Season Three and Beyond: FFwSB

[3 is enough]

7 hours ago, attica said:

 (Is that a dispensation I should extend to a former Canadian?)

No.  It is just as offensive in Canada as it is here.

[formerlyfreedom]

We need to keep the conversation in here about the show; and yes, this means what happened on the show and touching on the fall out from it. However, posts that are strictly personal politics, as well as uncivil posting or attacks are STILL off limits.

Please keep the discussion civil and on topic; posts will be removed that are not, and warnings could be issued for repeat or egregious offenses. Thank you.

[Lantern7]

I’m good with it. But I’m a guy, and I tend to have a mad-on about the presidency, so I tend to be good with such things. It should’ve been cut, but Sam shouldn’t be put through the wringer in general. She said it “mother-to-mother.” Good enough for me.

Sam got a little more negativity from the audience about Rudy Giuliani. She was rolling so well, but there was the clip with Rudy incoherent on TV at 9:12 a.m., and she quipped about how he tends to fade after “nine-eleven.” Sickest of burns, and the brief curtsy was earned, but I would’ve thought she’d be shat upon for that.

[mehtotheworld]

Eh, I’m not going to argue that Ivanka deserves more than a modicum of respect from Samantha Bee or anyone. Her apology seems sincere, leave it at that. Obama would have taken that apology and been gracious about it, showing he’s above the nonsense, but Trump and his crew really seem to revel in this idiocy. It’s just so frustrating to me that the White House will take this and run with it as more hypocritical distraction from their own disgusting behavior. 

Samantha Bee is really the only person I can stand listening to regarding politics because she seems as fed up, annoyed, and frustrated with the feckless dirtbags in charge (though she’s a little kinder to the people who keep voting them into office than I). If we’re talking whatabouts, Hannity has said so much more insane, disgusting garbage, yet he’s still on the air. Boggles the mind.

What a shitshow this world has become. Jesus. 

Edited June 1, 2018 by mehtotheworld

[purist]

15 hours ago, attica said:

I mean, I'm willing to give dispensation to Brits/Aussies/NZers, because their usage of it tends to be less gendered than here.

Interesting. I'm Australian, and while I personally don't use the c-word, I wasn't shocked by Sam's use of it at all. To me, it was just like another swear word bleeped out, and I laughed my head off. Then when I woke up this morning it was a trending topic on Twitter and I found out that she had caused outrage in the USA by saying it. Honestly, sometimes it's like conservative white Americans are another species altogether. *shakes head in wonder*

ETA: A couple of brilliant tweets from Australians that will help non-Australians understand why we're not so offended by the c-word: the first one (which has so far been RTed 32,000 times) says, 'I love little cultural differences, like how Americans are super offended by the word cunt but here in Australia we're super offended by school children being slaughtered with automatic weapons', and the second one (by a comedian friend of a friend who is currently living in New York) says, 'I hate being reminded how many Americans collapse like a stack of dead butterflies in the face of the word “cunt”. You wouldn’t last one simple greeting between friends in Australia, you gossamer dickheads'.

Edited June 1, 2018 by purist

[msrachelj]

13 hours ago, ALenore said:

Sally Field has perfect response to controversy on Sam Bee calling Ivanka a C*nt

i love sally field!!

[Lantern7]

@purist . . . that reminds me that I’m a bit sad Jim Jefferies’ show (pretty good, BTW) is off the air for a few weeks. He’s Australian, and I’d totally see him say that word nonstop for five minutes.

Funny that Sam got into the frying pan after a few jabs at Ivanka, yet there’s no outrage at her roasting of Rudy . . . and I thought she was so much nastier with him.

I’m hoping TBS doesn’t do anything drastic. I know that Jon Stewart’s disciples are plentiful and have shows of their own, but Sam is at the top . . . or at least slapfighting John Oliver for that spot.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Lantern7

[SnideAsides]

My favourite thing about the fallout is that... like, it's fairly tame by Sam's standards (the hilarity was more in how matter-of-factly it was said) and it wasn't even in the top three best burns of the episode. Sam rocks, and anyone who disagrees is, well, feckless.

