telling her to practice a routine.

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* EveryoneHasStandards: Perhaps the only clip that actually made Joel legitimately ''lose it'' was the incredibly disgusting moment from ''Toddlers And Tiaras'' where a mother whispers threats to her daughter to behave because they're on TV and telling her to practice a routine.
** There was also what was considered one of the most OOC moments on The Soup. Back in January 2008, shortly after the death of HeathLedger, at the end of an episode, a picture of Ledger was shown and Joel spoke to the audience, asking both for sympathy towards him and to respect his memory.
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** "''DanceYourAssOff'' continues to be the biggest exploitation of fat people since X."

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** "''DanceYourAssOff'' "''Series/DanceYourAssOff'' continues to be the biggest exploitation of fat people since X."



** In ''La Sopa Mexico'', Eduardo Videgaray can't avoid to point out the machismo, the tons of innuendo and all the UnfortunateImplications present in the show ''Acábatelo!''

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** In ''La Sopa Mexico'', Eduardo Videgaray can't avoid to point out the machismo, the tons of innuendo and all the UnfortunateImplications present in the show ''Acábatelo!''''Acábatelo!'' [[invoked]]
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** "It's Reality Show Clip Time!" Joel will occasionally play with this one a bit. Variations on this include Joel whispering it, silently mouthing it, just letting out one long yell or random excited gibberish, and "[[HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse By the power of Greyskull, I have the power!]]"

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** "It's Reality Show Clip Time!" Joel will occasionally play with this one a bit. Variations on this include Joel whispering it, silently mouthing it, just letting out one long yell or random excited gibberish, and "[[HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse "[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 By the power of Greyskull, I have the power!]]"
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** The Latinamerican versions take a step further: they don't only have the section for mocking ''E!'' shows, they all have a section to specifically mock the shows about the Karsashian family, appropriately called "''Es tan Kardashian!''" ("It's so Kardashian")
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** In ''La Sopa Mexico'', Chabana's particular brand of humor.
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* ''E! Latin America'' has its own Spanish version of the show now aptly named ''La Sopa'' (which is Spanish for ''The Soup''), hosted by Mexican comedian (and ex-Big Brother VIP participant) Eduardo Videgaray. It's pretty much the same show and same format but instead focused on Latin American shows like Mexican soap operas. Another version of the show, hosted by Venezuelan comedian Led Varela and focusing on the Venezuelan media and soaps, was premiered in the Venezuelan feed of the E! on July 2013.

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* ''E! Latin America'' has its own Spanish version of the show now aptly named ''La Sopa'' (which is Spanish for ''The Soup''), hosted by Mexican comedian (and ex-Big Brother VIP participant) Eduardo Videgaray. It's pretty much the same show and same format but instead focused on Latin American shows like Mexican soap operas. Another version Two other versions of the show, hosted by Venezuelan comedian Led Varela and focusing on the Venezuelan media and soaps, was premiered in one for the Venezuelan feed of hosted by comedian Led Varela, and another for the E! Colombian feed, hosted by Alejandro Riaño, were premiered on July 2013.



* ForeignRemake: The two versions of ''La Sopa'', hosted by Eduardo Videgaray and Led Varela respectively for E! Latin America.

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* ForeignRemake: The two three versions of ''La Sopa'', hosted by Eduardo Videgaray Videgaray, Alejandro Riaño and Led Varela respectively for E! Latin America.



** In ''La Sopa Mexico'', Eduardo Videgaray can't avoid to point out the machismo, the HoYay, and all the UnfortunateImplications present in the show ''Acábatelo!''

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** In ''La Sopa Mexico'', Eduardo Videgaray can't avoid to point out the machismo, the HoYay, tons of innuendo and all the UnfortunateImplications present in the show ''Acábatelo!''
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* ''E! Latin America'' has its own Spanish version of the show now aptly named ''La Sopa'' (which is Spanish for ''The Soup''), hosted by Mexican comedian (and ex-Big Brother VIP participant) Eduardo Videgaray. It's pretty much the same show and same format but instead focused on Latin American shows like Mexican soap operas. Another version of the show, hosted by Venezuelan comedian Led Varela and focusing on the Venezuelan media and soaps, is going to be premiered in the Venezuelan feed of the E! on July 2013.

