Season One Talk: FFwSB

[Kromm]

I just read that TBS has expanded the original order of 13 episodes to 36, which will keep it on the air (with various breaks) through the end of the year. So, that's good news. I'm not sure how it's doing in the ratings, I have a hard time trying to find those numbers.

I recall reading it was getting better numbers than Conan. I mentioned that a while back though and it was pointed out that being even a half hour earlier (and thus technically "prime time)" probably explains that.

[Sesquipedalia]

"fan fictioning Jesus into Passover" LOLOL

 

She was really nice to those Bernie fans. Judging from my Facebook feed and every political comment section on the internet, she could have easily goaded them into saying all kinds of stupid shit. 

[teddysmom]

I recall reading it was getting better numbers than Conan. I mentioned that a while back though and it was pointed out that being even a half hour earlier (and thus technically "prime time)" probably explains that.

 

Or the fact that it is consistently funnier than Conan.  I've gotten to where the only time I watch Conan is when he travels.  His episodes in Armenia and South Korea were great. 

 

 

 

"fan fictioning Jesus

 

There's three words you never thought you'd say in the same sentence. 

 

Did that happen with congress? No. It's not going to happen with Sanders either.

 

 

 

"I like what this Socialist Jew is doing."    Yeah they're going to support Sanders right after they take a collective shit on Ronald Reagan's grave. 

Edited April 21, 2016 by teddysmom

[ganesh]

She was really nice to those Bernie fans. Judging from my Facebook feed and every political comment section on the internet, she could have easily goaded them into saying all kinds of stupid shit.

 

I think she, or anyone on these comedy news shows, when they have a panel has to be. If you're goading them into saying things, then you're being manipulative and that's going to undermine the point. The comedian almost has to get out of the way for it to work.

 

She did a fine job with the panel. While there was nothing funny per se, and it doesn't have to be funny to me to be funny, I thought it was funny because I didn't get the impression that these people had a clue about who or what they were voting for. 

[teddysmom]

I thought it was funny because I didn't get the impression that these people had a clue about who or what they were voting for.

 

 

Exactly. It's not that Bernie's ideas don't have merit, but him screaming and shaking his fist that on day one we'll have universal health care and all the big banks will be broken up is straight up off the chains delusional.

 

IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Not with this Congress.  Now we may be able to get some movement on reining in the banks, by making them meet stricter risk reporting standards, having to raise their cash reserves etc.   But even that's a long shot. 

[Irlandesa]

She was really nice to those Bernie fans. Judging from my Facebook feed and every political comment section on the internet, she could have easily goaded them into saying all kinds of stupid shit. 

She very much was.  But I thought she was pretty nice to the Trump panel too.  And as for the makeup of the group, she got a pretty diverse panel for Trump as well. 

[Ottis]

 

Quote

 

She was really nice to those Bernie fans. Judging from my Facebook feed and every political comment section on the internet, she could have easily goaded them into saying all kinds of stupid shit.

I think she, or anyone on these comedy news shows, when they have a panel has to be. If you're goading them into saying things, then you're being manipulative and that's going to undermine the point. The comedian almost has to get out of the way for it to work.

 

She knows who her viewers are. She didn't goad them because of that, not because of any high-minded approach. If it were a Trump panel, she would have goaded them more. Edited because I didn't see the Trump panel.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Ottis

[peeayebee]

I'm trying to remember the ep so I can post a comment to bring this forum to my list. Stupid bad memory. 

[biakbiak]

3 hours ago, Ottis said:

 

She knows who her viewers are. She didn't goad them because of that, not because of any high-minded approach. If it were a Trump panel, she would have goaded them more. Edited because I didn't see the Trump panel.

She gave the Trump panel a party after the talk with booze and food. You should watch it, might make you reevaluate how you the reasons you thought she handled the Sanders panel nicely. 

[iMonrey]

Wow that interview with the guy who was wrongly imprisoned at Gitmo was powerful and did not paint us in a good light. Nor did the clips of the various Republicans saying they wanted to keep Gitmo open and throw even more people in there. Good grief. 

[LoneHaranguer]

19 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Nor did the clips of the various Republicans saying they wanted to keep Gitmo open and throw even more people in there.

I liked that she was fair enough to note that this is something the two parties seem to agree on. On some issues, her rants have gone off the rails enough to remind me of Gilda Radner on SNL's Weekend Update.

[biakbiak]

It made me so sad to see Patton even though the piece was clearly done weeks ago. His wife died unexpectedly two weeks ago.

Thought this was a strong episode and enjoyed the goodbye to Ted Cruz. And I do love she keeps going back to the midterms because state and local elections are so important.

[Sesquipedalia]

Sam Bee is taking her opportunity and grabbing it by the balls. She is doing the lord's work. I thought the show was on hiatus, so I was so glad to see it back this week.

