‘Soupheads’ Lap Up Skunkboy’s Servings Of TV Tidbits
Meet the Skunkboy.
His real name is John Henson and he hosts “Talk Soup,” a daily highlight reel of the best and worst moments from Oprah, Rosie, Jerry, David, Jay, Conan and other television gabmasters who refuse to remain nameless.
The show airs on the celebrity-addled E! Entertainment cable channel and has become a cultish hit. By combining his puckish, brat-next-door attitude with the comedic sensibilites of Woody Woodpecker, Henson makes watching talk shows even more of a guilty pleasure than they already are.
Then there’s the whole Skunkboy thing.
It’s a nickname used by “Soupheads,” as the show’s fans are called, that refers to the inexplicable gray streak in Henson’s dark hair that looks a lot like a racing stripe on a stock car. Or a skunk’s back.
“It’s a birthmark. I’ve had it from the day I was born,” Henson says. “My brothers called it a birth defect.
“I did my share of scrapping on the playground, but then girls would coo and fuss over it.”
The moniker stuck so hard that Soupheads have deluged Henson with skunk dolls, drawings and greeting cards. He’s even named his fledgling production company Skunkboy.
Before taking over as host of the show two years ago, Henson was a stand-up comic from Stamford, Conn., who played clubs in New York after he decided to drop out of college. The decision was an embarrassment for his father, who was an educational adviser to onetime presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
“I’m sure my father is saying to himself, ‘I paid $40,000 for him to go to school, and now my son is introducing transvestites for a living,”’ Henson says.
About two years ago, the more adorable but less funny Greg Kinnear, who was hosting the show, embarked on a movie career in “Sabrina,” and Henson auditioned in a national casting call.
“It never dawned on me I could fail,” said Henson, recalling his confidence after landing the job. “That I could be the guy that rode ‘Talk Soup’ into the ground never even occurred to me. I was having too much fun.”
Since then, Henson also has starred in the HBO movie “Stag,” about a bachelor party that turns murderously bad.
The “Soup” set consists of little more than computer-generated soup spoons floating behind him like some psychotic screen saver and a ratty purple chair where Henson sits. Each show has trademark segments, like “The Clip of the Week,” and comedy sketches, including one where Henson pledged his love for chicken.
xxxx ‘Talk Soup’ times The show airs Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m, with an hourlong weekly wrap-up at 10 p.m. Fridays (with numerous replays).