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* ''E! Latin America'' has its own Spanish version of the show now aptly named ''La Sopa'' (which is Spanish for ''The Soup''), hosted by Mexican comedian (and ex-Big Brother VIP participant) Eduardo Videgaray. It's pretty much the same show and same format but instead focused on Latin American shows like Mexican soap operas. Another version of the show, hosted by Venezuelan comedian Led Varela and focusing on the Venezuelan media and soaps, is going to be was premiered in the Venezuelan feed of the E! on July 2013.



* ForeignRemake:''La Sopa'', hosted by Eduardo Videgaray for E! Latin America.

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* ForeignRemake:''La ForeignRemake: The two versions of ''La Sopa'', hosted by Eduardo Videgaray and Led Varela respectively for E! Latin America.



** In ''La Sopa'', Eduardo Videgaray can't avoid to point out the machismo, the HoYay, and all the UnfortunateImplications present in the show ''Acábatelo!''

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** In ''La Sopa'', Sopa Mexico'', Eduardo Videgaray can't avoid to point out the machismo, the HoYay, and all the UnfortunateImplications present in the show ''Acábatelo!''
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* AmbiguousSyntax: Regarding a reality show called ''What!? I'm a Stripper'', Joel can't figure out what inflection to use when saying the show's title. It could be read with confusion ("What?? I'm a stripper??") or belligerence (WHAT!? I'M A STRIPPER!).
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* EveryoneHasStandards: Perhaps the only clip that actually made Joel legitimately ''lose it'' was the incredibly disgusting moment from ''Toddlers And Tiaras'' where a mother whispers threats to her daughter to behave because they're on TV and telling her to practice a routine.
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** In ''La Sopa'', Eduardo Videgaray can't avoid to point out the machismo, the HoYay, and all the UnfortunateImplications present in the show ''Acábatelo!''
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* NightmareFace: After the HD upgrade, the intro to "Tales from Home Shopping" now shows a female customer's face melting into a horrible shape.
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*** "Sanjaya..." (AmericanIdol news for season six, whispered sensually.)

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*** "Sanjaya..." (AmericanIdol (Series/AmericanIdol news for season six, whispered sensually.)



** They also will have several Running Gags that last for a month or two, usually involving a person from a clip photoshopped to pop up on screen and say a line. These have included ''AmericanIdol'' contestant Danny Noriega cattily saying "Some people weren't ''liking it''!" and Spencer Pratt from ''TheHills'' saying (with {{narm}}ful bad acting) "That's the problem..." in a hushed voice, a clip of Whitney Houston from her reality show yelling "KISS MY ASS!" and a clip of Kate Gosselin wearing a goofy pink hat with a popcorn bowl on top calling in a high pitched voice "COME AND GET YER POP-CORN!" The current favorite seems to be a drunk woman saying "dunk-a doo ball". These are usually retired so that they don't get too old, although the more popular ones will often resurface after a bit.

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** They also will have several Running Gags that last for a month or two, usually involving a person from a clip photoshopped to pop up on screen and say a line. These have included ''AmericanIdol'' ''Series/AmericanIdol'' contestant Danny Noriega cattily saying "Some people weren't ''liking it''!" and Spencer Pratt from ''TheHills'' saying (with {{narm}}ful bad acting) "That's the problem..." in a hushed voice, a clip of Whitney Houston from her reality show yelling "KISS MY ASS!" and a clip of Kate Gosselin wearing a goofy pink hat with a popcorn bowl on top calling in a high pitched voice "COME AND GET YER POP-CORN!" The current favorite seems to be a drunk woman saying "dunk-a doo ball". These are usually retired so that they don't get too old, although the more popular ones will often resurface after a bit.
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None


* ''E! Latin America'' has its own Spanish version of the show now aptly named ''La Sopa'' (which is Spanish for ''The Soup''), hosted by Mexican comedian (and ex-Big Brother VIP participant) Eduardo Videgaray. It's pretty much the same show and same format but instead focused on Latin American shows like Mexican soap operas.

to:

* ''E! Latin America'' has its own Spanish version of the show now aptly named ''La Sopa'' (which is Spanish for ''The Soup''), hosted by Mexican comedian (and ex-Big Brother VIP participant) Eduardo Videgaray. It's pretty much the same show and same format but instead focused on Latin American shows like Mexican soap operas.
operas. Another version of the show, hosted by Venezuelan comedian Led Varela and focusing on the Venezuelan media and soaps, is going to be premiered in the Venezuelan feed of the E! on July 2013.
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*** "It's Miley!" ("Miley Cyrus News")

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*** "It's Miley!" ("Miley Cyrus ("MileyCyrus News")
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Soup_Set.png]]

->''"It's like the [[Series/TheTonightShow Johnny Carson]] of...whatever."''
-->-- '''Herman Bailey''' (of "Herman and Sharron")

''The Soup'' on E!: They watch TV, so you don't have to.

First, there was ''Talk Soup'' with [[LittleMissSunshine Greg Kinnear]] (and various other hosts after him: [[Series/{{Wipeout2008}} John Henson]], [[ILoveTheExties Hal Sparks]], and [[Series/GhostWhisperer Aisha Tyler]]), which mainly focused on making fun of talk shows. That ended in 2002 when most of the companies airing the talk shows stopped providing clips. Apparently, they thought it was giving them a bad name. [[TakeThat These shows were unsurprisingly gone after a couple of years]].

Then, in 2004, E! aired ''The What The? Awards'' which was quickly changed to ''The Soup'' with host Joel [=McHale=]. They even acknowledge the original ''Talk Soup'' with the segment "Chat Stew".

Regular characters on ''The Soup'' include Mankini ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a man wearing a bikini]]), a dancing maxipad, two ''StarWars'' nerds, and Lou the chihuahua. Regular segments include "Chicks, Man", "Reality Show Clip Time!", "[[SelfDeprecation Let's Take Some E!]]", "Oprah's Vajayjay", "Gay Shows" and the "Clip of the Week", the last of which, is the only true remaining bit from Talk Soup. It doesn't take itself [[strike:too]] at all seriously.

Four spinoffs have been launched on the majority of Comcast's other cable channels since 2008:
* E! sister channel Style had ''The Dish'', hosted by [[Main/BoyMeetsWorld Danielle Fishel]], that gave special attention to the feminine side of pop culture: fashion, weddings, interior design, etc. Segments included "Clip Closet", "Daylight Cravings", "Here Come the Brides", and a closing "Freak of the Week". Canceled in March 2011, though -- likely due to ratings issues and the NBC/Comcast merger making it verboten for Style to [[BitingTheHandHumor make fun of Bravo and Oxygen's programming]] now that they're all sister networks.
* Sports channel Versus had ''Sports Soup'', hosted by Matt Iseman from ''Series/CleanHouse''. Segments included "The Great Outdoors", "Covering the Coverage", and "5 Star Clip". The {{Woobie}} of the franchise because of Versus pre-empting it often due to sports coverage and {{ESPN}} and the regional sports networks clamping down on fair use of their clips in a comedic sense; depended towards the end more on themed 'blooper' shows and cameos from sports celebrities such as Chad Ochocinco. Done after January 2011 as a result of NBC Sports taking control and rebranding Versus as a serious ESPN competitor under the new name of NBC Sports Network. (Sister network Golf Channel never bothered with a ''Soup'' spin-off since they're in Orlando far away from Los Angeles, and golf is just plain SeriousBusiness.)
* And in 2009 G4 got into the act with ''WebSoup'' hosted by Chris Hardwick, which takes on online videos -- segments include "OperatorsAreStandingBy", "This Week in Fail", "Please Please Please For The Love Of God DontTryThisAtHome", and "The Greatest Web Video Ever [[note]]this week[[/note]]". Was the first ''Soup'' show with their third season to have an actual physical set with screens and backgrounds, though it's just the E! News set with a studio audience stuck where Ryan Seacrest usually stands. The program was ended after its third season when Hardwick departed G4 to focus on projects for Nerdist, his online network of podcast and internet video programming.
* ''E! Latin America'' has its own Spanish version of the show now aptly named ''La Sopa'' (which is Spanish for ''The Soup''), hosted by Mexican comedian (and ex-Big Brother VIP participant) Eduardo Videgaray. It's pretty much the same show and same format but instead focused on Latin American shows like Mexican soap operas.

