'The Daily Show' at the Republican National Convention over the years

The Republican National Convention begins today, so I'm sharing The Daily Show's retrospectives of their coverage of past events, beginning with Small Town Values & Absent Diversity at the RNC's of Yore.

It's a Daily Show tradition to attend the national conventions every year, and the RNC always promises a good time. Take a look at some of the Best F**kin' News Team's best f**kin' moments at the RNC, from learning about small-town values to searching out any Black or Latino people, to finding out the last year America was great.

Jordan Klepper, Aasif Mandvi, John Oliver look so young in these clips. Also, seeing Samantha Bee makes me realize how much I miss her show. Altogether, they remind me how The Daily Show was and still is a great cultivator of talent.

The fun continues in RNC Throwbacks: Bristol Palin's Right to Choose & John Oliver Audits Red States.

Take a look back at some of the Daily Show's most memorable moments with Samantha Bee, Ed Helms, and John Oliver on the ground at the RNC.

Ah, when Republicans were the more anti-Russian party! I miss those days. On the other hand, they've become even more anti-choice, despite what their platform does, or even more importantly, doesn't say. As for running government like a business, I've seen what that was like under Rick Snyder. No thank you. It's even worse if they want to run the U.S. government like convicted criminal Hoover Cleveland's businesses!

Here's to this year's convention creating as many funny moments as these. If so, it might just be the best thing to come out of it!

ETA: This year's RNC may create funny moments, but they won't be captured by a team in the field. Variety reports ‘Daily Show’ Cancels On-The-Ground RNC Plans After Trump Assassination Attempt.

Jon Stewart and the team from “The Daily Show” will be staying close to home during the Republican National Convention.

After planning to cover the event with a satirical lens in host city Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Comedy Central mainstay canceled its plans Sunday and noted the show would hold forth instead from its usual base in New York City. Monday’s broadcast of the show, typically hosted by Stewart, will not air, and the late-night series will pick up Tuesday through Thursday.

Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump appears to be the issue. A message posted via Instagram and X offered “apologies for the inconvenience,” citing “logistical issues and the evolving situation in Milwaukee” for a “need to reschedule our events on the ground in Wisconsin.” A spokeswoman for the show did not elaborate on the statement.

Thanks to King of Pies on X/Twitter for telling me this. Just the same, darn.

Samantha Bee wins an Emmy after TBS cancels 'Full Frontal'

I reported bad news in Appeals on ballot proposals expanding voting rights and protecting reproductive rights heading to Michigan Supreme Court: "Another one of my favorite sources is also going away for different reasons, as TBS canceled "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" at the end of July." I have good, if bittersweet, news to report today, as "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Once Upon a Time In Late Night" won Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards last Saturday. Gold Derby uploaded Emmys 2022 backstage: 'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Once Upon a Time in Late Night' after the show won.

The TBS program 'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Once Upon a Time in Late Night' won Best Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series at the 2022 Emmys. Emmy winners meet the media backstage for a Q&A in the Creative Arts press room.

Allana Harkin also called the win bittersweet, which I thought as soon as I read the news over the weekend, especially coming so soon after I found out about the cancellation, which inspired Deadline to tweet the following image.


For more, watch Samantha Bee's 'Full Frontal' canceled by TBS by The Washington Post.

Samantha Bee of "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" will end her show after seven seasons. Her departure leaves just a few women remaining in the late-night space.

That's depressing. I hope Sam and as much of her cast and crew finds new homes for their talent. I want to keep seeing their takes on current events.

For what it's worth, I completely discounted the chances of this show winning in Desi Lydic, an Emmy-nominated performer, Foxsplains the January 6th Committee Hearings, thinking it would come down to "Between the Scenes — The Daily Show" and "Saturday Night Live Presents: Stories from the Show." This is one case where I'm glad to be wrong. This win is double justice for Bee and her crew, both as a reward for the merits of the show and for being canceled.


Click on What It's REALLY Like Working In Late Night to watch the entire series compiled in one video. Unfortunately, it's age-restricted so I can't embed it. Darn. They're great stories about television, even better than "Saturday Night Live Presents: Stories from the Show." The Emmy voters couldn't resist a good show about show business. As I keep writing about awards shows, electorates matter.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the short form live-action winners.

Samantha Bee was prepared for the overturning of Roe v. Wade

So much for my plans to write either something evergreen or cover the January 6th Committee hearings today. Instead, I'm blogging about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the decision I was dreading when my pre-planned title for Samantha Bee asks 'What’s Next For America’s Embarrassingly Weak Gun Laws?' was "Monday the 13th is an unlucky day for reproductive rights."* That turned out to be today, which Sam was prepared for last night, beginning with Sam On Roe…with Covid.

Sam may have COVID, but the upcoming Roe v. Wade decision is too important not to discuss.

For my reaction, For my reaction, I'm saying "get well soon, Sam," then recycling what I wrote in May.

She...remind[s] me of what I wrote in John Oliver examines the Supreme Court after 'Last Week Tonight' wins four Emmy Awards, mentioning "all the bad things that can happen to health care, reproductive rights, civil rights, and voting rights as a result of this nomination..." If Alito's draft becomes the majority opinion, then bad things will have happened to health care, reproductive rights, and civil rights all at once. This will become one of those times when I wish the comedians and I weren't right.

Unfortunately, we were and I still wish we weren't.

Sam wasn't all outrage, doom, and gloom last night. She proposed a solution in Abortions on Federal Lands.

Sam heads to Yellowstone to talk with a legal expert who may have found a loophole, a literal plan B, that would allow doctors to distribute abortion medication on federal enclaves.

This piece was directed by Razan Ghalayini and produced with Annie Kopp. Editing by Andrew Mendelson.

I think this is generally a good idea, although as a former National Park Ranger, I can tell you that the National Park Service would want nothing to do with this idea, despite Sam using Yellowstone as a remote location for this segment. On the other hand, I think the Department of Veterans Affairs would be more appropriate and VA hospitals could at least provide this care to female veterans. The rest of us would be probably be out of luck.

I conclude by being a good environmentalist and recycling what I wrote in my second post on Alito's draft opinion, itself mostly a recycled reaction.

As for Oliver mocking Chuck Schumer saying "this is not your grandfather's Republican Party," yes and no. In terms of style, it certainly isn't, but on reproductive rights, it's been heading this way for decades. While I didn't mention reproductive rights in If I were still a conservative, disagreement with the anti-abortion movement inside the Republican Party, which had nearly completed its takeover of the party by 2000, certainly contributed. My environmentalism, which I did mention in that post from eleven years ago as a reason I left the GOP, leads me to favor birth control, including abortion as a last resort, in order to reach zero population growth. My feminism adds to my support for reproductive rights. I explained both in CNBC asks 'Is The U.S. Running Out Of People?'

U.S. birth rates have been dropping for more than a decade and fertility rates have been dropping for even longer than that. In fact, U.S. fertility rates have been at or below replacement rate since 1973, when Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion. Economic uncertainty and other factors have contributed to the trend.

Second, increased population is bad for the environment, as expressed by the variable P in I=P*A*T "where I is impact, P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology." Impact increases as both population and affluence increases; both drive up demand for resources and create more waste and pollution. Therefore, keeping population down will help the environment. By keeping human population below the carrying capacity for our species, it helps people as well.

Third, increasing educational and economic opportunities for women is the number one way to decrease birth rates and keep them down, although increasing economic security might put a floor under the declining birth rates. Women's education and a stronger economy will also increase affluence, which will increase impact if more efficient technologies don't counteract both affluence and population.

Notice that I started this section by crediting Roe v. Wade for beginning the current period of low birth rates. That Oliver cites an estimate of 75,000 more children being born if (when) it's overturned demonstrates its effectiveness at lowering U.S. population growth. Therefore, overturning it strikes me as generally bad for sustainability.

What I see as an unfortunate outcome is one that opponents of abortion regard as a good one, including for its economic effects as an alternative solution to the one I proposed last year.

[I]f not enough babies are born in the U.S. to meet our job demand, the country can allow more immigration. I'm O.K. with that, but Donald Trump became president in large part because many Americans weren't and still aren't. That's why, when one of my students asked in 2015 if the U.S. would ever adopt Chinese population policies, I responded no, that's not the American way. If the U.S. thinks it has an overpopulation issue, it would restrict immigration. The next week, Trump rode down the escalator and denounced immigrants. This is one of those cases where I hate being proved right.

If increasing immigration is not an acceptable solution, then increasing the U.S. birth rate would be. It's a way of avoiding what I worried about four years ago and have repeated several times since.

I have been in favor of zero population growth for as long as I can remember. However, I'm not sure the U.S. economy is set up for a stable or slowly declining population, a point I made in the Hipcrime Vocab: Why Slowing Population Growth is a Problem. We are going to have to figure how to do so. Otherwise, I might live long enough to experience the wisdom of the saying "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it."

I can say the same thing for the opponents of Roe v. Wade, who now seem to be moving on to restricting contraception. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

*The Supreme Court released its decision in that case about guns yesterday and is expected to release its decision in West Virgina vs. EPA today as well. Stay tuned for my reactions to those as well as continuing coverage of the January 6th Committee hearings along with posts on evergreen topics through the end of the month.

Samantha Bee asks 'What’s Next For America’s Embarrassingly Weak Gun Laws?'

I'm sitting here waiting for a Supreme Court decision to be announced at 10:00 A.M. EDT and deciding that not writing today's blog post until then is wasting my time. I had a working title of "Monday the 13th is an unlucky day for reproductive rights" based on the expected result of the leaked draft opinion but the wait is getting to me, so instead I'm anticipating a decision on another case involving gun rights by sharing Full Frontal with Samantha Bee asking What’s Next For America’s Embarrassingly Weak Gun Laws?

No one wants to be a cynic about an issue as important as gun violence, but it's hard to be optimistic when half of our elected officials won't even admit there's a gun problem. This is a digital exclusive.

In case that's the decision announced today, I'm ready.

Just the same, there has been some progress on the issue, as BBC News reported in Plan to strengthen gun control measure agreed by US senators.

US campaigners have welcomed a potential cross-party deal on gun safety reforms but stressed the proposals do not go far enough.

I hope these measures pass. I'll take half a loaf over nothing.

At the same time the Supreme Court announces a decision, the January 6th Committee hearings are going on. I'll have reactions to today's installment after an update on D.C. statehood for Flag Day. Stay tuned.

The 2021 EMA Awards for World Environment Day 2022

Happy World Environment Day! Because I promised the Sunday entertainment feature today, I am celebrating the day by blogging about the 2021 EMA Awards, presented by the Environmental Media Association on October 16, 2021. Better late than never!


