Joel McHale Takes Manhattan

Joel McHale is running late. He's due at the Ed Sullivan Theater to tape his spot on Wednesday's Late Show with David Letterman in just a few minutes, he's still in the suit he wore to film Wednesday's special New York edition of The Soup, and, for whatever reason, he didn't sleep a wink last night. "My mind was swirling with all the crap I had to do today, but I think it was really the espresso I had for dessert," he says. Nonetheless, he answered a few of TV Guide Magazine's questions.

TV Guide Magazine: It's impressive how much you guys do on The Soup with so little.
Joel McHale: We've gotten better at this since I first started doing it remotely. It's the best staff in the world; they've got it down now. It's like Italian food. You're like, "It's just flour, water, tomato, olive oil. How does it taste so good?" That's a ridiculous comparison.

TV Guide Magazine: Brian Williams stopped by to do a bit, which definitely ups the class factor. Did you have to convince him, or was he excited to be part of "Reow! With Brian Williams" in person?
McHale: I actually met his daughter, Allison, at a party, and she said they sometimes watched the show together, so he somehow didn't require much convincing.

TV Guide Magazine: Are there any shows The Soup won't touch?
McHale: Intervention's always a real rough one, so it's not like we can make fun of that — or want to. But no, there's nothing that's like, "That's too offensive!" Because whatever it is, it's part of the landscape of television, and it must be dealt with.

TV Guide Magazine: A little while back you signed a deal with E! to develop your own reality programming. How's that going?
McHale: I am pretty close to pitching something. My attempt will be to make reality programming that I enjoy. There's lots of great reality shows. Even though it just got canceled, I think Dirty Jobs was a great show. Those sorts of shows are terrific. They're very compelling and they're really fun to watch, and you learn stuff. So if I can do stuff like that, I'll be very happy.

TV Guide Magazine: You're in town to promote Community, which finally starts its fourth season Feb. 7.
McHale: I'm excited about these episodes: We've got a lot of holidays coming up. I just hope we get to come back for a fifth season.

The Soup airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on E!

Community airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC