Netflix has poached another one. After nabbing Ryan Murphy, David Letterman and Shonda Rhimes, the streaming goliath has recruited Joel McHale, the former host of E!’s “The Soup,” who has landed his own weekly pop culture commentary series, “The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale,” set to launch Feb. 18 on Netflix.
This isn’t the first time McHale has entered the streaming game. Amidst his 12-year run hosting “The Soup,” his NBC comedy “Community” moved to the now-defunct Yahoo Screen for a short-lived revival.
“According to the former Yahoo Screen executives, we apparently single-handedly brought down their streaming service, so I have to thank Netflix for allowing me another chance back on a streaming service,” McHale quips during a recent phone interview with Variety.
“The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale” sounds like an updated version of “The Soup,” which was cancelled in 2015, but McHale promises the two shows are “totally different.”
“Now instead of a kelly green curtain, we’ve settled on a forest green — it’s a slightly darker shade,” he jokes of the green-screen. “It is a clip show, but what’s going to be different about it is that Netflix has really nice studios and catering.”
With Netflix as his new home, McHale is excited for his global reach, which means he’ll be covering international content. Plus, working in the non-traditional television landscape, he says, comes with more creative freedom.
Here, McHale tells Variety why he signed on with Netflix, how the new show will be different, and what’s off-limits — and what’s not.
(Excerpt) Read More in: Variety