BEE CREATES A BUZZ
Daily show vet back on TV
Last fall, Vanity Fair published a piece on the “titans of late night TV” and featured an accompanying photo spread.
So what was wrong with this picture?
It was an exclusive men’s club. Not to detract from the comic brilliance of O’Brien, Colbert, Kimmel, Corden, Maher, Meyers, Noah, Oliver, Fallon and Wilmore, but there was one glaring omission: Samantha Bee.
True, her new late-night show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, debuts Monday on The Comedy Network here — and on TBS in the U.S. But when the piece came out, Noah had yet to make his first appearance as Jon Stewart’s replacement on The Daily Show, and Bee’s 13-episode, half-hour weekly series had already been announced.
Social media went postal — for good reason.
With the exception of Joan Rivers — who lasted a year eons back — and Chelsea Handler — who had a seven-year run on E! and can now be caught in a Netflix docu-series — late-night has been a no-ladies land on the tube.
Bee, a Toronto native and McGill grad, was the longest-serving cor- respondent on The Daily Show. The buzz was that Bee was mightily miffed — dare we say stung? — to have been passed over for The Daily Show hosting gig.
It’s understandable: Bee’s skewering skills are second to none, as is her deadpan delivery. She could have handled the hosting gig easily.
On Full Frontal, Bee will be focusing exclusively on satire.
There will be no interviews with celebs shilling their latest movie/ disc — invariably the weakest part of the late-night show format.
Nor will there be any sketch ensemble shticks.
And don’t be expecting Bee to challenge some thesp/singer to a ping-pong match à la Fallon.
Let’s hope it will have network execs further breaking down the barriers of the late-night club.