"No Sudden Move" won Feature Film over "The Tomorrow War" and "Vivo." If I had blogged about the nominees when they were announced, I'd have picked "The Tomorrow War" because it's about an alien invasion facilitated by climate change and fought using time travel. That summary looks outlandish, but trust me, it's better than it sounds. I would have also understood the nomination for "Vivo" because of its appreciation for the natural world. I would have puzzled over the inclusion of "No Sudden Move" because it's a modern film noir with no obvious environmental content. I had to read the movie's plot summary page to find out that the film's MacGuffin is a "document [that] is revealed to be plans for a catalytic converter, seeking to conceal its existence from public knowledge and avoid governmental pressure on the car companies to implement pollution controls." Now I understand why it was nominated. Based on its cast and production values, I can also understand why it won, too. It's probably eligible for the Emmy Awards and might also be eligible for a Saturn Award along with "The Tomorrow War" and "Vivo."

Speaking of awards, this is the only award I can find for "No Sudden Move," but its IMDB page doesn't list it. In fact, I can't find any mention of the 2021 EMA Awards on IMDB despite The Hollywood Reporter covering it. The most recent year with a page is 2020, which only lists one of the nominees for Documentary Film, "The Story of Plastic," but not the winner, "Ted Turner: Captain Planet." That's it. 2018 and 2019 are even worse as they list a creator and two of his projects winning awards in categories that I can find no evidence of ever existing or that haven't been bestowed since 2002 but none of the actual nominees or winners. In fact, the last year with an even halfway complete list of winners and nominees is 2017, the year that turned me onto the award. Finding this out is enough to convince me to ask if the EMA has an official representative for IMDB to correct these errors or Charity Navigator to improve its rating in addition to my New Year's resolution from 2020 to see if I can vote for these awards when I join.

Time to climb out of that rabbit hole and write about the rest of the nominees and winners.


On the other hand, I predicted "I Am Greta" would be nominated for an EMA Award and would have picked it to win over "Jonathan Scott’s Power Trip" and "Purple Mountains," so I'm not the least bit surprised it won. The only thing that surprised me was that I also predicted "David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet" would earn a nomination here, but it didn't. That may be because industry representatives have to submit their works to the EMA for consideration and I suspect that Netflix didn't do that, which is probably why "My Octopus Teacher" wasn't nominated, either. In fact, while "Vivo" is streaming on Netflix, EMA lists Sony Pictures Entertainment instead. There are no mentions of Netflix on the winners page at all. On the other hand, the Emmy Awards snubbed "I Am Greta" while "David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet" earned five Emmy nominations and three wins. I suspect Netflix is OK with that.

Follow over the jump for the television winners.

'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee' goes to the NRA Convention

I concluded Trevor Noah examines gun violence by telling my readers "Samantha Bee uploaded videos about the NRA convention, which Jimmy Kimmel satirized, so I have at least one more post on this topic tomorrow. Stay tuned." I begin with the segment that was actually broadcast, Bad Timing: 2022 NRA Convention.

Amy Hoggart travels to Houston to talk to attendees of one of the most poorly timed events in history - the annual NRA convention - taking place 300 miles away and only four days after a mass school shooting in Uvalde.

I haven't featured Amy Hoggart since Full Frontal focuses on furries for April Fools Day, but this segment shows that I should put her in the spotlight more often. Her interviews are both hilarious and insightful. As for the serious point in the middle of all the comedy, it's a version of Upton Sinclair's "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." I don't know if any of the interviewees salaries depend on not understanding how their advocacy for gun rights has contributed to mass shootings and other gun violence, but I'm sure their self-images do, and I think that's just as important an impediment to understanding.

Hoggart also got two other points across, that none of the people she interviewed could mention the "well-regulated militia" opening clause of the Second Amendment, turning it into what I call the "Second Ammoment." She also mentioned the NRA's lobbying efforts. Samantha Bee herself tackled both of these in the web exclusive segment How the NRA Went From Responsible Gun Organization to Politically-Motivated Liars.

How did the NRA go from advocating for responsible gun ownership to a fringe extremist organization? No, they didn’t leave YouTube on autoplay. This is a digital exclusive.

Again, while the NRA has contributed a lot of money to politicians and influenced their positions, they're not as powerful as they once were. That's the good news. The bad news is that even more extreme organizations have filled the vacuum and performing the same function as the NRA, which has declared bankruptcy and moved to Texas. It reminds me of FDR saying "Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob." The gun rights people are both.

That's it for this series, for now. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.

Samantha Bee reminds us that 'Congress Has the Power to Stop Mass Shootings'

I concluded the body of Jimmy Kimmel's reactions to last week's school shooting yesterday with "While I'm done with the late-night hosts on the broadcast networks reacting to the tragedy, I still have cable hosts to examine. Stay tuned." I begin this part of the series with Samantha Bee reminding her viewers Congress Has the Power to Stop Mass Shootings.

We’re pretty deep in denial if we don’t think guns and lax gun laws are making this problem infinitely worse.

Tell us what you really think, Sam. Seriously, she has a lot more to say about guns and she said most of them in Full Frontal Wants to Take Your Guns - Full Special last year. It's sad but amazing how timely it still is.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee presents ‘Full Frontal Wants To Take Your Guns,’ a special to address how America’s gun problem got this bad, and what we as citizens of this glorious mess can do to help fix it.

That's certainly a comprehensive, if comedic, explanation of the problem and an agenda to deal with it, including federal funding of studies of gun violence. I also found the comparison to traffic, and deaths in 2020 striking as well as the deregulated deathmobile her show deconstructed to make the point about auto safety. The last time I featured a car like that, I was blogging about Mad Max and I don't think even those cars were as deadly for their drivers as this monstrosity!

I will probably finish this series tomorrow with clips from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Stay tuned.