[purist]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

that reminds me that I’m a bit sad Jim Jefferies’ show (pretty good, BTW) is off the air for a few weeks. He’s Australian, and I’d totally see him say that word nonstop for five minutes.

Funny thing about Jim Jefferies is that he's really not that well-known in Australia - he's much better-known in the USA. His comedy used to be horribly misogynistic, so I've never watched his show.

In other news, Drumpf has tweeted that Sam should be fired. What a surprise ... not.

[WarnerCL45]

.

Edited June 3, 2018 by WarnerCL45

[possibilities]

That's interesting about Jeffries. I thought I'd hate his show, but I actually love it. And he is very vocal in support of issues that affect women. I didn't know this was a new development for him.

I want Sam to come back with higher ratings after this kerfuffle. I also want her to issue a "correction" on her next show, where she "edits" her critique of Ivanka to be even more harsh. She can issue an apology to all women and vaginas for associating them with the vile Ivanka, and then rip into Ivanka using language that is completely un-bleepable, just so that all the people watching are certain to catch every nuance of what she's saying.

Edited June 1, 2018 by possibilities

[Lantern7]

@purist . . . the show is good. Granted, the bar isn’t set that high for Jeffries, but he does good. Also, he’s got less smarm than Daniel Tosh, so that’s a bonus.

I gotta see if the show entertains requests. I think Sam would have “fun” with my district.

[ChelseaNH]

The false equivalence I've seen is the claim that Barr was fired/shut down for being "rude."  Barr wasn't being rude, she was being flat-out racist because she thought that was funny.

Sam, on the other hand, was rude, while making a criticism.

[iMonrey]

Let's not lose sight of the subject Sam was actually covering: a policy of taking children away from their parents if they are brought into the country illegally. And then put into foster care "or whatever." This is what people should be up in arms about, not that a comedian and political commentator called someone a nasty word for posting a tone-deaf photo on social media. That someone just happens to be a person who could potentially make a difference in this divisive policy.

That's why it's so apples and oranges for people to compare this to the Roseanne thing. There's a huge difference between why Sam called her that versus why Roseanne called Valerie Jarrett something awful. 

[snowwhyte]

I'm not a fan of swearing but I'm an adult so bad language doesn't offend me particularly when it is deployed to bring attention to a human rights issue. It is sad that people are more offended by Sam using a bad word than by the vindictive glee the Trump administration seems to take at punishing illegal immigrants by taking their children away. 

As a Brit it often amazes me the things the American public take such deep offence at. I remember when Janet Jackson showed her breast at the super bowl and she was forced to apologize like she was the worst of criminals. I get why Sam felt the need to apologize but it does detract from the point she was trying to make. 

[ruby24]

I don't know if I can watch the show anymore.

Because I know she didn't mean that apology. The joke wasn't a slip of the tongue, it was written out ahead of time, maybe days ahead of time. It was seen and approved by the network ahead of time. Sam clearly does not think there was anything wrong it, neither did anyone else. Men have said this many times about women and suffered nothing in response. So the only reason she's doing this is I guess because of the reaction, maybe the sponsors dropping out or something. But it's fear of them, of the reaction. It's cowardice.

I'm so disappointed in her for not standing up for herself. She had nothing to apologize for. And now I can't see her the same way. 

But I guess this is all about network TV. She should be on HBO I guess.

Edited June 1, 2018 by ruby24

[scrb]

Unfortunately I think sponsors pressured the network and she had to show contrition.

And I don't know if the sponsors were reacting to some coordinated right-wing thing.

[wendyg]

I think using the word was poor judgement. She and the writers may have hoped that it would get greater attentionn for the story that was their main point, but that's not how today's media work.Instead, the important story is lost in the noise - and that's just playing into the hands of the people she was trying to criticize.

[possibilities]

If people stop watching, the network will interpret it as a negative reaction to the expletive, not a negative reaction to the apology. The show has been brave and smart and funny a lot. I don't want it to be cancelled over the original statement or the apology. I think Sam and the show deserve our support, even if she/they aren't perfect.

Edited June 2, 2018 by possibilities

[peeayebee]

I read a Twitter thread this morning explaining the difference betw what Rosanne did and what Sam did. Although I still wish Sam hadn't used the c-word, I think this analysis is right on. Here's one tweet from that thread:

Quote

7. Therefore, Roseanne's utterance mirrors & reinforces harm being inflicted by most powerful against least powerful, while Bee's challenges that power dynamic.

