Samantha Bee’s ‘Full Frontal’ is getting a kick in the rear from Warner Bros. Discovery.
The show, which became a flagship program for major cable network TBS, “will not be returning to the network in the fall,” according to a statement from Bee’s representatives.
“As we continue to shape our new programming strategy, we have made some difficult business-based decisions,” TBS said in a statement. “We are proud to have been the home of ‘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.”
Over the course of seven seasons, Bee’s “Full Frontal” brought an aggressive and sassy voice to the late-night TV arena, and one of the few shows led by a female point of view. Bee grabbed attention with outrageous humor and one-liners that pushed the normally cool cable network to embrace copious amounts of profanity and tackle often-polarizing political issues. In 2018, the show became part of the news cycle when Bee used a loaded epithet that refers to a part of the female anatomy to insult President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka. Advertisers withdrew commercial support for a while.
“We do a show to please ourselves,” Bee told Variety during an interview in 2016. “It gives us the opportunity to say the things we want to say exactly the way we want to say them.” In the process, his viewers laugh, but they can also exorcise their frustrations with modern politics and culture. When Bee watches TV, she says, “I like a firm hand to take me somewhere. I think that’s what we do with the show: give a firm hand. Maybe you don’t like where it’s taking you, and that’s okay too.” She hopes viewers will “walk away with comedy first and catharsis second.”
The end of his show will come as television continues to cut his late-night antics. WarnerMedia decided to end its long-running late-night show “Conan” on TBS with Conan O’Brien in June of last year. NBC and late-night anchor Lilly Singh, a digital entertainment influencer who had launched a new early-morning show on the network, decided to part ways last year. Comedy Central, which once boasted three different late-night shows, now has just one, “The Daily Show,” regularly during the week. Showtime’s “Desus & Mero,” a weekly comedy showcase, will not be returning to Showtime thanks to a falling out between its hosts. And CBS is looking for cheaper alternatives to replace James Corden when he exits “The Late Late Show” in early 2023.
The end of “Full Frontal” comes when Warner Bros. Discovery has reduced content spending for major cable networks like TBS and TNT. Of course, the outlets continue to offer movies and have added more sports nights, thanks to a recent rights deal between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NHL. But TBS has been cutting back on scripted series, with shows like “Chad” and “The Last OG” dropped in recent weeks. Brett Weitz, CEO of TBS, TNT and TruTV, left the company in May after the cable networks consolidated under the aegis of the Warner Bros. executive. Discovery, Kathleen Finch. Weitz had been a strong proponent of “Full Frontal.”
“Full Frontal” heralded a new parade of weekly late-night comedy shows aimed at smaller niches rather than a wider crowd. Once Bee’s show gained traction, BET tried a similar showcase for Robin Thede, produced by the same company behind Bee. Comedy Central has been testing a weekly show hosted by Charlamagne Tha God.
Bee often surprised viewers by traveling to faraway places, landing interviews with interesting analysts and giving time to new voices like Amy Hoggart, Mike Rubens and Ashely Nicole Black. One of her funniest segments focused on her trying to get a costume of the NRA’s mascot, Eddie the Eagle, and finding it more difficult than buying firearms. “Full Frontal” was recently nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Nonfiction or Reality Short Series.