Samantha Bee on sand for Throwback Thursday

I concluded CNBC explains 'What Happens If There’s A Nuclear Attack' and 'The Big Business of Nuclear Weapons Manufacturing' by telling my readers "I have work to do, as final exams began [the day before] yesterday. Stay tuned for a retrospective tomorrow on Throwback Thursday." Because of that, I'm sharing a relatively brief look back and update to CNBC and SciShow explain why the world is running out of sand and what can be done about it by linking to SAND: The Sexiest Topic We’ve Ever Covered from Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.

Sand is everywhere and in everything. Of course, that means there’s a pretty nasty underground sand business run by some pretty nasty sand people, proving once again that there’s no resource too tiny for humans to kill each other and the planet over.

Unfortunately, YouTube would not let me embed it, as this is an age restricted video that you have to watch on YouTube. You have been warned, but I didn't find it offensive, just a little risque, so I still recommend my readers click on the link to watch it. Enjoy the deep dive into one particular earth material and the Star Wars references that go with it.


I posted CNBC and SciShow explain why the world is running out of sand and what can be done about it on May 29, 2021, but did not share the link at Coffee Party USA's Facebook page until June 6, 2021, hence the spike in the middle of the graph above. That helped the entry earn 702 default and 896 raw entries during June 2021, ranking it third overall for the month. Combined with the 132 raw page views it had already accumulated during May 2021 and the trickle of readers after June 2021, it ended the 2021-2022 blogging year on March 20, 2022 with 1,055 raw page views ranking it twenty-eighth among entries posted last year and thirty-second overall during the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

I promise to write a retrospective of the top posts about the pandemic tomorrow for Flashback Friday. In the meantime, follow over the jump for the linkspam of previous entries in the relevant retrospective series.

Samantha Bee updates Ginni Thomas's texts and Alexander Vindman's account of the 'perfect call'

I'm revisiting Stephen Colbert on missing Trump White House phone records and Ginni Thomas's texts updates the attempt to overturn the 2020 election today with Samantha Bee's New Evidence From the January 6th Investigation Continues Not to Disappoint.

Missing emails, a seven hour gap in phone logs, and a text chain to overthrow the election. This season of True Crime: January 6th is riveting!

This was an even more complete and focused account than Colbert included in his monologue last week, so I'm glad I shared it. It also focuses more on the Thomases and less on The Former Guy, even though he would have been the beneficiary of Ginni Thomas's actions. It also gives me another reason to dislike Justice Thomas beyond his history with Monsanto.

Bee also updated Vox explains the phone call that could get Trump impeached (it did) and Time names the public servants who testified at the impeachment hearings 2019's Guardians of the Year with The Spy Who Called Me: Alexander Vindman and the Call That Sparked the Russian War on Ukraine.

Sam sits down with the star of Trump’s first impeachment hearing, Alexander Vindman to talk about the infamous 2019 Trump/Zelenskyy phone call that paved the way for Putin’s war on Ukraine.

This piece was produced by Razan Ghalayini with Adam Howard and edited by Andrew Mendelson.

I think Americans need to be reminded about how The Former Guy's first impeachment related not only to 2020 election and Joe Biden, but also led to Putin's war on Ukraine. Also, I can relate to Bee saying "we all have to be watchdogs against corruption and engage in protecting our democracy at the local, state, and federal level. Oh, my God, why does it end up being the moral of every single piece I do?" That's the moral of a lot of my posts as well and why I turn to comedians like Bee as inspirations for my blogging. It's an important message.

That's it for today's civics lesson through comedy. Stay tuned for another retrospective tomorrow for Throwback Thursday. Natural disasters, anyone?

John Oliver and Samantha Bee on misinformation

I've spent most of the past week ragging on Facebook and its sister platform Instagram for their practices that are harmful to a healthy democracy, so I'm not going to do that today. Instead, I'm turning my attention to other platforms that spread misinformation, beginning with WhatsApp, featured in Misinformation by "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."*

John Oliver discusses how misinformation spreads among immigrant diaspora communities, how little some platforms have done to stop it, and, most importantly, how to have a very good morning.

After a year and a half of watching John Oliver recording his show in "a blank void" with no one laughing at his jokes, seeing him in the studio was reassuring, but I'm still not used to hearing a studio audience.

WhatsApp isn't the only platform being used for spreading misinformation. "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" uploaded TikTok Misinformation is Spreading and it’s #Dangerous last month.

Like your most rhythmically-challenged friend, TikTok is having a hell of a time mastering its latest challenge: stopping the spread of harmful misinformation. To prevent dangerous conspiracy theories and lies from going viral, everyone's favorite clock app needs to do better!

Of course, some of the worst misinformation is about the pandemic. Sigh. I wish I were surprised.

*Sharing this video reminds me that I need to follow up on 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' leads Outstanding Variety Talk Series nominees at the Emmy Awards for the fifth consecutive year. Stay tuned.

Trevor Noah and Samantha Bee on reproductive rights for today's Women's Marches

As MSNBC reported today, Hundreds Of Women's Rights Marches Planned Nationwide Against Texas Abortion Law, but I'm waiting until they're all finished and the news departments of the networks and local stations have digested the story to share videos of the protests. Instead, I'm sharing two "ha-ha, only serious" takes on the issue beginning with The Daily Show with Trevor Noah asking What Happens When a State Bans Abortions? - If You Don’t Know, Now You Know.

Texas’s new abortion law is the most restrictive in the country. Here’s why banning abortions isn’t an effective (or safe) way to lower the abortion rate.

None of this comes as a surprise to me, so I'm saddened but not disappointed. It's also the bad news. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee has some good news for reproductive rights in New Jersey Is Paving The Way For Reproductive Rights.