[attica]

Thanks for that link, @peeayebee. Traister came on Chris Hayes's show Friday night to expound on those thoughts.

[UYI]

I missed the episode, and by the time it was up on YouTube, it was down pretty quickly afterwards because of the controversy, before I got to watch it (I've only the scene the offending clip in question secondhand, nothing else from the same episode). I really wanted to see the whole thing. I hope someone posts it again someday. (Also: Hi, yeah, I watch this show, I just never post here.) 

I wish she hadn't apologized, but I can't be too mad at her. She must have been under some INSANE pressure. I'll see what she does tonight. 

[Victor the Crab]

I'd expect there to be a cold opening tonight in regards to the whole controversy from last week.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Victor the Crab said:

I'd expect there to be a cold opening tonight in regards to the whole controversy from last week.

DING! DING! DING! You called it!

[Lantern7]

I believe in the apology, even if I didn't think it was that warranted. What Sam was trying to bring up was something that got glossed over by certain members of the media getting their knickers in a twist, and she said as much tonight. She got that out of the way, then did depressing stories with little hope, yet managed to stay funny. Also, I don't know what part of Texas that was, but I'm staying out of it. And I'm straight. Thanks, Sam!

[possibilities]

I agree! That was really skillfully handled. She managed to deal with it in a way that was funny but also really precise-- what she was apologizing for, and why, and what she wasn't apologizing for. Nuanced. And she didn't come out of it defanged. And she also called out the distractions for what they are, and refocused the conversation on what she wanted it to be about. Good job, and many thanks, Full Frontal!

I hope the ratings reward her.

[wknt3]

6 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I believe in the apology, even if I didn't think it was that warranted. What Sam was trying to bring up was something that got glossed over by certain members of the media getting their knickers in a twist, and she said as much tonight. She got that out of the way, then did depressing stories with little hope, yet managed to stay funny. Also, I don't know what part of Texas that was, but I'm staying out of it. And I'm straight. Thanks, Sam!

His district is in North Dallas. Although most of the scariest stuff in that segment took place in Austin, which is a nice place to visit actually, and was about statewide politics.

As far as the rest of the show I thought it was great until the last act. The apology cold open was on point, the opener was solid, and the Texas story was one of the best field pieces the show has done, as it let the interviewees tell their stories, with the comic elements adding to those stories, rather than overpowering them as happens too often on this show. The last act was the weak link to me, as it didn't bring the funny, and seemed more designed to show she was still going to deliver a biting iconoclastic feminist take on current events than anything else. Also I was disappointed that she missed the obvious link here between her and Bill Clinton as far as both right and left wing activists jumping on bad phrasing for different reasons and the media covering that instead of more important stories. But it was a great show overall

[attica]

Can I just say how tickled I was that the show bleeped some words in the Peaches theme song? Well played FFwSB!

When that ousted Tex Leg dude mused 'there's no way she'll win after holding 'a gun' to my head', even without knowing anything about the story, I was all 'oh, you sweet summer child. of course she wins.'

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, attica said:

Can I just say how tickled I was that the show bleeped some words in the Peaches theme song? Well played FFwSB!

Yes, I loved that, too. I didn't catch which words were bleeped.

I also loved how she apologized. It wasn't a phony apology, like some people do -- I'm sorry you were offended. She was sincerely sorry for using that word. What she was actually saying last week, she wasn't sorry for.

I'm getting my shows mixed up. Was it here that they showed a clip of the senator being refused entry into the children's detention center? The security person (or whoever that was) said it was private property. Uh, no. If the US government is using it, would that still be private property?

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, attica said:

When that ousted Tex Leg dude mused 'there's no way she'll win after holding 'a gun' to my head', even without knowing anything about the story, I was all 'oh, you sweet summer child. of course she wins.'

 

Same here. I was shaking my head at his naivete and saying, she'll win. Especially when she said "black thugs" because being racist these days is a sure fire way to win. Or being an asshole. That said, I was still shocked that no one checked her on saying "black thugs." I don't know about anyone else, but it shocked and enraged me, even though, simultaneously, I shook my head in resignation.

