Steve Almond: Samantha Bee should have been given 'The Daily Show'

By Meteor Blades
Thursday Mar 03, 2016 · 11:54 PM EST

Steve Almond at Salon writes—Please give Samantha Bee “The Daily Show”: They squandered Jon Stewart’s legacy by giving the show to the wrong host:

 ...over the past month it’s become painfully obvious that “The Daily Show” squandered its shot at a political comedy dynasty by betting on the wrong host.

They could have, and should have, offered the gig to their brilliant and longest-serving correspondent Samantha Bee, who had supplied the show 12 years of sidesplitting dispatches. But they never even asked her. Instead, they went with Trevor Noah, an affable South African newcomer who had appeared on the program a grand total of … three times. I will refrain from calling this a crying shame; it’s more like a damn shame. Trevor has, thus far, laid a well-intentioned egg. In the midst of a bizarre and bloated political pageant that begs for satirical puncturing, he’s made “The Daily Show”something worse than unfunny. With the exception of an occasional home run, he’s made it irrelevant.

Meanwhile, Bee’s “Full Frontal,” which debuted earlier this month on TBS, has become an instant phenomenon. And not because Bee is the first female tapped to host a late-night comedy program. Because she is, thus far at least, the smartest and funniest. Her success surely has a lot to do with her talented and diverse writers’ room, which is anchored by “Daily Show” alum Jo Miller. (It says a lot that she chose to team up with Bee and her comedy partner/husband, fellow “Daily Show” all-star Jason Jones, rather than stick with the proven franchise.) But it’s Bee herself who has made the first two episodes of “Full Frontal” such a revelation.

As a correspondent, Bee has the ability to throw herself headlong into the field, as she did so often at “The Daily Show,” while retaining the instincts of a critic who can pinpoint the tragic ironies of whatever scene she’s trolling. [...]

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/3/1495586/-Open-thread-for-night-owls-Steve-Almond-Samantha-Bee-should-have-been-given-The-Daily-Show