We love...New Jersey? As shocking as it may be, the Garden State has been planting seeds to ensure that Roe V. Wade always thrives within its borders. Sam breaks out the celebratory pork rolls with NJ Governor Phil Murphy and Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, VP Public Affairs at Planned Parenthood Access Fund of NJ.

This piece was produced by Amber Watson with Annie Kopp and edited by Daphne Gomez-Mena.

I wish Governor Murphy, Planned Parenthood of New Jersey, and all of the bill's sponsors and supporters good luck and success in passing the bill next month so the Governor can sign it.

Enough serious business, even if I filtered it through comedy. Stay tuned for more on the winners of the Primetime Emmy Awards, probably about "Saturday Night Live," the next biggest winner with eight Emmy Awards, as the Sunday entertainment feature.

Trevor Noah and Samantha Bee describe the lesser known effects of climate change

I closed Seth Meyers and James Corden team up for Climate Night "I plan on posting at least one more entry about Climate Night. Stay tuned." I decided to conclude with one final post featuring Climate Night materiaol, beginning with The Consequences of Climate Change You May Not Know About | The Daily Show.

We’re all familiar with the major effects of climate change, but a hotter Earth creates lots of smaller changes too: more female turtles, worse-tasting coffee, scary space junk and even less sex.

When I wrote "I've mentioned how climate change will affect coffee at least twice, but this is the first funny look at that outcome. It won't be the last" in Colbert and Kimmel kick off Climate Night, that's because I had already watched this clip. In fact, it was the first Climate Night monologue I saw. Behold the power of the YouTube algorithm!

Samantha Bee covered another little-known effect of climate change in Climate Change’s Dirty Little Secret: Sewage.

If you thought climate change was sh*tty, just wait until you hear about this extremely pressing climate change issue that no one’s talking about! That’s right, we need to discuss our nation’s sewage system.

While I didn't mention sewage in Detroit floods while the Pacific Northwest bakes in record temperatures, sewage overflows and backups were a major part of the flood damage in A billion dollar trash day. I was lucky that it didn't ruin anything in my basement at the time.

Since I want to share some sustainable actions, here's a bonus video featuring one of my heroes, Dr. Jane Goodall on the Environmental Importance of Planting Trees (Extended) | The Tonight Show.

Dr. Jane Goodall talks about her new campaign Trees for Jane and her new book The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times.

I think this is a good idea to combat climate change and improve the environment in other ways, as Dame Jane explains.

This concludes my coverage of Climate Night. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.

'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' leads Outstanding Variety Talk Series nominees at the Emmy Awards for the fifth consecutive year

For today's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm building on yesterday's It's Saturday night, so here are the 21 Emmy nominations for 'Saturday Night Live' by examining variety talk shows.

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

Conan (TBS)
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)

Like last year and the three years before that, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" leads variety talk series nominees, this year with seven nominations. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" follows with five, although Stephen's extended franchise earned four more for a total of nine. "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" earned two, while "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" and "Conan" earned one each. "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" got snubbed in this category in favor of "Conan," which just ended its run on TBS. I'm sure it's all the same to TBS, but I'd rather have seen Bee return. Next year.

Since "Last Week Tonight" is the five-time returning winner, it's the favorite. As good as "Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection; Senator Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Performance by Jamila Woods" was, which I featured in Colbert, Kimmel, Meyers, Corden, and Fallon express outrage and offer comfort in response to yesterday's attempted self-coup, I'm not sure it will propel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" into an upset.

All of the nominations that named an episode recognized John Oliver blows up 2020 after discussing Trump refusing to concede. Surf over there to watch both clips; it's worth it. Until then, here's a preview.



As my wife said after watching it, "that was epic!" It certainly was.

Samantha Bee did earn one Emmy nomination for Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Pandemic Video Diaries: Vaxxed and Waxxed (TBS)
Inside Pixar (Disney+)
Pose: Identity, Family, Community (FX)
Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen (Bravo)
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man (YouTube)

I'd like Bee to win this category, but I just don't know if she will despite being a returning nominee. "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man" would be the other political choice, while all the rest are about entertainment. My gut says it will be "Inside Pixar" or "Pose: Identity, Family, Community," the first because of Disney's production values, the second because it's a three-time returning nominee in its final season. That alone might give it the Emmy.

Gold Derby interviewed Samantha Bee ('Full Frontal') on Trump's absence: 'Best possible outcome for America, for our show' before the Emmy nominations.

Samantha Bee ('Full Frontal') on Trump's absence: It's the 'best possible outcome for America' and 'for our show.' The Emmy winner chats about her variety talk series with Gold Derby editor Daniel Montgomery.

Despite the discussion of her family being eligible for craft awards like technical direction, the main show earned no nominations. Maybe it helps to have members of the Television Academy do that work for it to be nominated.

Speaking of Stephen's extended franchise earning four more Emmy nominations, here are the show categories featuring them, beginning with Outstanding Variety Special (Live).

Celebrating America — An Inauguration Night Special (Multiple Platforms)
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)
The Oscars (ABC)
The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd (CBS)
Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 (Showtime)

While the two political nominees, "Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020" has three nominations and "Celebrating America — An Inauguration Night Special" has two, neither leads nor is likely to be favored. Both "The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards" and "The Oscars" have four nominations while "The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd" has three. Based on the history of the award, I think a live event celebrating show business will win, favoring either "The Oscars" which has been nominated every year since the inception of this version of the award, or the Grammy Awards, which has been nominated for three of the four years of the current category. If all things were equal, I'd give the nod to the Oscars, since movies are closer to television than music, but other than the number of nominations, I'm not sure all things are equal. I found the ceremony a bit underwhelming compared to previous years except for the pre-recorded music segments; those were spectacular. If it wins, it will be because it was a minor miracle that it happened at all.

