Late-night TV is nearly ALL MALE again: How Samantha Bee's 'Full Frontal' on TBS made 'television history'
Television host and comedian Samantha Bee came up with a shocking revelation on Monday, July 25 that her late-night show 'Full Frontal With Samantha Bee' will no longer continue on cable network TBS. 'Full Frontal With Samantha Bee' began on TBS in 2016, and aired weekly and ran 7 seasons, making it one of the very few talk shows hosted by a woman.
Bee, a longtime correspondent on 'The Daily Show,' was the only woman hosting a late-night TV show for a time, and she brought her unique insight to issues such as abortion rights and the #MeToo movement. She drew attention to the problems that were often overshadowed on late-night television, particularly, but not exclusively, those concerning women.
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Samantha Bee’s “Full Frontal will not return to the network in the fall,” TBS network said in a statement to Los Angeles Times. “As we continue to shape our new programming strategy, we’ve made some difficult, business-based decisions,” the statement read. “We are proud to have been the home to ‘Full Frontal With Samantha Bee’ and thank Sam, and the rest of the Emmy-nominated team for their groundbreaking work. We celebrate this extraordinarily talented cast and crew and look forward to exploring new opportunities to work with them in the future". “'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’ consistently broke barriers with Sam and her team boldly using political satire to entertain, inform and empower viewers, while embracing critically underrepresented stories, particularly about women", the statement concluded.
Bee announced Monday on Twitter: “After 7 seasons, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee will not be returning to TBS this fall. We’re so thankful for our loyal audience, our amazing team, and that we got to annoy the right people every week — that there wasn’t wrestling or baseball or a very special episode of Big Bang.” Bee further stated that her show “made television history in the late night space, paving the way for female voices in what has traditionally been, and continues to be a male-dominated landscape.”
After 7 seasons, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee will not be returning to TBS this fall. We’re so thankful for our loyal audience, our amazing team, and that we got to annoy the right people every week—that there wasn't wrestling or baseball or a very special episode of Big Bang.
— Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (@FullFrontalSamB) July 25, 2022
'Full Frontal' is one of the few female-hosted talk shows
Over the span of 7 seasons, Bee's 'Full Frontal' brought an assertive and steamy viewpoint to late-night television, and it was one of the few shows led by a female point-of-view. Bee drew attention due to her witty and outrageous humor. Her narratives pushed the generally friendly cable network to incorporate profanity and tackle enraging political issues.
In 2018, the show made headlines when Bee used a charged slur to insult former President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and called her “feckless c**t,” for failing to oppose her father’s immigration policy, that separated children from their families. For a time, advertisers withdrew commercial support.
'Full Fontral' appeared to be a new kind of late-night show that incorporated humor with some serious agendas. The show would often invite interesting analysts, and other new voices such as Allana Harkin, Amy Hoggart, Mike Rubens, and Ashely Nicole Black. Recently, 'Full Frontal' was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series.
Of late, Warner Bros Discovery has been reducing its content spend for major cable networks such as TBS and TNT. Therefore, the outlets have agreed to focus more on featuring movies and sports. Apart from the famous and dominated late-night shows like the 'Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' and 'Late Night with Seth Meyers', ABC has 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' or 'James Corden’s The Late Late Show' there are very less women hosted talk shows. Last summer female comedian Lilly Singh's show, 'A Little Late' ended after a short run on NBC from 2019 to 2021