The fake abortion clinic piece was so good. The Goodbye Ted Cruz would have slayed, except as a huge Buffy fan, it reminded me too much of Willow and Tara's breakup.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, Sesquipedalia said:

Sam Bee is taking her opportunity and grabbing it by the balls. She is doing the lord's work. I thought the show was on hiatus, so I was so glad to see it back this week.

The fake abortion clinic piece was so good. The Goodbye Ted Cruz would have slayed, except as a huge Buffy fan, it reminded me too much of Willow and Tara's breakup.

Heh it reminds me of Spike and Buffy's making out and Giles being a jackass, I seriously forgot that was their breakup episode. 

[peeayebee]

I didn't really enjoy Michelle Branch's song. I went on for two long, and there were times when I couldn't understand the lyrics.

Young Ted Cruz crying out, "Why am I persecuted?" never fails to make me laugh. I love all of Sam's descriptions of him. One of my favorites is the junior senator from the uncanny valley.

I wish all women were aware of these fake crisis pregnancy centers.

ETA: I didn't realize Patton's bit was based on a film by Orson Welles called F for Fake.

Edited May 10, 2016 by peeayebee

[attica]

Quote

Young Ted Cruz crying out, "Why am I persecuted?" never fails to make me laugh.

 Me, too. So awful, so funny.

[LoneHaranguer]

7 hours ago, Sesquipedalia said:

The Goodbye Ted Cruz would have slayed, except as a huge Buffy fan, it reminded me too much of Willow and Tara's breakup.

Thanks for reminding me which episode this song was from; I recognized it as something I heard on BtVS, but didn't recall the context.

[wonderwoman]

I'm in Boston, and shortly after the first break, the network broke in to broadcast a NBA playoff game because a game on TNT was running late. So, I'll have to wait until Friday, because I simply do not have to patience not to be able to ff through the commercials, which leaves out online and on-demand.

Did this happen to anyone else? 

[iMonrey]

Yes, wonderwoman! It happened to me too and I was like "what in the holy hell is going on??" I record the show and at first I thought it had come on a half hour early because my recording started with the end of the show, then the beginning of the show, and then - like you - it switched to a dumb NBA playoff. WTF? When I switched back to the live channel Full Frontal was back on, running about 30 minutes late. The whole thing was screwy. 

I'll have to wait until it re-airs to see the whole thing.

Anyway, I loved Michelle Branch and "Goodbye Ted Cruz." 

[ganesh]

The commercials online aren't that bad. It's only 30 second spots iirc. 

[Victor the Crab]

I loved how Samantha compared the presidential candidates to the characters from Back To The Future. Especially Bernie Sanders being compared to Christopher Lloyd's Doc Brown.

2 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

I'm in Boston, and shortly after the first break, the network broke in to broadcast a NBA playoff game because a game on TNT was running late. So, I'll have to wait until Friday, because I simply do not have to patience not to be able to ff through the commercials, which leaves out online and on-demand.

Did this happen to anyone else? 

Thank God it's on Comedy Network here in Canada.

[ganesh]

I just can't get my head around why the NC governor is doubling down on this law. I mean, now there's federal aid to college kids on the line. 

[Kromm]

15 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I just can't get my head around why the NC governor is doubling down on this law. I mean, now there's federal aid to college kids on the line. 

This is the same kind of mentality that told people they needed to secede from the United States so they could keep their slaves.  I'm sure there's lots of muttering about "the gubmint gettin' in our bidness" too.

[ganesh]

The Civil War wasn't about slavery!

[grawlix]

4 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

I'm in Boston, and shortly after the first break, the network broke in to broadcast a NBA playoff game because a game on TNT was running late. So, I'll have to wait until Friday, because I simply do not have to patience not to be able to ff through the commercials, which leaves out online and on-demand.

Did this happen to anyone else? 

 

3 hours ago, ganesh said:

The commercials online aren't that bad. It's only 30 second spots iirc. 

You can also watch the segments on YouTube -- with i think minimal commercials.

[attica]

Quote

I just can't get my head around why the NC governor is doubling down on this law. I mean, now there's federal aid to college kids on the line. 

No dollar amount flushed down the toilet is too much when it comes to putting those [fill in the blank with minority group of choice] back in their place. Totally worth it!

[ganesh]

I assume that they (NC government) thinks this will be resolved in the courts before any federal aid is with held, but I'd be worried if I were a college student. I guess that seems likely since NC immediately filed suit, and it also seems like the plan all along. They have to think their odds are hugely low though, so I don't get the point. 

Still though, you're talking over a billion dollars, and half a billion lost already. Who are advising these people?