Now for a category I covered in Quibi's last Emmy nominations are also Roku's first as the network was canceled but the shows were renewed.

Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series

Carpool Karaoke: The Series (Apple TV)
Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS (YouTube)
The Randy Rainbow Show (YouTube)
Reno 911! (Quibi)
Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News (Paramount+)

This is a very different looking category from last year because the Television Academy merged Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series with Outstanding Short Form Variety Series to recreate Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series. Consequently, more of last year's Short Form Variety Series appear here than the sole returning scripted comedy from last year, "Reno 911!" At least the addition of variety nominees didn't dilute the political and government content, with "Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS," "The Randy Rainbow Show,", and "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News" providing a lot of political content to go along with the funny cops of "Reno 911!" While I'm rooting for "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News," I expect "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" will win instead. I've learned not to underestimate James Corden.

Follow over the jump for nominations of the people behind the camera.

Samantha Bee, Rachel Maddow, and Vox on environmental racism, including the Flint Water Crisis and 'Cancer Alley'

I'm looking at another pair of stories I tell my students today today, environmental racism, thanks to Samantha Bee uploading Environmental Racism: How It Started vs. How It’s Going last week.

Great news! Joe Biden is signing climate change-based executive orders AND appointing people of color to take the lead on environmental justice for the first time ever. And it's not a moment too soon for communities of color who have been disproportionately suffering the ill effects of corporate greed and environmental racism. It's time to get those resources to the people who need them the most. And also, some f*cking clean water, please.

In addition to this being a good survey of the subject, it includes two examples of environmental racism, the Flint Water Crisis, which I've been blogging about for years, and "Cancer Alley," a location I've never written about before. It's about time I did.

I last updated the Flint Water Crisis in Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and others likely to be charged for roles in Flint Water Crisis. That happened; the State of Michigan charged Snyder and eight others with crimes related to it. Rachel Maddow reviewed the conditions that helped create the crisis in Years Later, Michigan Officials Are Made To Answer For Flint Water Crisis.

Rachel Maddow looks at how former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's suspension of democracy brought about the mistakes that created the Flint toxic water crisis, and only now is Snyder, along with other officials, being held to account for their role in what happened.

Maddow's history goes back 9 years and not only demonstrates how the Republicans in Michigan's legislature along with former Governor Snyder turned Michigan into Ignoreland, but focused their anti-democratic efforts on majority African-American municipalities, showing that the Emergency Manager law had racist effects, if not an outright racist intent. The resulting disregard of local rule allowed the health and environmental disaster of Flint's contaminated water supply to happen. Maddow may not call the Flint Water Crisis environmental racism, but she doesn't have to; it's clear it is.

Now for "Cancer Alley." Vox examined the locale and how racism contributed to it becoming a "zone of sacrifice" earlier this year in One reason why coronavirus hits Black people the hardest.

Toxic air can weaponize the coronavirus.
...
Across the US, black people are dying from Covid-19 at disproportionately high rates. While there are many different factors at play behind the stark racial disparities — there’s one possible reason that’s been lurking in the air for decades: pollution.

The long history of segregation and housing discrimination has long put black people at greater risk of living near chemical plants, factories and highways, exposing them to higher levels of air pollutants. These pollutants have had a chronically negative impact on health, leading to conditions like hypertension and asthma. Now, those same diseases are associated with severe cases of Covid-19, and showing that where you live can determine whether you survive from Covid-19.

Dr. Robert Bullard, who Vox interviewed for this video, spoke to my environmental science class about his work in fighting environmental racism 13 years ago. I have featured him in my slide show about the politics and economics of the environment ever since. Now I have a video of him to add to that slide show so my current students can see and hear him.

I also tell my students the story of Commoner's Laws. These videos serve as good examples of three of them, "everything must go somewhere," "there is no such thing as a free lunch," and "everything is connected to everything else." The first two laws weave through all three videos, but the last video connecting environmental racism to air pollution to the pandemic serves as a good example of the third law I listed. That's yet another reason to add the Vox video to my presentations. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Samantha Bee, Trevor Noah, and Legal Eagle have more funny things to say about GameStop, a tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse

It's time to update GameStop with another funny tale of the stock market and Retail Apocalypse. I begin with Samantha Bee asking The Stonk Market: 2008 All Over Again?

GameStop, Reddit, and hedge funds, oh my! It's the upper middle class vs. the rich and we just can't wait to see who wins this class war! Maybe it'll be ordinary Americans if the SEC can actually start regulating the market?

As always, Bee and her writers have the most distinctive takes on an issue of all the late night comedians. I'm glad she examined the good government angle of regulating the markets instead of just laughing at both Wall Street and Reddit. Speaking of which, I'll get to Elizabeth Warren's comment about the SEC not knowing if what the stock market traders on Reddit did was legal later. Right now, I'm sharing Trevor Noah explaining Here’s How Wall Street Has Always Manipulated the Markets.

Day traders took down a massive hedge fund by artificially inflating GameStop stock, and now, Wall Street is whining about it. But Wall Street manipulating the market is nothing new.

Good lord, JP Morgan's manipulation of electricity prices reminds me of Enron. That's a name I haven't mentioned here for 10 years. Back then, I recommended "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" as a documentary for my students to watch. Since then, I've moved on to other suggestions, but I'd still accept a review of the Enron documentary for extra credit if they submitted it. Also, manipulating aluminum prices (hey, Trevor, there is no "ium" in the name of that element on this side of the Atlantic, so I'm pleased that you got with the program), is a new one on me, but I'm not the least bit surprised. Anything to make a buck.

