‘The Soup’ Cancelled Only A Year After A Two Year Extension Deal Was Made

The TV show The Soup is finally coming to an end after running for 22 seasons, as reported by the New York Times.

It was announced on Wednesday that, after December 18, the E! Entertainment network will be saying goodbye to it’s very successful, long running show The Soup. According to a statement by E!, the man who has hosted the The Soup for 12 years, Joel McHale, “will once again deliver the laughs as he hangs up his signature skinny tie for the last time.”

The Soup was mainly a reality TV recap show, filmed in front of a green screen. The host of the show highlighted and teased the previous week’s episodes of popular reality TV, as well as mocked pop culture. Shows like The Bad Girl’s Club,The Jersey Shore, and The Bachelor were subject to McHale’s sarcastic synopses.

The program was originally aired under the name of Talk Soup in 1991. It was named Talk Soup because the TV shows it highlighted were those such as The Jerry Springer Show, a trash-talk show. Its original host was Greg Kinnear, who hosted Talk Soup for four years, until 1995. Hosts after Kinnear were John Henson(1995-1999), Hal Sparks (1999-2000), and Aisha Tyler (2001-2002), as reported by the Los Angeles Times. In 2002, Talk Soup was taken off the air.

Just two years later, in 2004, the show The Soup took its place, with Joel McHale hosting the program. Instead of the trash-talk shows that it had previously roasted, The Soup focused on reality TV, which had just begun to really make its mark on the entertainment industry. The Soup eventually began welcoming guests on to the show, such as actors and other comedians.

In 2014, The Soup received an Emmy award nomination for Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program.

Jeff Olde, executive vice president of programming and development for E!, expressed his feelings for the television program, and what it as done for the network.

“We are incredibly proud of the long-running success of The Soup, The Soup has delivered countless laughs and unforgettable episodes, and we are grateful to the talented team’s fearless wit and clever approach week after week. Joel took the show to new heights for more than a decade, and his irreverent humor and unique brand of comedy as captured so perfectly on The Soup will be missed.”

Host Joel McHale also had some sentiments to share about his time on the show. McHale made it clear that he really enjoyed the time that he had spent hosting the show, but that he was ready to move on to different things in his career. The Soup host thanked everyone who had ever watched the program, and he even had a special “thank you” for Kim K’s derriere, which he claims has been very valuable to him and his loved ones.

“I loved doing The Soup for all of these years (86 to be exact), but am excited to solely focus on my acting career now. Thanks to all who watched and thanks to Kim Kardashian’s a** for all that it’s done for me and my family.”

According to Variety, however, McHale had signed an extension deal in October 2014, guaranteeing that the show would run until 2016, with Mchale as the host. At the time, The Soup host issued a statement, indicating that he was happy to continue hosting the show.

“I’m thrilled to be working at E! for two more years hosting The Soup.”

Apparently, McHale has not clarified why the agreement was not followed through.

In the episodes leading up to the very last episode of The Soup, McHale will revisit some of the show’s most memorable moments in it’s 22 seasons on air.

Make sure to catch The Soup on E! at 10 p.m. ET, before it goes off the air for good.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]