[tenativelyyours]

I loved Michelle Branch and loved the song.  But in a show only 20 minutes I would rather they moved the song entirely to the end of the episode instead of the reprise.  So some of the credit rolling time was covered by the song.  It just made the show seem too "less" for me.  Probably because I was aching for it after a week's hiatus.   In an election year I don't care what it takes.  Correspondents dinner be damned.  I want SHOW!

 

I loved the Cruz thesaurus.  And the montage of clips she had in such a short time.  I also appreciated the more in depth look at North Carolina and wish it had gotten a larger focus.  I also enjoyed the reminder of the importance of elections.  The media seems intent on hyping all the nastiness right now.  What's more the narrative now has shifted to how much we hate both Drumpf and Clinton.  How we just loathe them etc. 

That may actually be (I don't hate Clinton but I am not happy with either her or Bernie as my candidate), but it tries to hide the fact of the importance of who is in the White House for Supreme Court issues as well as the potential for the veto so at least the public can get their outrage loud enough on whatever issue a potentially Republican Congress wants to pass. 

It also hides the fact that as much as I don't care for Clinton, I know many who do.  And yes there are many that are just happy they can possibly vote in the first woman President.  And despite the media trying to manipulate that narrative as well, her gender is not a weighing against her qualifications.  I know of no one that wants a female President who considers her completely and utterly unsuited skills-wise for the job in general.  They might not find her enough in matching their ideal of what they think their President looks and sounds like.  But she isn't just the first Vagina in the Oval Office by any means.  White men have been voting for the white guy for years and no one made any stink.  Voting for the qualified candidate who also is a woman is hardly 'voting for the woman'.  But you know Drumpf will be all over that.  I think the "woman card' is going to be heard as much if not more than "Benghazi"or "emails".

[fauxphysician]

Yes they should have saved the song for the end, over the credits. The audio was off--and her tendency to swallow the mic didn't help--not being able to understand what she was singing was my first ever Full Frontal irritation

[Milburn Stone]

Michelle Branch's song sent a clear message: "The writers don't have enough material to cover 22 minutes."

In general, I'm growing disenchanted with the show, because the refreshing outrage that energized the first couple of episodes now seems to be Sam's signature-shtick. Her targets deserve scorn and rage. But the scorn and rage I'm seeing don't feel like they're really coming from her center. They feel like an attempt to be the show's "brand."

Edited May 11, 2016 by Milburn Stone

[peeayebee]

I kind of felt the same way. I became very conscious of Sam's outrageous sarcasm. I don't know if it was the material or Sam's performance or if I have reached the saturation point. I really don't think so. Maybe I was bored with the topic, Ted Cruz. Also, as I said, the Branch song went on way too long. Maybe the writers really didn't have enough material.

[trow125]

I wish they'd done a "follow the bouncing ball" type of captioning with Michelle Branch's song. (It didn't occur to me to try to turn on the close-captioning, but I think in this case, everyone would have benefited from seeing the lyrics.)

[attica]

+1 to trow125 for the Mitch Miller ref.

\(Under the category of Misheard Lyrics, I always heard "Mitch MILLah" in "Bohemian Rhapsody." I had to wait for the internet to come around before I learned the lyric was "Bismillah." I mean, I knew it couldn't be a MM shoutout, but it's the only thing that my brain grabbed onto.)

[Hanahope]

I had to stop recording the show on Mondays because it interferes with two other shows, so now I have to either watch on Friday, or the TBS website.  After the TBS website, I think I'll wait till Friday next time because the audio is not good and the ads go on for freakin ever.

I wonder if the NC legislators really stopped to think about all the damage they were doing with their bathroom bill.  Probably not.  And its always good to remind voters how they fucked up the 2010 mid-term election for the entire decade, if not moreso.

The fake pregnancy/abortion clinic is simply outrageous.  That they can perform supposed medical procedures like ultrasounds without actual trained medical personnel, yet they make abortion clinics illegal because their hallways are "too narrow" for huge hospital rolley beds.  And of course, pointing out that after the pregnant woman has the kid, help is no where to be found, you and the kid are on your own.  These hypocrits don't GAF about the fetus or infant, all they care about is controlling (poor) women

[iMonrey]

Quote

Michelle Branch's song sent a clear message: "The writers don't have enough material to cover 22 minutes."

I disagree, I think they just got a little over-excited about their guest star and allotted her more time than she really merited. 

The thing about the North Carolina law is that everyone is focusing on the bathroom part of the bill but actually what prompted the whole thing was a local ordinance (Charlotte, I believe) passed that added LGBT to non-discrimination laws; HB2 actually forbids any local principalities from adding non-discrimination laws to protect LGBT people! The bathroom thing was just an afterthought. I actually think the main reason behind it is even more insidious, whereas the bathroom thing is just silly and unenforceable. They're saying it's against state law to protect LGBT citizens with non-discrimination laws. Jeezus.

