Despite uneven ratings and countless personnel changes over the years, E! network stalwart The Soup maintained a small but loyal following for an astonishing 21 seasons. Sadly, it was announced today that E! is pulling the plug on the low-budget reality show clip aggregator, and The Soup will ladle out its last serving of droll Kardashian-bashing on December 18. We imagine some of you are in mourning, and others in shock that the show was still on. It’s hard to overstate The Soup’s influence on other late night basic cable series, as TV personalities such as Daniel Tosh and Chris Hardwick (former host of the spinoff Web Soup) have admitted to borrowing the formats for their Comedy Central series straight from The Soup’s playbook. Despite the popularity of Millennial-friendly host Joel McHale (who co-starred on the critically-adored Community for much of his tenure on The Soup), the show’s ratings had been in steady decline, as the Internet began to offer countless options for reality-based snark. Beginning as Talk Soup in 1991, the show featured hosts Greg Kinnear, John Henson, Hal Sparks and Aisha Tyler before McHale began his 12-year run in 2004. “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,” said E! exec Jeff Olde in a statement. “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.” Here’s hoping Kim and Kanye make a cameo to laugh at themselves in the finale. Yeah, that’s probably not gonna happen… View Slideshow: 12 TV Shows That Should Be Canceled Like Now
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The Soup: Canceled By E! Somehow Not Canceled in 2012!
