Review: Samantha Bee is Right on the Money, but not Much Else

at
Share This Post

samantha bee full frontal episode review

Okay, before I start in with my lukewarm review of the April 24th broadcast of Full Frontal on TBS, let me put out this qualifier I have used before and will probably have to use again: mediocre Samantha Bee is exponentially better than the best of all possible episodes of Big Brother or The Bachelor or the reality TV crowd’s all-time fave, Assholes Yelling at Idiots. That said, the most recent Full Frontal did not exactly light what would have been my Lucky if I still smoked.

The opening segment, heaping yet even more mockery on the presidential candidates did not have much to offer to those of us who may be getting slap-happy by now with the whole concept. Hillary Clinton consumed with a burning ambition? Why, I never would have thought.

Ms. Bee’s last segment on the situation with the prisoners at Gitmo was just depressing, jokes and all. I am not saying it is impossible to make light of the questionable way our politicians have handled the issue for the past 15 years, but, whatever it might take to do that was not in the picture this time.

Having finished praising her show with faint damnation, let me highlight one segment that was actually very entertaining. That came about when she took on the decision to replace Andrew Jackson’s face of the front of the twenty-dollar bill with that of Harriet Tubman, the heroic black woman who guided hundreds of slaves to safety via the Underground Railroad.

As a student of history, let me interject one interesting item that Full Frontal did not include, for whatever reason. Had Harriet Tubman been caught in the act during the Civil War but after January 1, 1863, let’s say, escorting an escaped slave from Alabama, the escaping slave would have been freed, but Ms. Tubman would have been returned to her master. Keep in mind, the Emancipation Proclamation only applied to slaves being held in those areas that were still in rebellion from the United States of America. Any liberated slave from an Alabama plantation would be freed, right then and there. Harriet Tubman’s days in slavery were spent in Maryland—a Union Loyal state. Thus, the government would have been legally compelled to return her. All this has little to do with twenty-dollar bills, I will admit, but irony should be given its spotlight wherever it is found.

Getting back to that segment of the show, Samantha Bee ends it with a very ironic note of her own. Check out the clip below to see, not only that, but the entire top-quality story. As to the rest, maybe your sense of humor is a bit more inclusive than mine, so watch it or skip it as you may choose. Goodness knows, the world will not come to an end.

Full Frontal, TBS, April 24, 2016

Read more comedy news.

The following two tabs change content below.

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.