The Big Picture

Joel McHale and Klondike held a Hometown Road Trip contest, with Harlem, New York being crowned as the winner for the Klondike block party on September 23. McHale also shares his thoughts on the state of reality TV, mentioning that it has become slicker and more cynical, but there are still some shows, like Survivor and The Bachelor, that continue to be successful. In addition to hosting Crime Scene Kitchen, he is hoping the next cooking show he would tackle aligns with his love for grilling.

When you think of pop culture, one of the most synonymous figures associated with the cultural phenomenon is none other than beloved actor, comedian, and now food connoisseur Joel McHale. Years before winning audiences over in Community, McHale steered E!’s The Soup — one of the most iconic weekly clip shows rooted in satire, sarcasm, and consistently sharp commentary. Hailed by critics and fans alike as one of the funniest critiques on the state of television and all that pop culture entails between 2004 and 2015, McHale’s years of comedy and witty play-by-plays, diving deep into television, reality TV, and even commercials prepared him well for his next journey into the time capsuled chasm with Klondike Bar’s Hometown Contest.

Taking the brand’s iconic slogan, “What would you do for a Klondike?” to the next level with a cross-country road trip, McHale and the brand have been searching all summer for one very standout community in the U.S. that would do anything for the legendary, chocolate-coated ice cream treats. Thankfully, that time has come, and a winner has been chosen by McHale himself. In an exclusive Q&A interview for Collider about his partnership with Klondike, the Animal Control star shares what the winners of Harlem, New York can expect for their end-of-summer block party taking place this Saturday, September 23 in Johnny Hartman Plaza, why reality TV has gotten way “slicker” since his years commenting on the genre, and the next cooking show you would likely see him in.

Image via Klondike, Joel McHale/Instagram

COLLIDER: You hosted a Klondike Hometown Road Trip contest, and you finally crowned Harlem, New York as the winner for the Klondike block party to celebrate the end of summer. What made them stand out to you, and what can the community expect at this event happening on September 23?

JOEL McHALE: Yeah, literally this Saturday! Well, Klondike, which is one of the tastiest treats on the planet, they came to me and were like, “What do you think about if we did this contest where we drove across America and asked people to represent their hometowns and if they made a video or a photo of themselves, but they had to have three of their friends or family with them,” they were like, “What do you think if we did this contest and then the winner gets a block party and gets to be on Klondike packaging, gets literally their own signature Klondike package?” I said, “Yeah, this sounds great! It’s summertime, we need ice cream!” There’s always lots of bad news going on, and this was one of those, like, yeah, let’s have a great time and just be easy and have fun and eat a bunch of Klondike bars. So, that’s kind of how it came together.

Then Jenny from Harlem, we went through tons of submissions, and Jenny from Harlem was like, “This one’s really great,” and then I was like, “I like it!” And you know, Harlem gets really warm in the summer, and it’s New York, so you could make a pretty good argument that’s where block parties originated, so it’s kind of cool that that’s a part of it. I mean, whoever wants to come this Saturday in Harlem, then be in the big group photo that’s gonna be on the side of your own Klondike bar.

Yeah, you love Klondike, your whole family, I think. You guys just dive into it.

McHALE: Yeah, I recruited my 18-year-old to be in the video, and he was like, “As long as I get the hat,” I’m like, “Alright, great, you get the hat.”

I think the most important question now is, [sing-songy voice] what would you do for a Klondike bar?

McHALE: You even know the tune, Tania!

[Laughs] I do. It’s a big part of pop culture. It really is.

McHALE: I did my deep dive. I was like, “Who came up with that?” You can go back on YouTube and watch Klondike ads going way back. Whoever came up with that tune – I’m assuming it was Barry Manilow, he wrote the Band-Aid one, too. No, but literally, you think about the iconic brands in America and that tune, it’s so recognizable. I sang it myself. I mean, I think the Klondike people are like, “Okay, let’s just calm down, Joel because we want it to be in tune.” But no, they were very forgiving and very nice.

It is a staple of pop culture. I grew up watching the Saturday morning cartoons, and then it would be on, and then I would be on a Klondike diet, and my parents would be like, “You need to get off of that.” It’s great because it’s ice cream, who doesn’t love ice cream?

McHALE: Right! My kids would eat it for every meal, which I’m not recommending. It’s a treat. It’s a wonderful treat. I like to have a Klondike with my eggs… Okay, I’m kidding now.