Viewers in the UK who can't view the show (which should be very few of you, considering this show goes out on E! UK as well), should consider it to be a cattier version of ''Series/HarryHillsTVBurp''. Or Americans who can't view the show might think of it as MST3K meets Hollywood gossip.

----
!!This show contains examples of:
* AxCrazy: Joel [=McHale=] is not above kidnapping celebrities, regularly shooting interns and trying to kill [[EnsembleDarkhorse Mankini]]. All PlayedForLaughs, though.
* BitingTheHandHumor:
** "Let's Take Some E!"
** Lots of Ryan Seacrest jokes. LOTS of Ryan Seacrest jokes.
** And now with Creator/{{NBC}} and {{Comcast}} merged, it has started with a description of anal alcohol intake from ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' turned into a fake ''TheMoreYouKnow'' {{PSA}}.
* ButtMonkey: Matt.
* CatchPhrase: Quite a few at this point.
** "Give me some!" ("Let's Take Some E!")
** "Chicks, man."
** "So meaty!" ("Chat Stew") [[CollectiveGroan uuugh... ]]
** "AROOOOOOOOOO!" ("Clip of the Week")
** "''DanceYourAssOff'' continues to be the biggest exploitation of fat people since X."
** "It's Reality Show Clip Time!" Joel will occasionally play with this one a bit. Variations on this include Joel whispering it, silently mouthing it, just letting out one long yell or random excited gibberish, and "[[HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse By the power of Greyskull, I have the power!]]"
** "On the newest episode of (insert phrase that insults Hugh Hefner) with Hugh Hefner.." for ''The Girls Next Door''. Often mined as a source of BlackComedy; for example, "On the latest episode of [[CrossesTheLineTwice 'beep,]] beep, [[RuleofThree beeeeeep']] with Hugh Hefner..."
*** "I'm a boat captain." Usually said at the end of the bit involving Hefner while showing a picture of him bearing a boat captain's hat he's often seen wearing.
** From ''The Dish'': "I read!" ("Cover Stories")
** And a whole bunch for news about celebrities...
*** "It's Miley!" ("Miley Cyrus News")
*** "It's a felony!" (Which referred to then-16-year-old Miley dating a 20-year-old.)
*** "It's Alive!" (regarding the fake Miley death video)
*** "Ugh...It's Madonna..." ("Madonna News")
*** "It's Lindsey." ("Lindsay Lohan News", done in a [[strike: lesbian]] heavy-smoker-sounding voice)
*** "It's Britney, bitch!" ("Britney Spears News", using a sound-bite from Spears)
*** "It's [=McCain=]!" ("Election News")
*** *heavy breathing* ("Mel Gibson News")
*** "Bring it." ("Charlie Sheen News" using a sound-bite of Sheen.)
*** "Sanjaya..." (AmericanIdol news for season six, whispered sensually.)
*** "Stacey..." (A short-lived replacement when Sanjaya was voted off.)
** "Think about what you're clapping for."
* ChromaKey: The main "set" for each show. As such the show can also come from other exotic locales when Joel has another project to do such as...St. Louis (when he was shooting ''The Informant!''), Austin, Texas (filming ''SpyKids 4'' at RobertRodriguez's greenscreen complex) and NewYorkCity (doing press and upfronts for ''Series/{{Community}}''). However these shows can be notable for being the least funny due to the regular crew not being in tow, Joel only able to get writer and director input via Skype and basically winging it alone, and a different sound and tenor to the audience, who is usually just either rounded up at random or in the St. Louis case, was taped at a Creator/{{PBS}} station with a crowd of confused station employees and donating members who wondered why a guy was making Creator/ParisHilton jokes in front of a green screen instead of [[CookingShow cooking]] or teaching adults how to get their GED.
** Also, these "location shoots" are obviously {{lampshaded}} on air as the chroma key will never show a glimmer of local flavor and always will show the regular L.A. background.
** This setup also allows Joel to do the show most every week (besides a few off weeks where a ClipShow is put in the can in advance), and as such the show has only had a few weeks where it didn't premiere a new episode, fresh or clip, in the last six years, with one of the most prominent examples being the lack of a show on the day of the Kate/William royal wedding.
*** Counting the eleven years of Talk Soup, this was pretty much the same, [[note]]including when they went from a four day, half-hour daily and a one hour weekly to a half hour weekly format, to which it remains.[[/note]] the longest stretch of time without new episodes was between the mid-2002 sudden cancellation and the mid-2004 premiere of Joel's first episode.
* CouchGag: For a while it had the most literal example next to TropeNamer ''TheSimpsons'' - during the opening sequence, Joel and Lou are on a couch watching a clip from/related to a big media event of the previous week.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** The hosts.
