The Soup Signs Off: Our Favorite Moments

One of television’s greatest comedy treasures is signing off after over 20 years on the air. The Soup (the most recent iteration of Talk Soup, which premiered in 1991) has been led by host Joel McHale for the last 11 seasons and while celebrities like the Kardashians and Kathie Lee Gifford are probably breathing a sigh of relief, audiences are saddened that the weekly clip-show is coming to a close. When McHale took over The Soup in 2004, he brought a fresh new perspective on the satire of talk shows, reality television, and new bits that audiences would enjoy for the next 11 years. The show helped to launch the career of its host, who would go on to also star in the NBC comedy, Community. We dug through The Soup‘s archives, and picked out some of its funniest moments to share with you before the series signs off. “Chicken Tetrazzini!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znHObR07F5s This clip came from the afternoon talk show staple, Maury, featuring a woman Alycia who is convinced that her best friend, Dominique, is seducing her boyfriend, Paul, with the famous chicken tetrazzini. This became an instant fan favorite and a recurring gag on the show. Alycia herself even made an appearance to utter her famous phrase for McHale and viewers. “Oprah’s Va-Jay-Jay!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVxm-SO6Vdo Ever wonder where the phrase, “va-jay-jay” came from? It was actually Oprah, who accidentally let it slip that her “va-jay-jay”was painin’ after swinging from a bungee harness. This would be used on The Soup numerous times, often with McHale just checking in on Oprah and her “va-jay-jay.” Jack Hoffman and his Glory Hole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9jxRMUuRiw McHale and the writers found the show Gold Rush and the jokes abounded for the entirety of its run. Yes, the man on the show Gold Rush is ACTUALLY named Jack Hoffman. And yes, they’re ACTUALLY searching for glory holes. And NO…no one ever needed to actually write jokes for these segments. “Literally.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbeLSM-6SUY Tales From Home Shopping is a regular segment on The Soup where McHale finds hosts from various Home Shopping or QVC shows and points out some of their more ridiculous moments. This one became an instant classic when someone realized that Shawn from HSN, literally cannot stop saying literally. Spaghetti Cat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrwWqywZxxI What happens when a random stock photo ends up taking up several seconds of your show? Mike and Juliet found out when they were interviewing two young women about drunk driving, and a photograph took over the screen of a cat eating a plate of spaghetti. It was never mentioned on show and no explanation was ever given. McHale made this one of the show’s most famous recurring gags, with the crew constructing their very own Spaghetti Cat to wheel out randomly throughout the next few seasons of the show. There are countless other funny gags and jokes that have appeared over the last 11 seasons and it’s nearly impossible to choose favorites, so we’ll ask you! What are some of your favorite jokes from The Soup? Share them below! We’re going to miss Joel McHale’s commentary on television each week in our living rooms. We’re going to miss our weekly fix of insulting the Kardashians and Chicks, Man. We’ll miss Mankini and Lou, the chihuahua. Thanks for the many years of laughter. The Soup‘s one-hour series finale airs Friday, December 18 at 10/9c on E!