TVSquad

One of the long-time staples on cable has been The Soup (formerly Talk Soup) on E!. What started as a spoof of the various bizarre and goofy talk shows that permeated the airwaves throughout the '90s was reborn as a show that makes fun of all things television and pop culture now. Now the brand is seeking to expand to provide the same brand of satire and commentary to the sports world. Sister network Versus will air Sports Soup twice a week beginning October 14th, 2008. Of course, as with Joel McHale on The Soup the success of its new sister show will rest solely on the shoulders of its host, Matt Iseman.

In looking at Iseman's Wiki entry, it looks like this show was originally branded After Further Review. I guess they thought associating it with an already successful show with a similar format would improve its ratings. The network is still trying to establish itself as a viable sports brand in the ESPN world. Adding a show like this might be just the thing they need to drum up some buzz.

No doubt envious of all the buzz The Soup is getting, E!'s sister channel, Style Network, is planning their own version. Premiering August 16th, The Dish will cover more topics than The Soup including TV, celebrities, fashion and beauty. Here's the kicker though: The Dish is set to be hosted by Topanga herself, Boy Meets World's Danielle Fishel.

Style executive VP Salaam Coleman sums up The Dish's appeal, saying, "What's great about The Dish is that it takes a not-so-serious look at the often very serious world of fashion and finds the comedy in celebrity lifestyle." Well yes, that would be great--in theory.

The problem is, this is a type of show that is very difficult to do well. You need a strong group of writers and a charismatic host. While The Soup may be the toast of the town now, it kind of sucked when it first aired. While two of The Soup's executive producers are behind The Dish, I'm not sure if Danielle is going to quite have the "pop" that this show is going to need.

By now, you've probably heard about Britney Spears superfan Chris Crocker and his tearful pleas to leave poor Britney alone after her not so auspicious return to MTV's Video Music Awards. You haven't seen it yet? Well, click right here to view the video before you continue. Done? Feel scared? Wondering if that's a boy or a girl (it's a boy)? Even more scared? Now you're ready to continue.

As we live in a world of instantaneous ridicule, plenty of videos have gone up on YouTube and other video sties mocking Crocker. One of these comes from Seth Green, he of Robot Chicken and Family Guy fame (oh, and that show that featured a girl vampire killer. Her name was Barbara, Belinda, Beefy . . . I can't remember).

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

It would appear that the adaptation of UK sit-com The IT Crowd might need more than Roy's famous reboot fix. According to reports, NBC is set to pull the plug on the midseason comedy. If you haven't been playing along at home, the show is to be a joint production between Universal Media Studios and Freemantle Media. It's an ensemble comedy, set in an IT department, starring Joel McHale (The Soup) and Rocky Carroll (Invasion).