Cultural Politics: Please Give Samantha Bee 'The Daily Show'

[JackLuis]

Please Give Samantha Bee 'The Daily Show': They Squandered Jon Stewart's Legacy by Giving the Show to the Wrong Host

They could have, and should have, offered the gig to their brilliant and longest-serving correspondent Samantha Bee, who had supplied the show 12 years of sidesplitting dispatches. But they never even asked her. Instead, they went with Trevor Noah, an affable South African newcomer who had appeared on the program a grand total of … three times. I will refrain from calling this a crying shame; it’s more like a damn shame. Trevor has, thus far, laid a well-intentioned egg. In the midst of a bizarre and bloated political pageant that begs for satirical puncturing, he’s made “The Daily Show”something worse than unfunny. With the exception of an occasional home run, he’s made it irrelevant.

Meanwhile, Bee’s “Full Frontal,” which debuted earlier this month on TBS, has become an instant phenomenon. And not because Bee is the first female tapped to host a late-night comedy program. Because she is, thus far at least, the smartest and funniest. Her success surely has a lot to do with her talented and diverse writers’ room, which is anchored by “Daily Show” alum Jo Miller. (It says a lot that she chose to team up with Bee and her comedy partner/husband, fellow “Daily Show” all-star Jason Jones, rather than stick with the proven franchise.) But it’s Bee herself who has made the first two episodes of “Full Frontal” such a revelation.

As a correspondent, Bee has the ability to throw herself headlong into the field, as she did so often at “The Daily Show,” while retaining the instincts of a critic who can pinpoint the tragic ironies of whatever scene she’s trolling.

Her two-part series on the jingoistic hysteria surrounding Syrian refugees was an explanatory journalism tour de force, one that laid waste to the nativist rhetoric of the Republican presidential candidates, and the alarmist media that certifies their scare tactics. Bee led viewers through the elaborate screening process refugees endure, and traveled to a Syrian refugee camp, to give the crisis a human face. Her outrage was the byproduct of thwarted pathos.

But the heart of the show resides in Bee’s high-octane tirades as a host. Like Stewart, her central aim is to rail against the garish dysfunction of our media and political class. But even more than Stewart, she radiates a palpable disgust at the blithe corruption of our politicians and pundits—and she does so from the perspective of a feminist tired of seeing her gender bullied by penised morons.

In one dazzling seven-minute riff Bee managed to provide an astonishing survey of the venality surrounding the death of Supreme Court Justice (and proud homophobe!) Antonin Scalia, spotlighting the intransigence of Republican senators who refuse to carry out their constitutional duty to consider an Obama nominee “because some chinless dildo wants to use his gavel to plug up your abortion hole.” That would be you, Mitch McConnell.

I like Trevor but I have to agree. Sam Bee is a worthy successor to Jon.

 

[JackLuis]

Watch: Samantha Bee Plumbs the Depths of the Trump Supporter Psyche—and It's Way Worse Than You Thought

Samantha Bee assembled "an elite group of Trump supporters" on her Full Frontal show Monday night, and this well-spoken, multi-ethnic group seemed reasonable enough...for the first 30 seconds, then went totally off the rails.

When the topic of Trump's ban on all Muslims entering the country came up, the blonde woman with the pearls politely pointed out that he just wants to protect the country from Muslims. Everyone agreed that America is great because it is made up of all kinds of people, including white supremacists.

 

[JackLuis]

I Dared Criticize Fox News and Speak up for Samantha Bee—This Is How the Right Roared Back at Me

Take this example. I recently wrote a piece that described a Fox News comedy show’s failed effort to slime Samantha Bee’s “Full Frontal.” In addition to explaining that Bee’s show had immediately drawn the ire of the right, I pointed out that she had been called vulgar anti-Christian, vile and an actual witch. Needless to say, my piece pissed off the same people Bee does. Here was one troll’s message to me:

"You’re probably a Lesbian but if you have any kids I hope they die in the next Islamic terror attack you Commie scum whore you and Hildabeast and Samantha Bee the Canadian skank ought to catch cancer of the twat and die horrible deaths die bitch die die die I hope you get raped by one of the Syrian scum your God Obama brought over you’d probably love it Go Trump bitch we’re tired of scum like you destroying this country it should legal to put you down like the rabid dog you are I hope you’re on the next plane they blow up bitch."

Now we know that the troll world is dark and filled with exceptionally angry people who exhibit extreme misogyny, practice flawed logic and lack basic grammar skills. That’s not the story here. The story is, why such anger over a piece on satire?

The right has minimal sense of humor beyond prat falls and pie in the face.