Versus Stirs The Pot With "Sports Soup"

Posted by Cubicle QB

One of the consistently funnier shows on cable is E!’s The Soup, wherein host Joel McHale gives viewers the weirdest and funniest moments from reality and talk shows and skewers them with witty commentary. I always thought this format would work well for a sports comedy show, and Versus thought so, too. On Oct. 14, Versus will debut Sports Soup with host Matt Iseman. This biweekly half-hour series will air Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10pm ET.

“This will be the Chad Johnson of sports shows — a little obnoxious, usually hilarious and so fascinating that you just won’t be able to take your eyes off it because you have to see what happens next,” said Matt Iseman. “Imagine having a friend that can watch hundreds of channels, 24 hours a day and then pull the best and worst moments to share with you. Sports Soup on VERSUS will be that friend, but we won’t drink all your beer.”

Versus might actually be the best home for this type of show. Could you even imagine this on ESPN? Would they poke fun of any of their personalities or anything on their air? If/when Kornheiser said something stupid on MNF, would they rip on him? Would they dare poke fun of one of their “broadcast partners” to whom they pay hundreds of millions in rights fees?

At least Versus isn’t really beholden to any major sports league outside of the NHL, so they don’t have any real fear of angering the mighty NFL or MLB. But with leagues maintaining a firm grip on their highlights and how they’re used, not to mention ESPN and FSN maintaining the broadcast rights to their own shows, we’ll have to see if Versus can do this the way it should be done.