( CNN ) -- After nearly 10 years of expertly skewering American pop culture and the television wasteland , E ! 's clip show `` The Soup '' is raising the stakes on its own program and will broadcast live for the first time to mark the series ' 500th episode . The show will air live on both coasts on August 21 at 10 p.m. At a recent taping for the 499th episode , host Joel McHale and executive producer K.P . Anderson spoke with reporters about the milestone and what Anderson called the `` high-wire effect '' of the live show . `` I have full-on dyslexia , '' McHale said . `` So that 'll be great . I think it really brings a sense of danger . '' The 500th show will be a `` Soup '' fans recognize , rather than a retrospective . `` I think live is pretty much the trick , '' Anderson said . `` We 'll have a couple of little surprises along the way with our special guests , but I think we as a show do better when the material is fresh and we have new jokes . '' As of the interview , the special guests -- a different set for each coast -- include B.J . Novak , Adam Carolla and perhaps Lady Gaga . ( She was still pending . ) McHale said he prefers a good mix . `` It 's like getting a Blizzard at Dairy Queen , '' he quipped . As for dream guests in the future , he named Paul McCartney , Beyonce and Jay Z , Justin Bieber because `` apparently he has a fan base , '' David Byrne from Talking Heads and Prince . `` I would love for Prince ( to come on ) , '' McHale said . `` Prince , open invitation . '' And why not ? McHale said most guests enjoy their experience . `` Without exception , '' he said , `` every single reality star I have ever met has said , 'Please put me on your show ' or 'Thank you for having me on your show and may I come back on ? ' No one has gone , 'How dare you ? ' `` Still , the host admitted he never thought `` The Soup '' would last . `` We have a 50-year plan , '' he joked . `` This is phase one . It 's complete . Phase two is the next 10 years . '' But seriously , `` I never thought it would go this long . No one ever thought that . `` There was always the sense , especially in the first couple of years , that no one was watching , kind of like public access . And that sense that people still are n't watching has never left . '' `` The TV landscape has changed over the time that we 've been doing ( the show ) , '' Anderson said . `` We '' ve talked about how we 're going to change things because 'Pawn Stars ' became more popular than the scream-at-each-other-and-puke-in-the-foyer-shows '' that were the show 's bread and butter early on . `` The success ( of 'The Soup ' ) is we take all of the mayhem that exists out there and bring it under one roof . But what that is changes all the time . '' Currently the show 's staff is obsessed with `` Whodunnit ? '' the goofy murder mystery show on ABC . `` The clips are n't necessarily the most provocative , but the show has been driving the staff out of its mind all summer . There are zero stakes . There 's no tension , '' he said . `` And we love it . '' Though it 's hard to remember most of the clips the show has churned through over the 500 episodes , some , like Whitney Houston on `` Being Bobby Brown '' and Tila Tequila on `` Shot at Love , '' naturally stand out . But it 's `` Spaghetti Cat '' that McHale calls `` the greatest moment we ever had . '' When McHale is not taping `` The Soup , '' he 's busy filming movies and starring on NBC 's `` Community . '' The show 's fifth season features the return of `` Community '' creator Dan Harmon , and while McHale modestly underplayed his role in getting Harmon back , it has been said he was instrumental . `` ( Harmon ) created the show and the show is in his voice , so to have it back in his voice I think was important , '' McHale told CNN . `` I was thrilled that he wanted to come back and that Sony was willing to have him back , so I 've never been creatively happier . ''
`` The Soup '' marks its 500th episode milestone . The show will be broadcast live for the occasion . A new season of ''