E!: NBC Pilot Won’t Keep Joel McHale From 'The Soup'
Will also appear in Steven Soderbergh's The Informant in addition to new comedy pilot 'Community'
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/24/2009 3:36:00 PM
Joel McHale will continue as host of The Soup on E! Entertainment Television, despite having been cast in the leading role on Community, a comedy pilot for NBC.
McHale has often juggled his duties as host of The Soup with acting and voiceover work, as well as stand-up comedy appearances throughout the country.
“Joel is fully committed to continuing as host of The Soup,” a network spokesperson says. “We support his work on other projects.”
The pilot isn’t McHale’s first major acting gig since taking over E!’s pop culture skewering series. He will also appear in the Steven Soderbergh film The Informant later this year.
In an interview with B&C last month, McHale said that he came to Los Angeles to become an actor, and that he intended to follow through with that opportunity should it present itself.
“I came here to do movies, and that's what I'm starting to do,” McHale said at the time, referring to the Soderbergh picture.
There is a precedent to go from the cable series to acting. Greg Kinnear hosted the original incarnation of the series, Talk Soup, in the early 1990’s before making it big in films such as As Good As It Gets and Baby Mamma.
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