Written by Megan LaBruna
FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE SYNOPSIS:
After several years as a correspondent on The Daily Show, Samantha Bee now hosts her own half-hour series featuring her clever take on current events.
The day Samantha Bee left The Daily Show, I was sad to see her go. While I thoroughly enjoyed Jon Stewart (and miss watching him daily), I loved seeing a smart, sarcastic woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, especially when it comes to politics, or really anything else. So imagine my excitement when TBS announced she would be hosting her own show!
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee premiered Monday night with a “no holds barred” approach in true Samantha Bee fashion. Her theme song “Boys Wanna Be Her” by Peaches is the perfect introduction. She immediately confronted the obvious fact that she is a woman in a role typically held by men in the past. To ease any concerns of the viewers, she held a fake press conference to address important questions such as “What did you have to do differently to make this show work….as a woman?” That pause before referring to her gender as something that would require her to essentially do more to achieve her own show spoke volumes. And her response? “Hard work, a great team, and just a little bit of magic.” The scene then cut to her looking like she’s part of some dark ritual and screaming “We’re all witches!” Because, clearly, all successful women are. The opening scene further confirmed why I missed her presence on television. Samantha Bee has no problem addressing things head on and pointing out the absurdity of the situation.
While only a half-hour, the show was jam packed with entertaining highlights from the upcoming campaign. No candidate was safe from Full Frontal’s wrath. I especially loved when she pointed out the fact that the candidates couldn’t even successfully walk out onto a stage, and yet we’re electing one of them to lead our country. But I have to say Jeb Bush took the brunt of the jokes this week, as the show featured a segment on his campaign efforts. One of his supporters, when asked what type of drink Jeb would be replied, “Milk,” because it’s not something that’s overly exciting but it’s a tried and true option. It’s not the worst reference when you think about it, except that if we’re pouring a glass from the same bottle his father and brother came from, we might be left with a sour taste in our mouths.
As for the future of Ms. Bee’s program, I have high expectations for the remainder of the season. My one and only reservation from the first episode, is that I would have liked to have seen more of a one on one interview featuring Samantha and a guest. I find those scenarios to be when she truly shines. However, with an entire season ahead of her, I’m sure she has a few in store for viewers.
