It’s not really late night TV (10:30 p.m.) and it’s a weekly show, not daily.
But it was laugh-out-loud fun: irreverent sound-bites by the baker’s dozen. And TBS does not employ the expletive-bleep machine.
Canadian she may be, but Samantha Bee knows American politics. Those chops — legacy of 12 years on The Daily Show — were on full display during the Full Frontal debut on Monday night.
So that's the New Hampshire Primary. You watch enough debates, and you start to feel sorry for podiums. #SamanthaBee
— Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) February 9, 2016
The episode kicked off with a faux press conference where reporters asked Bee over-and-over about breaking into the late-night boys club.
.@VanityFair BETTER pic.twitter.com/EfPbTQ3qZ8
— Samantha Bee (@iamsambee) September 14, 2015
With the show’s debut on the eve of the New Hampshire presidential primary, the candidates and debates (“the most deranged electoral sh*t show in a generation”) were ripe for the picking.
She started with Democrats: there are no sacred cows. After playing a clip of Hillary Clinton saying that she “never thought I’d be standing here asking people to vote for me for President,” Bee yelled: “Oh f#ck off!” Republicans, Bee told us, have “laid out a banquet of all-you-can-eat crazy.”
But my favorite may have been the “Elected Paperweight of the Month,” where Bee turns attention to a neglected target: those already in office. In this segment, as in her skewering of Sen. Marco Rubio’s characterization of Clinton’s position on abortion, Bee’s feminist chops shine brightly as she detailed the female dress code proposed by Kansas Senator Mitch Holmes.
@iamsambee Your show is hilarious, especially talking about Marco Rubio.
— Tramon Mozingo (@mozingo84) February 9, 2016
Has it really been almost a year since we last saw Bee on The Daily Show?
Because she missed nary a step Monday night.
Oh my goodness, @iamsambee, I have missed you. Also, you are killing it. #FullFrontal
— Julianna McDuffie (@julivoxish) February 9, 2016
Her writing team is diverse, a process that Bee explained isn’t hard.
It’s not really the most complicated transaction. Find some diverse people and actually give them jobs.”
Found my new fav systems-thinking approach to diversity by Samantha Bee to hastily put on my wall … via @TIME pic.twitter.com/qlVYQwoch9
— John Maeda (@johnmaeda) February 7, 2016
Comparisons with (a tepid) Trevor Noah are bound to happen. Because Full Frontal is political satire in the tradition of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Really think that if she wasn't poached by Turner that Samantha Bee would in Trevor Noah's chair right now.
She KILLED it tonight…— Kevin Grüssing (@KevDGrussing) February 9, 2016
How long before TBS gives her more than one night a week?
.@FullFrontalSamB Great premiere but I got blindsided when you said "See you next week!" I would watch #SamanthaBee every night! Hilarious!
— Rosanne Giza (@thefluffa) February 9, 2016
@iamsambee you are hilarious. @FullFrontalSamB is my new addiction
— Randall Keough (@RandallKeough) February 9, 2016
Once a week is not enough for Samantha Bee's 'Full Frontal' (LA Times) https://t.co/FQk2ZpRkkK
— Hot Chick News Tweet (@HotChkNewsTweet) February 9, 2016
Love @iamsambee. Fierce, Canadian, and impulsive. Not just for snow-plow drivers. https://t.co/zXrgMZiLDP
— Svea Vikander (@SveaVikander) February 9, 2016
Man, @iamsambee kicked *all* of the ass tonight. @FullFrontalSamB was fantastic. So much ???.
— Josh Crews (@JoshCrewsReally) February 9, 2016
Let the party begin!
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com