Image via VH1

[Laughs] Right. So, they are a big part of pop culture and you star on a bunch of reality shows, most recently with Crime Scene Kitchen. I would love to get into something a little bit more pop culture-y, with the state of reality TV today following your many invested years. Do you think we’ve hit a peak?

McHALE: Now that the information — I know you’ve heard this a thousand times — comes now so fast, the commentary from a million people is instantaneous. I think reality programming has gotten way slicker or way more cynical. They kind of steer into, like, “Oh, well, this is gonna be a crazy show,” and then everything is crazy. And yeah, it’s entertaining. It’s a car wreck, but it’s entertaining.

That brings me to wonder, do you think reality TV these days, has lost its bite? Like the reality of reality TV has ruined things because we get to see things happening in real-time now, and then it gets reflected?

McHALE: I don’t watch nearly what I used to. I don’t know how many shows I can mention, but Survivor is still, you know, it uses the same formula, and boy, it works. The Bachelor – and that thing is in, like, like how many seasons? Seventy seasons or whatever they’ve got. Oh, those work. The smaller ones aren’t as prominent now, the ones that are on the fringes, like the Strange Love’s and stuff like that. The little shows, like, what was it? Was it Hometown PD? I can’t remember the name. It was just about security guards. I feel like those aren’t as prominent. And now, as you know, there is so much to choose from that I think I would need a team of 100 people. Because I think I would just pass away if I had to watch that much reality television. What’s your favorite reality television show?

I watch a lot of HGTV, as you can probably tell. Good Bones… [Laughs]

McHALE: Yeah, well there you go.

Jasmine Roth’s Help! I Wrecked My House, which is great because people who have broken their houses, she comes in, and she fixes it for them. So it’s awesome.

McHALE: How have they wrecked their homes?

Plumbing, they’ll open up a wall, and they won’t realize that it was like a load-bearing wall, and they were not supposed to do that.

McHALE: That’s really funny. That’s good. I watch Hard Knocks on HBO. We would show clips from that, and also I love football. It’s, you know, the whole summertime of them leading up, and it’s a brutally good show. Then RuPaul’s Drag Race! RuPaul’s Drag Race, the evolution of that show is insane.

Image via Steve Dietl/FOX

That show is great. Would you ever want to be in the middle of a reality show, either with your family — or even a cooking show since you’re so good at grilling?

McHALE: You mean Crime Scene Kitchen?

[Laughs] Yeah!

McHALE: Well, I really enjoy Crime Scene Kitchen because, well, baking is like magic to me. I’m not kidding because you have to get everything right, and if you get one thing off you can tell immediately. There were these little works of art, and then you get Yolanda Gampp and Curtis Stone, who are computers with computer brains that can apply it instantly. The gimmick of the show is that you don’t know what you’re making, really, and I think it works and it’s really fun. I gain a lot of weight from eating so much fabulous cake and pie, like pecan rules.

But yeah, I would do a grilling show. Are you offering? Because I would grill. I’ve done a few. I’ve guested it on a few, and Curtis and I did a show where we cooked crab and lobster, and it was very good. I was like, “Why don’t I just do that? Can I just do this where I get free food and I’ll yell jokes into a camera?” Jess Pryles, she’s a really great chef in Austin, Texas, she’s coming out with a show. I’m really good at eating it and describing it, but like the ins and outs of the actual– When I hear some of the science behind it, I’m like, “Oh, I don’t know any of that. I can’t duplicate that, but I can tell a joke in seconds around it somehow.” But hopefully. I don’t know. What’s your favorite cooking show other than Crime Scene Kitchen?

It’s Crime Scene Kitchen — and MasterChef is so great. Especially MasterChef Junior because they get anxiety and they start freaking out.

McHALE: Gordon Ramsey, he’s like– They’re gonna erect statues to him. He’s a very good person. Now we’re on the same network, and so I get to hang out with him once in a while. He’s great. And boy, does he know his stuff! And to maintain multiple Michelin star restaurants in the city you’re not even in, is really difficult to do. He does it. It’s really impressive.

Join Klondike on Saturday, September 23 for a Block Party in Harlem, New York to celebrate the winner of the Hometowns Contest! For more information, visit Klondike. This article is in no way sponsored by Klondike, or its associated brands and companies.