Both Bee and Noah concentrated on Wall Street's bad behavior in their monologues, while Legal Eagle looked at the actions of the traders on Reddit as well in Illegal Trading on GameStop? or WallStreetBets: The Stonkening.

Did the hedge funds illegally manipulate the market? Did the redditors of Wallstreet Bets? STONKS

As Elizabeth Warren said in the clip Bee included in her monologue, the SEC doesn't know if what went on with GameStop was illegal, so as Legal Eagle says, "it depends." I bet the traders on Reddit hope it isn't. Otherwise, the SEC will say to them what Legal Eagle says to his viewers to close his videos: "I'll see you in court."

Talk show nominees at the 2021 Critics Choice Awards

I closed 'Ozark' and 'The Crown' lead drama series nominees about politics and government at the 2021 Critics Choice Awards by telling my readers "Stay tuned for the comedy, limited series, and talk show nominees throughout the week." Instead of writing about comedy today, I'm skipping ahead to the talk show nominees.* Here are the nominees from the 26th annual Critics Choice Awards press release.

BEST TALK SHOW

Desus & Mero (Showtime)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
The Kelly Clarkson Show (NBC/Syndicated)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
Red Table Talk (Facebook Watch)

Not seeing Emmy winner "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" among the nominees surprised me. I guess the Critics Choice Association (CCA) didn't think his most recent season was worthy. As I keep saying when I analyze awards shows, electorates matter. I'm even more surprised that the CCA didn't renominate one of last year's co-winners, "The Late Late Show with James Corden." After watching his his monologues during lockdown, I can see why. He, his announcer, and his band are a bit too relaxed and start the show too slowly for my taste. On the other hand, I think last year's returning co-winner "Late Night with Seth Meyers" got sharper when produced from Seth's home, becoming even more of a favorite to repeat.

While I like Seth, his show is my third choice; my top two are "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," which I used for the preview image because the other talk shows haven't posted a promotional tweet about their nominations, and "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee." Speaking of which, here is the image "Late Night with Seth Meyers" tweeted out when the show won last year.

Good luck to all the nominees and may the most entertaining and insightful show win!

*That's because today is Irish Coffee Day, when I celebrate Coffee Party USA's birthday a day early, so I'm writing a birthday post for them today, too. Writing a short entry is my way of making time for this. Don't worry, I plan on blogging about comedy series nominees tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Samantha Bee, CNBC, and Vox examine tech companies suspending Trump from social media

While I didn't want to spoil my good mood yesterday by blogging about you know who on his way out the door, I'm ready to take a more serious look at Trump being banned from social media. I'm going to ease into it with Samantha Bee saying It Shouldn't Have Taken An Insurrection For Social Media To Block Trump.

After allowing the president four years to post hateful, inflammatory, and downright false information across the internet, social media companies are finally taking action! Thank God they were able to step in before he caused any real damage....

Heh. It shouldn't have taken an insurrection, but it did.

Bee's video came out the day before CNBC uploaded Experts On How Facebook And Twitter May Change After Trump Bans, which had to do more research to examine the issue through journalism, not comedy.

On January 6th, Rioters stormed the U.S. capitol building to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. These events were inspired by President Trump and organized and promoted on the platforms of publicly traded companies, most notably Facebook and Twitter. To avoid further violence, those companies, and then many more thereafter including YouTube, banned or blocked President Trump's access to the megaphone they provide. This exposed a major flaw in the business model of many social media platforms: share first, think later. Tech experts Chamath Palihapitiya, Roger McNamee, Chris Kelly and Dick Costolo all predict major changes coming in the social media landscape and Section 230. Watch the video to find out how big tech may be forced to change.

Yes, Section 230 will likely change as a result of the failed self-coup and more in the way Democrats want than what Trump and other conservatives say they want, although they would likely have been hurt worse than they expected if they had gotten their way.

The experts CNBC interviewed also pointed out issues with the business models of Twitter and Facebook and how they work to spread disinformation and misinformation. That's an issue Vox examined today when it asked Tech platforms banned Trump. Now what?

Deplatforming Trump won't stop the big lie.
...
Former US president Donald Trump has now been kicked off of social media platforms from Facebook and Twitter to Pinterest. His suspension followed a violent insurrection on the Capitol in his name, and came months after Twitter had begun flagging hundreds of his posts for false statements about the election that he lost. But, as Platformer's Casey Newton explains, banning Trump was actually the easy part. Now tech platforms have a new problem: How do you combat misinformation when it's become bigger than any single user?

People don't know the answer, which is why the big documentary about the issue is called "The Social Dilemma." On the one hand, it connects people and has become an efficient way to communicate. On the other, those connections can be used for ill just as easily, if not more so, than for good. I may return to examine "The Social Dilemma" as I promised in 'Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution' at the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards. Stay tuned.

The giant impeach lands on Trump again as Colbert, Meyers, Kimmel, Fallon, and Bee take closer looks

I concluded Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and others likely to be charged for roles in Flint Water Crisis with "I'll probably cover soon to be ex-President Donald Trump's second impeachment. Stay tuned." Probably? Who was I kidding? Of course I am! Watch the opening monologue of last night's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, House Votes To Impeach And McConnell Provides Cover For GOP Senators To Break With The President to begin the coverage of yesterday's debate and vote.

