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Vulture called McHale recently to talk about how he ended up on Netflix, why E!
endedThe Soupin the first place, his thoughts onCommunitys enduring legacy, and a possible return to scripted series.
How did the idea forThe Joel McHale Show With Joel McHalecome about?
ended the show for reasons which werent really ratings related, you know.
What do you mean?There was a time when E!
had a very strong comedy brand.
It was me, Chelsea [Handler], and Joan [Rivers].
The Writers Guild came down and said, You guys all need to become guild.
The writers were all thrilled, as we all were, because that is whatshouldhappen.
makes its money by repeating things forever without paying extra money for those things.
Thats why we were on 18 times a week or something.
We went from like 18 reruns to zero.
They also asked us to stop making fun of the Kardashians.
That was the writing on the wall there for me.
But when it ended I was like, This isnt really the end, I dont think.
Ill probably, hopefully, do the show somewhere else.
In the meantime, you didThe Great Outdoorson CBS.I did a show on CBS for one season.
And that was my plan, just one season.
A lot likeTrue Detective.Oh wait, not at all.
Anderson, because they live in the same neighborhood.
Paul wasnt on staff of [The Soup], but he was a huge fan of it.
He was our champion and he was incredibly enthusiastic about getting it going again.
I was like, Yeah, I would love to.
We just didnt know where it was gonna live, or who would want it at this point.
Did you take the idea to a bunch of places, or just Netflix?We pitched it around.
We didnt pitch it to any broadcast networks.
We pitched it to a couple cable places, but mostly all streaming.
A couple were interested and they wanted to do a pilot.
Netflix was ready to do 13, so we were like, Great, lets do it.
Its Netflix, and, you know, theyre the king of the world.
I mean, you havePaul Feigjust wandering around the offices all the time!
And he chimes in about comedy.
David Letterman coming to Netflix had nothing to do with your show landing there.
We tape on a Thursday, and its translated into 30 languages and then dropped on Sunday.
And obviously when you get Letterman, you get a legend.
You get somebody whos moving into a Paul Bunyanlike legend zone.
told you not to make fun of the Kardashians.
Do you think you would ever make fun of Lettermans show?Yeah, Netflix has been absolutely open.
They were like, Go for it, and go for anything you want.
We go after the things that we find funny and that we can say something funny about.
Those are the only rules for us.
I mean,the first bit we didwas Whats It Like to Work at Netflix?
And we made fun of a couple different shows.
One of the things Ive loved so far is that the show is blessedly Trump-free.
They do a incredible job, and way better than I could.
Are you also trying to make the episodes less time-sensitive?
In no way are we pursuing that.
I know that was tough sometimes, particular forCommunity.
Is it odd to no longer get that instant audience feedback?
Particularly since the initial Netflix order is only for 13 weeks?Its actually much more liberating.
For us, its more like wedonthave to worry about that.
Oh, what were the numbers?
What were the overnights?
Were they the same in the big cities as they were in the rural areas?
All that stuff, I dont have to worry about, which isgreat.
And Netflix has been only encouraging.
I could tell immediately that people tuned in.
So I see it as more of a liberation than being driven mad by not knowing.
Would you like to do more than 13 every year?
I imagine thats the goal.As far as the order, yeah.
And I would love to do more episodes this year.
Its been almost 15 years since you startedThe Soup.
Are you more conscious of potentially offending audiences than you were when you began?
Where do you come down?I think comedy evolves in the same way that plants and animals do.
So I dont feel scared or nervous.
Theres never been a #BoycottJoelMcHale campaign.Yeah, Ive never had one of those.
I guess I wasnt popular enough.
I dont feel restrained.
I want to go back for a minute to yourCommunitydays.
Now, almost everyone from those shows has found significant success most of it outside of data pipe TV.
Thats my working theory.
I think that people felt that that lineup on Thursday nights was high-quality but not always well-watched.
That was the perception.
But those shows the30 Rocks and theParks and Recs affected the culture quite a bit.
Somebody was watching them.
Youve always seemed proud ofCommunitys legacy.WhenCommunitywas on, I always felt, This is a very special show.
The scripts were so mind-blowingly great.
I was just grateful to God to be a part of it.
Or do more movies likeA Futile and Stupid Gesture?
No, Im kidding!
So I fought for it.
If something comes along like that, then Im going to jump at it.
So its a little bit ambiguous.
I do have a piece that Im developing with [Doctor Strangedirector] Scott Derrickson.
If that all works out, then I cant wait to do that.
Is the project with Scott Derrickson a TV show or a movie?Its an eight-episode-a-year TV show.
Would you ever want to do a 22-episode show again?If the script is great.
As long as it doesnt interfere too much with the show Im doing.
New episodes ofThe Joel McHale Show With Joel McHalestream Sunday on Netflix.