Putting on my flak jacket here, but I disagreed with Sam regarding the Bill Clinton clip she showed. As he stated when he was on Colbert, that interview on Today was "distilled," which I think means, taken out of context? And he clarified; that's all I'll say as he was on Colbert's show and not on Sam's.

Otherwise, I loved the rest of the show and was cheering and clapping. I loved that she revisited the child immigration topic. I howled at how she was the voiceover for the North Texas segment--that voice reminded me of Mel Blanc--that one cartoon short where a criminal from the old wild west was talking about them good ole days, and ended with "when are you all gonna let me out of here?" or something like that. The animation was an homage to that short. As the narrator was in jail/prison. Because he was an outlaw.

[attica]

37 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I didn't catch which words were bleeped.

"The Bleep wanna be her, the bleep wanna be her, etc."

[iMonrey]

I think she handled this about as well as she could have. It was important to refocus on the issue she was highlighting in the original piece: immigrants being ripped from their children. Of course the media wanted to focus on using a bad word instead of the issue. Because calling someone a c-word is way worse than taking children away from their parents to punish them for entering the country illegally.

I think I'm getting my stories confused though - they guy running against the lady who put a finger gun to his head - he was ousted because he supported a gay rights issue, correct? So what were they talking about in that debate or town hall or whatever that led to his opponent talking about being robbed by "black thugs?" I'm assuming it was some other issue, like gun control. 

Edited June 7, 2018 by iMonrey

[biakbiak]

24 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

So what were they talking about in that debate or town hall or whatever that led to his opponent talking about being robbed by "black thugs?" I'm assuming it was some other issue, like gun control. 

Yes, they also mentioned that she went after him for gun control but given how party line he appeared to be I wonder what his position on guns actually was. I want to hear more details about his opponents son being mugged because it didn’t ring true.

[atlantaloves]

That was a perfect apology without sucking up too hard Sam! You rock, and we love you here in Atlanta!

[snowwhyte]

It's pretty disgusting that the Ice guy was arguing that immigrant children are being treated too well because they have access to healthy food and medical care when there are American children who don't. If the government is taking custody of these children then they owe them a basic standard of care that includes food and medical care. If American children aren't getting their basic needs met maybe see that for what it is, a fundamental failure of government. If immigrant children can't be treated better than American children then treat your nation's children better. 

[Victor the Crab]

19 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

DING! DING! DING! You called it!

Thanks. But, to be honest, I was expecting some kind of sketch that captured the maelstrom of a week her and her crew had to endure. But her opening speech worked very, very well.

[ganesh]

13 hours ago, attica said:

When that ousted Tex Leg dude mused 'there's no way she'll win after holding 'a gun' to my head', even without knowing anything about the story, I was all 'oh, you sweet summer child. of course she wins.'

As a campaign, wouldn't you follow up and verify that claim? I thought the guy would have said something. 

[lookeyloo]

5 hours ago, atlantaloves said:

That was a perfect apology without sucking up too hard Sam! You rock, and we love you here in Atlanta!

Absolutely!!!!!!!!

[biakbiak]

It has been a shitty week so I needed to be reminded and inspired by the Irish vote to repeal. 

[attica]

Agreed. Coverage of all the really hopeful advances recently just get shut out of the news cycle by the ongoing horror show. (The fact that women are driving the Hopeful Bus is probably one of the reasons it doesn't get covered, frankly.) Seeing Sam/Alana cover the Irish repeal is a balm. 

Plus I have the same reaction about the immigration mess that Sam does: Wait, is Ariana really that not-tall?

[biakbiak]

17 minutes ago, attica said:

Wait, is Ariana really that not-tall?

I know you were joking but seriously when I say their Harry Potter I googled the heights. She is 5 foot and he is 6’3”! The more you know about heights of people won’t make not allowing domestic abuse and gang affiliation at least a reason for asylum cases to be reviewed  okay.

Edited June 14, 2018 by biakbiak

[meowmommy]

The Lebron Smith joke was obvious from a mile away.  I have to think that if they'd asked the real Lebron, he would have gladly come on the show to make the point about Ohio voter registration.