** The show also has a running segment called "Rrrrow with Brian Wiliams", showing clips of him being snarky on his show RockCenter. They even had him on the show giving a snarky TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to him.
* DistaffCounterpart: ''The Dish'', both in the host and the focus on programs made to appeal to women.
* DuelingShows:
** [=VH1=]'s ''BestWeekEver'' (it was vanquished in series form after a disastrous retooling into a ''Soup'' clone that removed all the heart and soul of the show, but the website's still going strong. But it has come back as a segment in the Friday episode of ''Jump Start Live'').
** The spinoff ''Web Soup'' has its own dueling show in ComedyCentral's ''Series/{{Tosh0}}'' Which in turn isn't a fair fight; ''WebSoup'' airs on G4 which is usually on a higher digital-only tier than basic-cable Comedy Central.
** Web Soup's done well, however, as Hardwick's brand of foolish yet energetic snarkery provides a great alternative to Tosh's Deadpan.
** Current TV aired a similar show called infoMania, which covers the week in pop culture with segments that are very similar to The Soup's.
* ForeignRemake:''La Sopa'', hosted by Eduardo Videgaray for E! Latin America.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A commercial advertising the show's move to Wednesday nights featured Joel [=McHale=] talking with a child dressed for a Toddlers and Tiaras-style beauty pageant. There was a [[RuleThirtyFour 34]] displayed on her sash.
* HeyItsThatGuy: [[TheOtherRainforest Pacific Northwesterners]] will recognize Joel [=McHale=] from his ''Series/AlmostLive'' days.
* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: Anytime clips from ''Alaska Gold Rush'' are shown. Notably, Joel doesn't even make any jokes: he just plays the clips (albeit out of context) and the viewer's dirty mind does the rest.
** Also happens in the clips from ''Hillbilly Handfishin'' and the clips from ''Man Woman Wild'' (it doesn't help that the star of the latter is named ''Myke Hawke'').
* InfoDump: ''Series/BlueBloods'' has been mocked a few times for scenes in which characters gather together and deliver mountains of exposition about things they already know for the audience's benefit.
* IReadThatAs: MTV's ''[[ColonCancer Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins]]'' used a logo where a mountain formed the I in "Ruins". Joel called it "''The Runs''".
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Joel will often snicker and then say "...sorry" when he's made a particularly snarky joke, sometimes even 'kissing' the image of the person he was mocking (especially if they've made a guest-appearance on the show before).
* LastSecondWordSwap: In a clip shown from the Home Shopping Network, a host takes a bite of the cheesecake they're selling and remarks, "That is disgust...ingly wonderfully awesome good."
* LimitedWardrobe: Joel almost always appears in a suit with a light shirt and a skinny tie. Sometimes he doesn't wear the tie.
* {{Kayfabe}}: Joel's frequent mocking of "reality" TV shows like ''TheHills'' or ''Brooke Knows Best''.
* ManipulativeEditing: The Soup loves to do this with Series/GoldRush, making note of the "glory holes" and the name of one of the cast members, Jack Hoffman.
* MuppetCameo: Unfortunate for Joel, it was StatlerandWaldorf.
* MythologyGag: Should ''Talk Soup'' be mentioned, the famous spoon background will likely appear.
* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer:
** Joel uses them frequently during setups, for example, when explaining the origin of Spaghetti Cat.
** And sometimes subverted- Joel set up a clip for ''Small Town Security'', giving a bizarre description ("...and they reenacted the dinner scene from ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974''") and said it was all true, but the clip was way worse than what he promised- someone farted, everyone started laughing at the farts, one lady laughed so hard she peed herself, and a dog started humping her leg.
* NWordPrivileges:
