He's Baaaaaaack..."The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale"

The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale (2018)

Starring Joel McHale

The Story:

Joel's back, doing what made him famous the first time around: poking fun at the best, worst clips you can find on television today!

Seriously, that's it.

For those with a long enough memory and cable subscription, you may remember back in the day there was a little show called Talk Soup. It was hosted by Greg Kinnear, and they mocked some of the outrageous clips that were found on the daytime talk shows.

This ran for years, with Kinnear ultimately heading off to become a leading man in Hollywood, and subsequent hosts came and went, each springboarding to further fame after their hosting gig.

Then the show was rebranded as "The Soup" as television was not only inundated with crazy talk shows, but reality tv was going gangbusters and deserved a special place in the sun to enjoy the absurdity of it all.

The ringleader in all of this? Some guy named Joel McHale.

Following its predecessor's lead, Joel stood in front of a green screen and made quips about the clips until E! decided to pull the plug.

Joel headed to Hollywood and the rest is history.

Until 2018, when Netflix decided wouldn't it be great if we brought back something old as something new again?

And here we have the perfectly titled The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale.

It's wordy. It's a bit conceited. It's the perfect title for Joel's comeback.

There are guests aplenty in each episode, usually from another Netflix series or special, but otherwise you get Joel being Joel and mocking everything from the clips to his own show to Netflix ... dun dun ... itself.

All is right with the world again.

New episodes stream every Sunday, but we're getting close to the end of the first 13 episodes.

Hopefully he'll be renewed for a Season 2 later this year.

Final Grade: A-

Back Then, Stamps Only Cost $ .32 ... "Dear God", What Happened?

Never tamper with the mail...

The Story:

Tom Turner (Greg Kinnear) is a con man.  When he's arrested one time too many, he gets the option of getting a real job, or going to jail.  He opts of course for the real job.  He winds up working for the Postal Service in the dead letter office.  He realizes that people send letters to God all the time...and some people even include money.  Tom sets out for the ultimate scam, and then accidentally helps some people along the way.  Inspired by their new co-worker, his team want to help Tom perform more miracles.  Soon, the God Squad is on the job, and lives and spirits are getting sunnier in California...  much to the chagrin of the Postmaster General.

But can a con man con himself into going straight?

I've been about as big of a fan of Greg Kinnear as can be, without joining an official fan club, since I saw him hosting Talk Soup back in the early 90s.

Yep, and as it has been a transitional job for the hosts ever since, I watched Greg fly from the nest and head to Hollywood to be a star. 

Following up the remake of Sabrina, Dear God was Kinnear's first foray as the leading man of the film, and he does an admirable job.

He's bright, funny, and plays the perfect conman.  It was basically Kinnear doing what he did best for years on Talk Soup.

Garry Marshall surrounded him with a stellar cast of other character actors for support including Hector Elizondo and the amazing Tim Conway.

However, don't let the title fool you, this is not a movie that is going to preach the gospel and make atheists avoid it like the plague. 

It's a simple plot device to get from point A to B, and show the triumph of humanity that when we put our minds and hearts to doing good deeds, amazing things can happen.

Laurie Metcalf is almost too over-the-top in her role, and kind of derails the third act, but Kinnear is able to save it with a speech filled with earnestness that wins you over.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I do indeed own this one, and it gets a spin every few years or so, and it's been enjoyable each time.