TVSquad

I remember long ago in a cable land far away when a little show called Talk Soup started. It was clever, riffing on talk show shenanigans. We've come a long way since then, with clip shows blanketing the network. And then there's the Internet. On paper the idea of a web video iteration of The Soup, as it's now called, sounds solid enough, and G4 is a good place for it, but as Michael pointed out, Web Soup just isn't working.

Even though G4 is the place for techie stuff and they handle web videos already, Web Soup still manages to feel outdated and stodgy. And Chris Hardwick, while funny when he fills in on Attack of the Show, is almost mind-numbingly not funny hosting Web Soup. But Chris Hardwick and the gang were not alone in exploring web videos on our TVs. Comedy Central threw comedian Daniel Tosh into the mix with the webbily titled Tosh.0. But which one, if either, is better?

I was a fan of The Soup back when it was called Talk Soup and was hosted by Hal Sparks (I'm too young for the Greg Kinnear and John Henson eras). I've become a fan of Joel McHale and appreciate his writing staff and his comedic timing. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think that Talk Soup would ever become a franchise like Law & Order, CSI, or NCIS.

Soon four versions of the soup showed up on E!'s sibling channels: The Dish (on Style), Sports Soup (on Versus), Web Soup (on G4), and Celebrity Soup (the British version), but none can compare to the original. The Dish is funny for female oriented television as Sports Soup is for watching the most awkward sports shows. Web Soup feels like a hiccup in the thought process.

The producers of E!'s The Soup are creating a new show called Web Soup that highlights memorable moments in online video. Comedian and writer Chris Hardwick will host Web Soup, which debuts June 7 on G4.

I'm not a big fan of The Soup. It's the kind of show I'll watch for a few minutes while flipping. But I'll give Web Soup my full attention only because Chris Hardwick is hosting. The guy's hilarious. He's been making crap watchable since the 1990s when he used to host Singled Out on MTV.