TASTY TALK: JOEL MCHALE

1.            You were born in Rome, Italy & then moved to New Jersey - wow, that sounds like a mean practical joke! Why did your family leave the land of romance for the Garden State?
This is not exactly true and how dare you insult New Jersey in your question!  I will not tell Bruce Springsteen what you said. We moved from Italy to Washington State then to New Jersey and then back to Washington.  Fun huh? I loved New Jersey. We lived in a town called Haddonfield. I thought it was the greatest place in the world because on Halloween kids could start trick or treating right after school. Isn’t that great? My Dad’s job took him back to the Northwest after only two years in the Garden State. He also wanted to get back to the state with the worst sports teams in the country (okay, that’s just this year).

2.            You & your  wife have 2 adorable boys - that's a lot of? testosterone in one house! How do the boys get along? Was it tough on? Eddie to accept his little brother, Isaac?????
It’s not as much testosterone as you’d think. I inject myself with estrogen daily.  Menopause sucks. The boys get along great … meaning Eddie (3yrs. old) has stopped trying to suffocate Isaac (9 months).  I had two brothers so my poor mom was also surrounded by men. Sarah, my wife, will just have to get used to a life of the toilet seat always being up.

3.      When your older son, Eddie, was only 2-months-old, he underwent open heart surgery.  That must have been incredibly traumatic.  What advice do you have for other parents who may be coping with a similar? situation?
Cabernet or Syrah and a lot of it. It was a horrific time for us. Very surreal.   Fortunately Eddie’s heart problem was relatively simple to repair. He had two holes in the wall of his heart.  Even though open heart surgery is obviously major, major surgery, Eddie’s problem was nothing compared to when a surgeon has to deal with the valves and veins of the heart. Multiple surgeries are required for those, and it can affect quality of life and life-span. We were deeply thankful to God that Eddie came through great and doesn’t haven’t any residual effects. We spent about a week in Los Angeles Children’s Hospital (the greatest hospital in the world), on the floor with all the other children who were recovering from much more serious surgeries. We realized quickly that Eddie’s problem paled in comparison to some of those kids. We were so lucky because we had an end to the dark tunnel that was his problem, but for those other kids, it can be a life-long struggle, or worse. They are so strong and brave. Every parent should thank God for the gift that is their children’s health, and shower them with love.

4.      You write, produce & host The Soup, which is a whole lot of?responsibility. But watching the show, it also looks like you & your team have a ton of fun!  Do you guys really laugh & goof around as much as it appears?
The staff are some of my favorite people in the world.  They are incredibly good people and funny as hell.  When it comes to the day-to-day work environment, we have a great time.  Of course, we’re like any staff and have our issues, but when I hear about other staffs (not just in entertainment, but in any profession) and the way people are treated (yelling, tension, crazy hierarchies) it makes me cringe, because it’s stupid and pointless.  Why go through life like that?  Making TV is not a matter of life and death and should be handled with a light heart. I wanted “The Soup” to be a fun place to work all the time. I hope our audience feels that when they watch. Of course, if any of the staff is out of line they will find themselves on the street faster than you can say “Seacrest out.”

5.      What's your favorite running gag on the show? (We happen to have?quite an affection for your nurse's uniform ... that's a good look!) By?the way, is Lou the Chihuahua your family dog?
Right now, I like Spaghetti Cat (see You Tube to understand what I’m talking about) and the voiceover “It’s Miley!”. We do the “It’s Miley!” scream whenever we introduce a Miley Cyrus story.  They both make me laugh.  Lou is not my dog.  He’s a prop we keep in storage.  No.  He’s our executive producer, Edward Boyd’s dog. He’s a great dog. I didn’t like Chihuahuas very much before I met Lou (I thought they looked like big-eyed rats), but now I’m in love.

6.      On The Soup, you lampoon everyone, but there are some folks (Tyra comes to mind!) are fairer game than others.  Do you have a "soft?spot" for any of the wacky people you joke about?
Our rule is, if you’re calling attention to yourself, and whatever it is you’re doing is so noticeable that you actually separate yourself from the average white noise of  entertainment news and reality television, then we are going to tell a joke about you.  Thank you Tyra.

7.      Kidding aside: would you say that you are an environmentalist?? How do you & your wife try to teach your boys about our planet's? precious resources?
All kidding aside?  Yes. Sure.  We’ve been trying to teach our nine-month-old to make sure he doesn’t throw away cans and bottles.  Sadly, he sucks at it.  He just drools all over the recycling and pushes it around and smiles.  It’s pretty cute. As far as our three-year-old, Eddie is concerned, his favorite, favorite, favorite car in the world is the Toyota Prius. I can’t take credit.  He just loves them.  I like the Audi R8, but go figure – the kid is naturally environmentally conscious.

8.      Ok, we know you probably want to say something really cynical?right now, so go ahead ...???
You’re fat.

9.      We know that feeding your kids organic food is a big priority?for you & Sarah – that's why Isaac eats Tastybaby, right?!  Do you guys cook at home?
Thank God for Tastybaby because I sure as heck couldn’t cook for the little guy.  If it was left up to me, Isaac would probably being eating a lot beef jerky and peanut brittle.  Sarah is great about cooking.  She cooks for Eddie and herself every morning and almost every night. She’s a great cook. I used to do most of the cooking before we had kids ,but now with schedules it works out that she does most of it.  She’s the greatest.

10. And now for the question we ask everyone: what makes you "Tasty?"
I bathe in marshmallow spread every morning.

11. And, since you requested "a hard math question," here's one for?extra credit: One train leaves Los Angeles at 15mph heading for New?York. Another train leaves from New York at 20mph heading for Los Angeles on the same track. If a bird, flying at 25mph, leaves from Los?Angeles at the same time as the train and flies back and forth between?the two trains until they collide, how far will the bird have traveled?
Holy crap!! Stop the trains!! They’re going to run into each other somewhere in Oklahoma!!!  You’re sick, you’re sick for risking so many people’s lives for the sake of a math problem!! You’re sick!