Full Frontal Episode Review: The Bee Giveth and The Bee Taketh Away

review

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The antecedent for the unspoken pronoun is entertainment. Maybe I am getting slap-happy from the unrelenting absurdity of the present campaign, but I found all three of the televised segments on Full Frontal to be not interesting, not particularly funny and not really enlightening. What, there are bigoted yahoos out there who worship Trump and despise anything liberal or even moderate? Shocking. There are hackers in Russia? You don’t say. President Obama is a decent fellow? Who would have guessed?

In my last review of this show, I wondered what Samantha Bee and her staff would do for fodder if and when Donald Trump got shoved out of the picture. Now, after viewing last night’s broadcast, I think it is a good thing they will have to move on, dot org.

I do not mean to say that the three regular segments were entirely lacking in merit or any comedic value. The thing is, for those of us who follow the show, Samantha Bee’s competition is not Bozo the Clown, it’s Samantha Bee. Most of us have come to expect a standard of excellence from her that she clearly fell short of in the show’s most recent broadcast.

Ah, but despair not. There was a redeeming element that was not readily apparent on my TV screen, tuned to TBS, from whence the show comes. It seems there is an extra segment, available on the Tube of You, titled “People are Saying.” In it, Ms. Bee attacks the Republican nominee (OK, no surprise there), but from an angle few of us may have considered. Unlike the regularly-scheduled stuff, this presentation was both witty and thought-provoking. I am happy to provide you the clip, below.

As to the main show, watch it if you like, either on the rebroadcast later this week or on YouTube, but if you happened to miss it because you had something more important to do, such as setting your back hair in cornrows, through the magic of smoke and mirrors, then know that you didn’t miss much.

Ciao

Full Frontal, TBS, October 31, 2016

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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.