Web Soup
Encyclopedia
Web Soup is a weekly series airing in the U.S. on G4
. The show (first airing June 7, 2009), hosted by Chris Hardwick
, comments on the latest in viral video
s. It has similar fashion to sister network E! Entertainment Television's series The Soup
and is produced by the same crew as that show.
During the first 2 seasons, this show was taped in front of a green screen
like The Soup. With the third season, the program now tapes on the set usually utilized by E! News
with added studio audience seating.
Brad Stevens) wearing a fake 1970s TV-cop mustache, sunglasses, and headphones recording the title in a sound booth (or some slight variation of this).
Operators Are Standing By - Poorly made local commercials and infomercials are featured here. The products shown are then mocked or lampooned. It is introduced by a blank-smiling female telephone operator spinning slowly in her desk chair and saying a different line each week.
Local News: Slowly Dying, But Still Funny - Embarrassing stories and moments from local newscasts are often aired.
Twittershots!! - Hardwick and the staff at Web Soup feed random funny viral videos through their Twitter
profile and allowed viewers (or in this case "followers") to submit their own hilarious commentary. Although this went on during the first season, this segment wasn't officially incepted until the show's second season, where the segment's title spoofs Duck Hunt
.
Webcam Junction - This segment takes a look at opinionated people who comment through the use of their webcam. Its intro features an archetype
country rube standing up shirtless, in overalls, with blackened teeth, Hee Haw
-style in a cornfield. Sometimes he has an equally stereotyped female companion.
This Week In FAIL! - A Showcase of hilarious videos of failures such as skateboarding mishaps, and other various stunts gone wrong. For a time during Season One, and throughout Season 2, G4 partnered up with Break.com
and revamped this popular segment a month after the show's debut to bring extreme fail content to its viewers. For a couple of episodes, it was titled as "This Week in Amateur Stripper Fail". As of season 3, its new content partner is eBaum's World
.
Mixed Nuts Sampler - This segment features videos that show people taking shots to the groin, although they do so mostly intentional than accidental. The titlecard of the segment spoofs the Whitman's Sampler
package.
WTF? - A semi-regular segment featuring a web video which is distinctly odd, baffling, and/or disturbing in some way. Its introduction is a parody of an infamous (and equally disturbing & baffling) scene from the film The Shining
.
Is That Really a Thing?! - Another semi-regular bit it showcases web videos which are both bizarre and decidedly sexually fetish in nature. Appropriately it is introduced with a graphic of a red light district
showing a store window with a donkey
, a sex doll
, and a plate of pancakes & syrup.
Things You Can't Unsee - Every week a disturbing, sometimes graphic or even grotesque video is aired. It is always followed by a random cute clip known as Palate Cleanser to try and clear one's mind of the preceding unpleasant video (on September 22, 2009 what Chris Hardwick deemed "The most can't unsee worthy clip ever" displayed a man with a half-dollar size hole in the bottom of his foot, and maggots crawling within the wound).
The Greatest Web Video Ever* (*this week) - A clip considered to be the best clip shown on the internet in the past week. It is introduced Star Wars-style with titles on a moving starfield and the first few bars of a generic (but 'Star Wars-like') main title theme.
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
. The show (first airing June 7, 2009), hosted by Chris Hardwick
Chris Hardwick
Christopher Ryan "Chris" Hardwick is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, musician, podcaster, television personality, and voice artist...
, comments on the latest in viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
s. It has similar fashion to sister network E! Entertainment Television's series The Soup
The Soup
The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...
and is produced by the same crew as that show.
During the first 2 seasons, this show was taped in front of a green screen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
like The Soup. With the third season, the program now tapes on the set usually utilized by E! News
E! News
E! News, previously known as E! News Daily and E! News Live, is a nightly entertainment newsmagazine program airing on E!: Entertainment Television. The program debuted on September 1, 1991 and talks about Hollywood celebrities and gossip...
with added studio audience seating.