** After an especially misogynistic joke, a subtle reminder will often be dropped that the head writer is a woman.
** One example involved a clip of a woman from the reality show ''Pregnant in Heels'' who was hesitant about having sex while pregnant. Joel's response: "Well, you're not pregnant in your mouth." He then brought out the woman that wrote the joke who proceeded to deliver the original version, [[spoiler: "in the butt"]].
* OverlyLongGag
* ProductPlacement: Parodied when people show up to plug their DVD collections or new seasons of their TV series. Got recursive with Joel's (and some of his castmates, like Yvette Nicole Brown and Alison Brie - in fact, all of the show's main cast with the [[SarcasmMode surprising]] exception of Chevy Chase) plugging of ''Series/{{Community}}'', starring [=Joel McHale=], Thursdays on NBC.
** When his fellow castmembers of ''Series/{{Community}}'' started showing up following the news that ''Community'' was being put on hiatus, they all (jokingly) laid into Joel for not doing anything to promote the show on ''TheSoup''.
* PutOnABus: Lou the chihuahua hadn't been seen for over half a year in 2009, then returned at the end of the first half of 2009's Top 40 Clips show, eating a Howlin' Hound "Heart Yum", made with only the finest of human hearts.
* {{Railfan}}: Clips from ''I Love Toy Trains'' are snarked with references to the stereotypes you'll see on the trope page.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Lou.
* TheRival:
** Currently, Wendy Williams (with a little bit of UST). Also New York anchor Greg Kelly of WNYW, who is pretty much a weekly staple of ''Chat Stew'' for his hate of fluff and the trappings of most local newscasts.
** At one point, KeithOlbermann. (Though theirs was much more good-natured.) Creator/TyraBanks is a much more subtle example. As it has been mentioned in passing on the show that she sent them a Cease & Desist letter to get them to stop showing clips of her talk show and ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel''. Joel's reply: "No."
** Most of the time, Joel doesn't even have to say anything about the Tyra clips, proving how stupid she makes ''herself'' look. Case in the point, the episode where they showed the clip of her announcement that she was going to write a novel. Joel just stood there and cracked up. Heh.
* RunningGag: Several, such as referring to contestants on [=VH1=]'s dating shows as whores, or a euphemism thereof. Sometimes they make jokes about [=STDs=].
** They also will have several Running Gags that last for a month or two, usually involving a person from a clip photoshopped to pop up on screen and say a line. These have included ''AmericanIdol'' contestant Danny Noriega cattily saying "Some people weren't ''liking it''!" and Spencer Pratt from ''TheHills'' saying (with {{narm}}ful bad acting) "That's the problem..." in a hushed voice, a clip of Whitney Houston from her reality show yelling "KISS MY ASS!" and a clip of Kate Gosselin wearing a goofy pink hat with a popcorn bowl on top calling in a high pitched voice "COME AND GET YER POP-CORN!" The current favorite seems to be a drunk woman saying "dunk-a doo ball". These are usually retired so that they don't get too old, although the more popular ones will often resurface after a bit.
** There's also Matt the Intern being shot and "screaming like a girl."
** Ryan Seacrest's height and having too many jobs is also a subject of repeated gags.
** "CHICKEN TETRAZZINI!"
** "Stay out of it, Nick Lachey!"
** "What are you doing here, [[JanesAddiction Dave Navarro]]?"
** Let's not forget how much of a pussy Aaron Carter is.
** Joel's continuing dislike of the "My Stories" intro music, which initially was more reminiscent of radio dramas than soap operas. ("...That I used to watch in the 1920s!") Now the music they play is whatever weird song they can get their hands on. They have recently settled into just using the original music or Bomani Armah's "Read A Book".
** Killing the blond girl at the end of every season finale of ''TheHills''.
