Full Frontal Episode Review: Samantha Bee in March: Short of the Ides, but What About the Ideas?

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As followers of Full Frontal surely know, the show that aired last night on March 8th was the first one in awhile, said while including the last week in February, which is supposed to be a “sweeps” month, is it not? That month, along with May and November, is the window where a network gets to show off its best stuff for potential advertisers. So now, like TBS is ashamed of Ms. Bee and her production?

As if that were not enough of a handicap—and I’ve said this before—the network did not do this show any favors when they switched the broadcast night from Monday to Wednesday. The host may have a lot of witty stuff to say about this, that and the other, but she will have been beaten to the punch time and time again. Thus, ideas that may have been fresh in the minds of her and her staff, may come out stale.

Still, Samantha Bee soldiers on—at least now and then, often to excellent effect. Her first segment in the most recent show dealt largely with Donald Trump’s address to Congress, and in a very witty fashion, calling to task more than Trump (who is as he is), but the fawning members of the mainstream media who were all over him with enthusiastic praise for giving the typical pandering, over-promising, rose-colored speech that every President always gives to Congress, instead of, say, a rant that the lame-stream media are covering up Bill and Hillary’s child sex slave operations, recently brought to light by a gun-totin’ patriot, who exposed the whole tawdry affair by shooting a hole in a pizza parlor.

Trouble is, someone else had already done that bit—maybe not that well, but a good deal sooner. Even so, it was probably the most entertaining of the three segments and the one you will get to see in the here & now.

Just as she focused on the State of Wisconsin her last time out (in the form of Paul Ryan), Ms. Bee returned to that locale for her next segment, on Governor Scott Walker. She had some excellent points to make about the Governor’s cruel disdain for the poor within his state, but I thought her presentation was somewhat compromised by going on and on about his questionable eating habits, bordering on occasional gluttony. Look, if the Governor of Wisconsin is trying to foist an illiberal and destructive agenda on his state, then fine, give it to him with both barrels, but spending far more of your valuable time on his penchant for having two ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch every day is worse than useless—it is actually counter-productive. That part of the segment made the host sound like someone who had just been deputized by the food police, who, maybe even more than the PC police, give the progressive movement a bad name. Just as truth, justice and liberty gives us the right to march around, shaking placards, it gives the Governor the right to down, not one, but two ham and cheese sandwiches. Focus, young lady, focus. And keep in mind, this is not the same public health fight as the one we continue to wage against smoking. I doubt that anyone we know has died from second-hand ham.

Before I discuss the third segment, I should point out that the show’s producers made an inadvertent, but terrible mistake, for which they have apologized profusely. A number of the young men at the venue in question were mocked for sporting “Nazi hair,” and in most cases, that was their clear intent. One unfortunate fellow though, was not trying to pass himself off as a Nazi, but, instead, recovering from cancer treatment. The show’s producers did not know this until the young man and his family brought it to their attention the following day. Perhaps a sincere public apology might be a fine way to start the next show.

The show’s last segment was another of those Full Frontal goes out into the field bits. While it was not the best of the three in this show, it stood up well against earlier third-segment efforts. In this instance, Full Frontal’s roving reporter attended the recent CPAC to ask various attendees what they now thought of certain certifiable idiots they had enthusiastically spurned the year before. Not slap-your-thigh hilarious, but maybe at least punch-your-mouth amusing. What? You don’t? Oh well, never mind then.

Full Frontal ,March 8, 2017

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Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.
Thomas Cleveland Lane
Thomas Cleveland Lane
Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.