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Woman on Top at E!

© Susan Colebank

E! Entertainment Television isn't what you'd call serious TV or even needed TV. E! is what you'd call a guilty pleasure -- something to lose yourself in when you're in a ratty old robe, eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's and recovering from a cold or a nasty break-up. E! features such fare as Hollywood scandals, Hollywood gossip, Hollywood history and, of course, Hollywood style. That's not to say, however, that it doesn't have a sense of Hollywood humor, as its Talk Soup most definitely does.

Introduced in 1991, Oscar-nominated Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets, Nurse Betty) first helmed this weekly satire, poking fun of the most noxious shows on TV. No, not soap operas or ABC's "TGIF" line-up -- rather, the ever-despicable talk show genre. Choice bits from "Live with Regis!" to "Jerry Springer" are lambasted on Talk Soup, whether it's a segment ousting 'faithful' wives as lesbian lovers or Tom Arnold making ape sounds on one of the more esteemed shows.

But now, 10 years after the show started, the format has finally gotten a reprieve from the host being a cocky white guy with a dry sense of humor. Now, it's got a cocky black woman throwing the punches and taking no prisoners. Aisha Taylor has been a guest host on this show as well as a guest on other satorical shows, including ABC's Politically Incorrect. She even comes with the same credentials as Kinnear -- she's played various guest spots on shows such as CBS's Nash Bridges and NBC's now-cancelled Pretender.

It will be nice to see a wise-crackin' woman on this show. It will bring a new flavor to an old-time cult favorite, and hopefully, this will boost her career the way it did Kinnear's.

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