“Talk Soup” Started Dissecting TV's Most Memorable Moments 35 Years Ago. Here's Where the Show's Hosts Are Today
- - “Talk Soup” Started Dissecting TV's Most Memorable Moments 35 Years Ago. Here's Where the Show's Hosts Are Today
Angela AndaloroJanuary 13, 2026 at 6:00 AM
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E! Entertainment
Joel McHale hosts "The Soup" -
Talk Soup aired from 1991 through 2002, returning as The Soup in 2004
The show has seen different hosts, all of whom have gone on to enjoy active careers in acting, comedy and more
Here's what the four men and two women who served as hosts are up to, 35 years after the show's premiere and 5 years after its conclusion
One of E!'s most memorable gems has still left an impact on audiences and TV, 35 years later.
Talk Soup first premiered on Jan. 7, 1991, based on offering pop culture commentary on the things going on morning and late-night TV. The show began to evolve as the internet found its place in homes around the country. Talk Soup's original format aired through 2002.
In 2004, the show was rebranded as The Soup, giving a nod to its predecessor while also expanding further into the pop culture moments that had everyone buzzing. The laughs came thanks to some ace-level hosts. Here's what they're up to today.
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Greg Kinnear
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Greg Kinnear in the early 1990s (left) and today
Greg Kinnear balanced his acting career with hosting duties on Talk Soup from 1991 to 1994. The host left to become one of the very subjects he spoke on — a talk show host! Kinnear exited Talk Soup for his own late-night talk show, NBC's Later with Greg Kinnear.
The following year, Kinnear made his feature film debut in Blankman. It was the beginning of many successes for Kinnear, which included Sabrina (1995), You've Got Mail (1998), Nurse Betty (2000), Someone like You (2001), We Were Soldiers, (2002), Stuck on You (2003), Robots (2005), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and many more.
Kinnear also enjoyed television roles, appearing on Friends, Modern Family, House of Cards, and The Stand.
John Henson
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John Henson in 1996 (left) and today
John Henson served as the longest-running host of Talk Soup, from 1995 to 1999. During that time, he transitioned from stand-up comedy to hosting full-time, following up his time on the show with hosting gigs on his own short-lived show, The John Henson Project (2004). There's also Watch This! (2006), co-hosting Wipeout (2008-2014), iWitness (2017) and, most recently, Halloween Baking Championship.
Henson has also done some acting, from appearing in Blink-182's "What's My Age Again?" music video in 1999 to appearances in Charmed, My Name is Earl, Anger Management and Austin & Ally.
Hal Sparks
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Hal Sparks in 2001 (left) and today
Hal Sparks hosted Talk Soup for just a year, from 1999 to 2000. The new millennium ushered in exciting opportunities for Sparks, who appeared in both Dude, Where's My Car? and began his role as Michael Novotny in Queer as Folk.
A year after Queer as Folk came to an end, Sparks ventured into voice acting in both TV and video games, lending his vocals to Tak & the Power of Juju. Sparks also provided commentary on VH1's I Love the series throughout the 2000s.
Today, Sparks continues to do it all — acting, hosting, podcasting and more.
Aisha Tyler
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Aisha Tyler in 2001 (left) and today
Hosting Talk Soup was a big break for Aisha Tyler, although her stint was short. She hosted from 2001 through the show's cancellation in 2002. While Tyler has always had a penchant for independent projects, a wider audience got to know her during her time on Friends as Dr. Charlie Wheeler.
Tyler went on to appear in CSI: Miami and Nip/Tuck the following year, as well as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and 24. That opened the door for more roles in both film and television, most famously voicing Lana Kane on Archer from 2009 to 2023.
The actress also returned to the talk show side of things, serving on the hosting panel of The Talk from 2011 to 2020. She also hosted Whose Line Is It Anyway? from 2013 to 2024.
Joel McHale
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Joel McHale in 2006 (left) and today
Joel McHale headed up The Soup, the reboot of Talk Soup. While the format opened the show up to broader pop culture subjects, it also kept the Chat Stew segment as an homage to the original and opportunity to turn the attention back to daytime and late-night talk shows.
McHale hosted from 2004 to 2015, pulling double duty during the latter half of his time there with his role as Jeff Winger on Community. Both concluded the same year, after which McHale played Tad O'Malley on The X-Files reboot.
Most recently, McHale has appeared in The Bear and Animal Control.
Jade Catta-Preta
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Jade Catta-Preta in 2020 (left) and today
Jade Catta-Preta pivoted from a career in theater to a career in comedy. It was through the comedy circuit that Catta-Preta was picked as the host for the reboot ofThe Soup, which began just before the pandemic in 2020 and then went on hiatus until mid 2020, though it was ultimately cancelled.
Since then, Catta-Pret has appeared in various projects, continued podcasting, as well as serving as host on Hulu's Hotties.
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