Joel McHale Rips On Reality TV

He's the star of NBC's cult comedy, "Community," and has a number of films coming out, including "What's Your Number?" and "Spy Kids 4." In his spare time, he hosts this little show called "The Soup" on E!, on which he pokes fun at the pop culture trends of the week. Often times, that means ripping on reality television -- and as it turns out, he isn't joking with his insults.

"Shows like 'Big Brother' drive me out of my mind. I can't stand them," he told New York Magazine. "That title is a moving target, as things in reality shows change all the time. But 'Big Brother' should just be called 'Whispering and Conspiring.' It shows human beings at their worst. Those shows where they just say, 'Let's take a bunch of damaged people, throw them into a house, and ply them with booze and see what happens'? That's where we're using our loser brains."

It must be a bit awkward, then, for McHale, as he works on one of the most prominent reality programmers out there in E!. Either way, it's clear that he at least gets a bit of a masochistic kick out of the shows, given both his 2009 list of most loved reality clips and his appreciation for how MTV has assisted him in his "Soup" gig.

"Next to Tyra Banks, it's amazing how much you have contributed to 'The Soup,' thank you," he told the network last week. "'Date My Mom,' come on, the title alone sells itself. Thanks for bringing back 'Jersey Shore,' and you should all apologize to the people of Italy. I saw that eight times more people watched that than 'Breaking Bad.' I'm going to go smash my head against this railing."

For much more from McHale, click over to NY Mag.