[LoneHaranguer]

22 hours ago, tenativelyyours said:

I know of no one that wants a female President who considers her completely and utterly unsuited skills-wise for the job in general. 

I should hope so. If you take her at her word, Hillary had two terms as Co-President; she wasn't just First Lady. We were told eight years ago that were she to be elected, the Supreme Court would have to decide whether the 22nd Amendment applies.

[Totale]

On 5/11/2016 at 1:00 PM, trow125 said:

I wish they'd done a "follow the bouncing ball" type of captioning with Michelle Branch's song. (It didn't occur to me to try to turn on the close-captioning, but I think in this case, everyone would have benefited from seeing the lyrics.)

I had the CC on, but it didn't help (like Last Week Tonight, it's always lagging behind on this show and the CC person wasn't any better than you were at figuring out the lyrics so just skipped many lines).  I have no idea who Ms. Branch is so I got no starpower boost from her appearance and would agree the reprise of her song was a waste of time.

[Irlandesa]

On 5/10/2016 at 2:56 PM, iMonrey said:

Yes, wonderwoman! It happened to me too and I was like "what in the holy hell is going on??" I record the show and at first I thought it had come on a half hour early because my recording started with the end of the show, then the beginning of the show, and then - like you - it switched to a dumb NBA playoff.

It did air a half hour earlier this week because basketball was potentially going to air during Full Frontal's regularly scheduled time. Sam mentioned it on Twitter so I checked to see if my DVR caught it.   Thankfully, it did.  I hope things don't get too screwy for her on a regular basis but I was glad that TBS was willing to adjust her time so her full show aired.

On 5/11/2016 at 9:26 PM, ganesh said:

Still though, you're talking over a billion dollars, and half a billion lost already. Who are advising these people?

I've also read about a toll road partnership situation in NC that could end up costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars.  There are some fiscally questionable decisions being made there.

[attica]

See, if you were a really smart rich person, you'd be a media owner, so all the superpac money you raise can get funneled to you in ad buys, and then you can spend even more for your candidate on ad buys, and so on in a never ending circle jerk of money flushing. Maybe that's already happening -- it probably is, and there's no way for us to know it.

I loved the Seattle councilpeople! 

[zxy556575]

Yowza, Seattle didn't finish paying for the Kingdome until 15 years after it was demolished? Fuck off, municipal stadiums paid for by tax dollars.

[ganesh]

And that was a really junky stadium too. 

[Deanie87]

Still loving the show, but I'm surprised that the taped interviews have become my favorite part. Those were usually my least favorite on TDS. Sometimes just Sam onstage makes me feel like I'm being lecture-yelled at.

[peeayebee]

That was an awesome show. The history of the evangelicals getting into politics was so interesting and informative. The Seattle Seawards were great. And the bit with Mel about his SuperPac experience was funny. He was a good sport. 

[ganesh]

So if the evangelicals are telling people to vote, and have reverends talking about the party platform, then churches should pay taxes just like the rest of us. And not use then to fund stadiums. 

Edited May 19, 2016 by ganesh

[Hanahope]

I always wondered how the Republican Party changed so much from how I remember it was when I was young and my parents supported the party. It's why I was one at first, believing in fiscal and personal responsibility. Then it suddenly seemed to change almost overnight with all the social issues and I was definitely on the democratic side of those. Great history lesson.

[LiberryLady]

So I watched the latest episode first on tv, then showed the bit about evangelicals and the Republican Party to my son via the internets. Since I had deleted the episode I can't check, but I swear that while the cross being, um, inserted in the elephant was moving online, on TBS it was stationary. Anyone care to confirm this weird little bit of Noooo, that's too far....?

[ebk57]

Is anyone else watching now?  I believe this is last week's show, although it is recording as new by my DVR... 

[formerlyfreedom]

17 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

Is anyone else watching now?  I believe this is last week's show, although it is recording as new by my DVR... 

Yes, I think it is - I was having some deja vu moments there, and have been googling, so I'm glad it's not just me!

(or maybe we're from the future, @ebk57?  ;)  )

ETA: So the TBS site shows tonight is a new episode, but PSYCH - the description is for last week's episode? Everywhere else said tonight was episode 13, but they're re-running 12.

I'm sad.

Edited May 24, 2016 by saoirse
Updating

[sadiegirl]

4 minutes ago, saoirse said:

Yes, I think it is - I was having some deja vu moments there, and have been googling, so I'm glad it's not just me!

(or maybe we're from the future, @ebk57?  ;)  )

My DVR thinks it's new - but it's not, and I'm bummed.  They'll probably be off next week too (unless someone at TBS ran the wrong episode tonight, which-yikes).

[ebk57]

Mr ebk did some quick research.  There seems to have been some technical glitch.  The west coast will have the new show.  Which does me no good whatsoever...  

 

I wish I was from the future.  I'd definitely win lotto in that case!!