The Joel McHale Vs. ‘Today Show’ Feud Is A Pop Culture Rivalry Done Right

Most pop culture feuds are garbage. Rotten garbage. Enflamed by social media, minor celebrity gripes snowball into THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD as the conflicts morph into an insincere battle for clicks and attention that engenders more eye rolls than genuine intrigue. I’m not interested in the latest Kardashian grievance or Taylor Swift squabble. Those beefs are old hat. The only pop culture rivalry I want to discuss now and possibly forever is the delightful feud between Joel McHale and The Today Show’s Social Contributor Donna Farizan aka Donnadorable.

One of the similarities between McHale’s new Netflix series The Joel McHale Show and his old E! program The Soup (other than absolutely everything) is the host’s affinity for poking fun at The Today Show. In the past, McHale’s good-natured barbs were lobbed in the direction of Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, but now the green screen maestro has set his sights on Donnadorable, who I’ll henceforth refer to by her actual name because I’m not talking to a magician at a third-grader’s birthday party. Farizan hosts a supplemental Today Show online series that I believe is titled “Donna Off-Air.” My hesitancy stems from the fact that Kathie Lee also referred to the show as “a new YouTube called Off-Air with Donnadorable” so who knows. That place is a wine-fueled funhouse of confusion.

During the first episode of McHale’s new Netflix series, the host played a clip in which Farizan talked about her new series and sheepishly admitted that McHale, who was appearing on The Today Show, “couldn’t stop by” her new show. McHale delivers a few jokes, refers to Farizan as a “sassy pilgrim,” and Jason Priestly drops by to crack wise and plug his Canadian TV show about an ex-hockey player turned P.I. named Matt Shade.

After the Today Show played the clip of The Joel McHale Show, the Netflix series returned the favor and upped the ante by adding Kristen Bell into the mix.

Not only has this amiable exchange between Today and McHale provided both shows with content, it’s been a ton of fun to watch. It’s not malicious or nasty, just a silly fake rivalry that gives free press to both shows. A win-win (win). McHale gets to plug his Netflix series on NBC and Farizan — whose aw-shucks humility is incredibly endearing — is able to score some free publicity. Many people in this position would try to milk the attention for all it’s worth, but Farizan’s just playing along and havin’ a blast. Plus, it can’t hurt her online series.

As of now there are only eight episodes on the show’s YouTube page and three of them are McHale related. One of the other episodes features someone named Yolanda Gampp (a person?) from something called “How To Cake It” (a show?), a series presumably about turning nouns into verbs and then celebrating by eating them.

Celebrities like Billy Eichner, Kristen Bell, Jason Priestley, and Josh Duhamel — or as I refer to them, “Heaven’s Welcoming Committee” — have all weighed in on this fake feud, but could all the quips actually culminate with McHale finally appearing on Donna Off-Air?

Turns out, he’s already been on the show.

I’m sure McHale will have an answer during Sunday’s all new episode of The Joel McHale Show. But if I were Joel, I’d be careful. When it comes to Donna Farizan, two words come to mind: “tread lightly.”

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Look out, here comes Don Adorable.

A post shared by The Joel McHale Show (@thejoelmchaleshow) on Mar 4, 2018 at 3:00pm PST

A new episode of The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale airs Sunday on Netflix.

Stream The Joel McHale Show on Netflix