** During ''Paris Hilton's My New [=BFF=]'''s run, Joel came up with a different thing the acronym could stand for each time it was featured, including "Beefy Frosting Flinger", "Bulimia Fan Fiction", and "Bffff...."
** Playing Jeffrey Osborne's "On The Wings Of Love" whenever introing clips from said season of ''TheBachelor''. Joel always tries to get them to stop because "the song is too sincere!" Osborne eventually made an appearance [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hawking Jeffrey Osborne's Wings Of Love chicken restaurants]].
** Joel's Hugh Hefner: "I'm a boat captain!"
** From Fantasia's show: "Girl, please!"
** From ''The Fashion Show'' contestant Calvin Tran: "Oh here go hell come."
** Clips including Lou in some way (like the 'dogs playing poker' intro) are usually followed by Joel claiming it took 9 hours to film.
** "Glory hole", when referring ot ''Alaska Gold Rush''.
** "[[TheCameo Random celebrity]], what are you doing here?"
** "GREG KELLY , unlikely voice of reason, GREG KELLY, your logic is a-pleasin', GREG KELLYYYY!"
** The various voices shouting "Tales! From! Home! Shopping!" keep getting more and more disorganized with each segment.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Matt, whenever Joel shoots him.
* SelfDeprecation: Usually involving the phrase "basic cable clip show".
* ShamelessSelfPromoter: Joel McHale spends quite a bit of time on the show urging people to watch Community.
* SitcomArchNemesis: Joel [=McHale=]/Ryan Seacrest. A [[HilarityEnsues hilarious]], [[RunningGag long-running]] and rare RealLife example. Ryan Seacrest lacks Joel's snarky sense of humor and ends up saying vaguely insulting, rather stupid things. Sometimes they end up sounding vaguely sexual, too. That's Seacrest for ya. Supposedly, the two are friends in real life and it's more play fighting. Though you'd never know that from the way it's represented on the show.
* {{Spinoff}}: ''The Dish'', ''Sports Soup'', and ''Web Soup''.
* SpecialGuest:
** At least one per week these days in an appearance both brief and tongue-in-cheek. Two, John Henson and Aisha Tyler, were former ''Talk Soup'' hosts who appeared on separate occasions and didn't miss the chance to needle Joel, and a third former host, Hal Sparks appeared on Web Soup to do the same to Chris.
** In the weeks following the news that ''Series/{{Community}}'' was being put on hiatus, Joel's fellow cast-members from that show would appear to basically [[ProductPlacement lambast Joel for not using his platform to promote the show]] and do little skits. This culminated in a mass group appearance from them where we learned that the entire cast of ''Series/{{Community}}'' apparently doesn't exist and are [[MindScrew just figments of Joel's imagination]] to help him cope with the fact that he only works at ''E!''.
--->'''Donald Glover:''' [[ShoutOut It's like]] ''FightClub'', only you're too much of a pussy to actually fight somebody.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Talk Soup''.
* StudioAudience: The off-screen crew serves as this.
** As does the actual studio audience, which is usually comprised of friends and family of people who work or intern at E!, Style, or G4. It's a small studio though, so it's a small audience.
* TakeThat: Basically the show's premise in regard to all bad television.
* TestosteronePoisoning: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJVP-FMDkmo The intro to Gay Shows.]]
** CampGay: What the Gay Shows segment covers.
* ThroughHisStomach: A woman on ''Maury'' accuses another of luring away her man by cooking him "CHICKEN TETRAZZINI!" ''TheSoup'' turned this into one of their running gags, and the segment was the Clip of the Year for 2009.
* TransAtlanticEquivalent: E! UK ran a British version called ''Celebrity Soup'' (one of the channel's few locally-produced series) hosted by Iain Lee. Suffice to say that [[CompletelyMissingThePoint completely missing what makes something work]] is [[NotSoDifferent not exclusively an American trait]]; started in 2005, binned in 2006.
* ViewersAreGoldfish: For a time the exact same episode ran twice in an hour on Friday nights, likely due to E! unable to find a companion show for it to follow (yet, many people happily sat and watch it twice), but now the equally snarky ''Joan Rivers' Fashion Police'' has established itself as "[[IncrediblyLamePun The Sandwich]]" to ''The Soup''.
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