[attica]

I can't say I loved Rubin's piece about impeachment. Sure, it's a complicated and fraught subject not well understood by lots of folks, and Steyer may not have pure motives (although I can't hear him most of the time :) ) but I'm tired of the repeated, reliable narrative: No matter what, Dems are doing it wrong. As if there's only one way to resist, and if we don't thread the needle exactly, we'll fail forever.  I say pile on from all directions. 

Anybody see what Sam's shirt said?

Hamill: "I'm not a pancake person any more. I mean it this time." That was adorable.

[ChelseaNH]

2 hours ago, attica said:

No matter what, Dems are doing it wrong.

They showed Democrats on both sides of the issue.  Which ones are doing it wrong?

[iMonrey]

To be honest I just haven't been following this immigration story because it's not really a priority for me when there's such a mountain of other crap going on. But it's dismaying to know that Trump can make a big production out of signing something and claiming he's fixing something not of his own making and how many of his supporters believe him. Hint: all of them. It's just too depressing to think about.

And I honestly don't know where I stand on the Need To Impeach movement. I can see both sides but I'm starting to lean towards Democrats running on impeachment instead of running away from it. I'm just so sick of the "establishment" saying "We just need to go out and talk to people about our policies and they'll vote for us." They've been doing that all along and it's not working. They need something to fire up their base and this is probably the closest they're going to get to finding it. Sure, maybe that's going to fire up the Trump supporters but they're going to show up at the polls anyway like they did in 2016. There's no way to successfully keep that from happening. Is the Democratic strategy to be mundane and keep Trump supporters complacent enough to stay home on election day? That's . . . stupid. The answer is to get more Democrats to the polls, not to hope Republicans don't show up. Duh.

[attica]

1 hour ago, ChelseaNH said:

They showed Democrats on both sides of the issue.  Which ones are doing it wrong?

It's a 'dems in disarray!' trope, to which even dems are not immune, much to my sadness.  

[peeayebee]

5 hours ago, attica said:

Hamill: "I'm not a pancake person any more. I mean it this time." That was adorable.

Hamill was wonderful doing those readings. Perfect.

[ganesh]

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And I honestly don't know where I stand on the Need To Impeach movement. I can see both sides but I'm starting to lean towards Democrats running on impeachment instead of running away from it. I'm just so sick of the "establishment" saying "We just need to go out and talk to people about our policies and they'll vote for us." They've been doing that all along and it's not working. They need something to fire up their base and this is probably the closest they're going to get to finding it. Sure, maybe that's going to fire up the Trump supporters but they're going to show up at the polls anyway like they did in 2016. There's no way to successfully keep that from happening. Is the Democratic strategy to be mundane and keep Trump supporters complacent enough to stay home on election day? That's . . . stupid. The answer is to get more Democrats to the polls, not to hope Republicans don't show up. Duh.

I think getting more voters to the polls, especially those who stayed home is the way to go. The question is whether to run on impeachment or now. I go back and forth too. I think they can do both. 

[possibilities]

It was driving me crazy that Sam was wearing a shirt with words on it, and her jacket blocked my ability to read whatever it said. Why would you be sloppy enough to do that? Grrr

I thought the Steyer piece was a waste of time. He's spending a lot of money and I kind of agree that it could be spent elsewhere and do more good (I don't think he's convincing anyone who doesn't already want impeachment anyway), but I also didn't think it was worth the time they spent on it. I kind of got that they wanted to make a point about a wealthy person trying to buy an election and people on "both sides" of the spectrum falling for it. But honestly, it would help more for them to talk about campaign finance reform or do a story about how other countries are trying to educate their populations to inoculate them against the kind of BS that we fall prey to (Sweden had a campaign for media literacy, to help people be resistant to propaganda and disinformation, for example).

Did I catch it right-- the show is off the air again until this time next month? Why do they have such an irregular schedule???

[Hooper]

Quote

It was driving me crazy that Sam was wearing a shirt with words on it, and her jacket blocked my ability to read whatever it said. Why would you be sloppy enough to do that? Grrr

It was frustrating to me at first, and then I decided that since I couldn't read them, I would just assume the words were the George Carlin "Forbidden Seven".