Regular segments
Firsties - This is usually the first segment of the show. Chris said that it was the internet phenom where "Trolls race to be the first to post and write "firsties!!!" as a comment" that prompted the segment's name change (it replaced "The Big Upload"). It is introduced by a gum chewing man (head writer and show runnerShow runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
Brad Stevens) wearing a fake 1970s TV-cop mustache, sunglasses, and headphones recording the title in a sound booth (or some slight variation of this).
Operators Are Standing By - Poorly made local commercials and infomercials are featured here. The products shown are then mocked or lampooned. It is introduced by a blank-smiling female telephone operator spinning slowly in her desk chair and saying a different line each week.
Local News: Slowly Dying, But Still Funny - Embarrassing stories and moments from local newscasts are often aired.
Twittershots!! - Hardwick and the staff at Web Soup feed random funny viral videos through their Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
profile and allowed viewers (or in this case "followers") to submit their own hilarious commentary. Although this went on during the first season, this segment wasn't officially incepted until the show's second season, where the segment's title spoofs Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt
is a video game for the Nintendo Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System game console system in which players use the NES Zapper to shoot ducks on screen for points. The game was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released in 1984 in Japan...
.
Webcam Junction - This segment takes a look at opinionated people who comment through the use of their webcam. Its intro features an archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
country rube standing up shirtless, in overalls, with blackened teeth, Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
-style in a cornfield. Sometimes he has an equally stereotyped female companion.
This Week In FAIL! - A Showcase of hilarious videos of failures such as skateboarding mishaps, and other various stunts gone wrong. For a time during Season One, and throughout Season 2, G4 partnered up with Break.com
Break.com
Break.com is a humor website founded in 1998 that features comedy videos, flash games, and pictures among other material. The chief executive officer of Break is Steve Boss...
and revamped this popular segment a month after the show's debut to bring extreme fail content to its viewers. For a couple of episodes, it was titled as "This Week in Amateur Stripper Fail". As of season 3, its new content partner is eBaum's World
EBaum's World
eBaum's World is a website based in Rochester, New York featuring entertainment media such as videos, Flash cartoons and web games. It is controversial for many reasons, primarily because much of the content on the website is taken from other sources without permission and rebranded with the...
.
Mixed Nuts Sampler - This segment features videos that show people taking shots to the groin, although they do so mostly intentional than accidental. The titlecard of the segment spoofs the Whitman's Sampler
Whitman's
Whitman's is one of America's largest and oldest brands of boxed chocolates. Whitman's confections have been produced since 1842, originally by Stephen Whitman in Philadelphia and currently by Russell Stover Candies...
package.
WTF? - A semi-regular segment featuring a web video which is distinctly odd, baffling, and/or disturbing in some way. Its introduction is a parody of an infamous (and equally disturbing & baffling) scene from the film The Shining
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
.
Is That Really a Thing?! - Another semi-regular bit it showcases web videos which are both bizarre and decidedly sexually fetish in nature. Appropriately it is introduced with a graphic of a red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
showing a store window with a donkey
Donkey show
A donkey show is a form of sex tourism entertainment most often associated with Tijuana, Mexico, in which a local woman engages in zoophilia with a donkey....
, a sex doll
Sex doll
A sex doll is a type of sex toy in the size and shape of a sexual partner for aid in masturbation....
, and a plate of pancakes & syrup.
Things You Can't Unsee - Every week a disturbing, sometimes graphic or even grotesque video is aired. It is always followed by a random cute clip known as Palate Cleanser to try and clear one's mind of the preceding unpleasant video (on September 22, 2009 what Chris Hardwick deemed "The most can't unsee worthy clip ever" displayed a man with a half-dollar size hole in the bottom of his foot, and maggots crawling within the wound).
The Greatest Web Video Ever* (*this week) - A clip considered to be the best clip shown on the internet in the past week. It is introduced Star Wars-style with titles on a moving starfield and the first few bars of a generic (but 'Star Wars-like') main title theme.