Today, a talk show clip of a woman dumped for her twin or \u201cproud to be a b***h\u201d would go viral before you finished this sentence. Decades ago, we had Talk Soup<\/em>. Debuting Jan. 7, 1991, the irreverent four-day-a-week E! show hard-launched the career of host Greg Kinnear<\/strong>, who, noted The New York Times<\/em>, seemed \u201cconstantly bemused by the oddballs and topics at hand, without ever resorting to bashing or mean-spiritedness.\u201d John Henson<\/strong> succeeded him, plugging in more comedy sketches, followed by Hal Sparks<\/strong> and Aisha Tyler<\/strong><\/a>, who reminds Us<\/em>, \u201cAs outrageous as it could be, Talk Soup<\/em> also had an Emmy!\u201d\n<\/p>\n Kinnear had a couple of hosting gigs under his belt before he blew up on Talk Soup<\/em>\u2026 then decided to pivot to acting. Henson, a club comic in NYC, thought, \u201cIf they ever hire a nobody,\u201d he could be great. \u201cEverybody I knew was auditioning,\u201d he tells Us<\/em>. \u201c[Producers] told me at one point they had interviewed maybe 3,000 people over 18 months in five cities.\u201d Actor Sparks came next but exited after less than a year. \u201cHuge fan\u201d Tyler closed it out after a guest host appearance got fans hyped. Still, she recalls, \u201cNetwork executives said to my face that they thought young men would not watch with me as host. Happily, they were wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Talk Soup<\/em> brought the funny and<\/em> the shocking! The clips \u2014 alien assaults, hugging tips, Geraldo Rivera<\/strong> vs. the KKK \u2014 stood on their own. Interns scanned about seven to nine hours of TV a day, Henson says of his early days. \u201cJerry Springer<\/strong> was the Babe Ruth<\/strong> of talk show clips<\/a> for us, because he was so reliable.\u201d But the comedy bits became increasingly important and defining. And absurd, he says: \u201cWe used to do this very serious segment called Profiles in Cable<\/em>, where we would make, like, a Ken Burns<\/strong> documentary on different staff members.\u201d Tyler says, \u201cWe went from just winking at wild clips to having a distinct personality and point of view.\u201d Costumes were a given, and Tyler\u2019s Foxy Chocolat character (think: Pam Grier<\/strong>\u2019s Foxy Brown) attracted fans like Quentin Tarantino<\/strong><\/a>, who requested the sketches on VHS. \u201cI plotzed!\u201d Tyler says.<\/p>\n From Roseanne Barr<\/strong><\/a> to William Shatner<\/strong> to Catherine O\u2019Hara<\/strong>, celebrities were happy to be Soup<\/em> ingredients. The big get? Dustin Hoffman<\/strong><\/a>, who watched and even submitted his own clip! Naturally, the team plotted to get the actor in person \u2014 by staging a weeks-long fake hunger strike. \u201cWe actually got a scale model of the purple chair I sat in that was bigger to make it look like I was shrinking,\u201d Henson says. It worked! Hoffman phoned and agreed to come on.<\/p>\n You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n Talk Soup<\/em> came to an abrupt end in 2002, but a revamped version dubbed The Soup<\/em><\/a> was waiting in the wings. \u201cWe had actually shot two pilots that would throw a wider net across popular culture, pulling material from reality shows and the internet in addition to talk shows,\u201d Tyler explains. But the project didn\u2019t come to fruition until 2004, when it was hosted by Joel McHale<\/strong><\/a> and filled with Kardashian klips.<\/p>\n \u201cTalk Soup<\/em> was definitely of its time. What felt transgressive then would seem quaint to people now,\u201d Tyler offers. \u201cTikTok is just one never-ending episode of Talk Soup<\/em>.\u201d Still, she and Henson list some of the shows it influenced: Tosh.0<\/em>, Ridiculousness<\/em>, Watch What Happens Live<\/em>, even The Daily Show<\/em>.<\/p>\n Kinnear, 62, recently appeared in Apple TV\u2019s Smoke<\/em> and, in April, costars in Apple\u2019s Margo\u2019s Got Money Troubles<\/em>. Henson, 58, has been hosting Food Network\u2019s \u201csuperfun\u201d Halloween Baking Championship<\/em> since 2017. And Tyler, 55, has a line of organic ready-to-drink cocktails (losophe.com), plus a role on Paramount+\u2019s Criminal Minds: Evolution<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWho Was Involved<\/h3>\n
Why We Remember It<\/h3>\n
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<\/div>Key Details<\/h3>\n
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<\/div>Thank You!<\/h3>\n
The Aftermath<\/h3>\n
A New Perspective<\/h3>\n
Where Are They Now?<\/h3>\n
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