For Americans eager to hold the president accountable for inciting a violent mob to attack Congress, Wednesday brought key glimmers of hope as the House of Representatives voted in favor of impeachment and a comment by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to give cover for Republican Senators to do the same when the trial begins in that chamber.

Once again, the giant impeach landed on soon to be ex-President Donald Trump. Splat!*

Of course, if Colbert is on something, Seth Meyers will be, too. Late Night with Seth Meyers uploaded Trump Is Now the Only President To Be Impeached Twice: A Closer Look to YouTube even before his show aired, which means it has more views than Colbert's monologue for once. Let's see how long that lasts.

Seth takes a closer look at the House voting to impeach President Trump for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, making him the first and only president in history to be impeached twice.

Seth had a good insight about Mitch McConnell's motivations in reportedly being pleased about impeachment. Not only would he like to be the leading Republican, he certainly wants the campaign contributions to return. Trump stands in the way of both of those goals. While I don't like him or Liz Cheney, I'll take their help if it leads to Trump being disqualified from ever holding office again.

Jimmy Kimmel joined in with Trump Impeached AGAIN After Inciting Violence at the Capitol.

Donald Trump made history today as the first president to be impeached twice, several Republicans in the House voted to hold Trump accountable while the rest of them put their crazy on full display, Chuck Norris set the record straight about being at the Capitol riots after a look-a-like photo circulated online, Nancy Pelosi’s stolen lectern was returned, several GOP members popped off about having to go through metal detectors on their way into the Capitol, VP Mike Pence received a vulgar threat from Trump, Mitch McConnell is said to be pleased about impeachment after years of supporting our dear misleader, and Jimmy checks in with our favorite stoner from Michigan, Freddie Miller.

Before the 2020 U.S. presidential election, I didn't include Kimmel very often in these compilations, but I've learned to enjoy his monologues. Besides, I think his comedy improved as the news got worse. Also, he and his writers are willing to do silly things other late night talk show hosts aren't, like running Devin Nunes through a Snapchat clown filter. It made watching and listening to him tolerable.

Since this is a Michigan-based blog that occasionally covers marijuana legalization, I enjoyed watching Freddie Miller, although I don't know if Kimmel's idea of casting him on "The Bachelor" would be a good idea outside of comedy, not unless the producers recruit women that would fit better on "The Real World" than the usual glamorous types competing on "The Bachelor." That might be a train wreck worth watching.

Speaking of silly takes on yesterday's big news, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon had one in Trump Impeached for the Second Time.

Jimmy addresses the House voting on President Trump’s second impeachment.

I like the idea of Twitter rick-rolling Trump.

*For a bonus, I'm sharing Colbert's first guest segment, Samantha Bee On The Challenges Of Making A Comedy Show When The News Is So Upsetting.

Samantha Bee and Stephen talk about the unique challenges of making late night comedy shows when the news is so dour, and how they personally process troubling events like the MAGA insurrection. You can catch Samantha Bee on "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" on TBS!

Samantha Bee didn't address today's impeachment directly on her show, instead concentrating on last week's attempted self-coup and its perpetrators and enablers, but she did so here. That and Bee describing her desire that Trump be gone so she and her writers can make fun of less distressing news are why I embedded this clip instead of one from her show. I might put together a compilation of clips from last night's "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" tomorrow if I don't update the legal developments in the Flint Water Crisis. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I think it's only appropriate that Bee keeps bees; my favorite insects need all the friends they can get.

Samantha Bee wishes her viewers 'A Very COVID Thanksgiving'

Happy American Thanksgiving!* Like everything else during 2020, the holiday has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Samantha Bee's show last week reflected that reality by wishing her viewers A Very COVID Thanksgiving.

As Thanksgiving approaches, coronavirus cases across America are skyrocketing–because pandemics don't take holidays off! In order to keep our families safe, it’s time to start thinking about giving them the gift of “staying home” this holiday season. This is pt. 1 of 2.

While Part 1 looks back at the news I covered in 11 million COVID-19 diagnoses in U.S., another vaccine announcement, and Michigan 'pauses' to slow the pandemic, second update for November 2020, Part 2 looks ahead, so it's more timely and more optimistic.


My comment on the vaccine news is the same as it was for the past two pandemic updates, "I see a second light down the tunnel that isn't an oncoming train. Unfortunately, the first light definitely is a locomotive bearing down on us. We have to do our best to dodge it until the vaccines become available in the spring."

For an encore, I present Quarantine Questions: Thanksgiving Edition!

The holidays are upon us and correspondent Allana Harkin wants to make sure that the only thing you’ll be giving your family this year is thanks, not COVID.

Thank you, Sam and Allana! Happy Thanksgiving to you and stay safe!


*I make the distinction because I also celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. Besides, Bee is originally Canadian, so I think it's appropriate. Speaking of which, the cartoon is from the Toronto Star.  More Canadian content!

Emmy-nominated talk show hosts on the debate and other news for National Talk Show Host Day 2020

Happy National TV Talk Show Day! For this year's celebration, which is the day after the last presidential debate, I'm sharing the latest from the hosts of the Emmy-nominated variety talk shows aside from John Oliver, who I already featured earlier this week. I begin with Stephen Colbert's Trump Trashes New York, Joe Unveils 'Bidencare' At Final Debate - Stephen Colbert's LIVE Monologue.

Stephen goes LIVE after the final Trump-Biden matchup and finds a silver lining amid the lies, cheap shots and unmasked racism. What's got Stephen feeling optimistic? The fact that we'll never have to watch Donald Trump debate ever again.

I think Kristen Welker won the night, but I think Dr. Jill Biden is a good choice, too. She's a fellow community college instructor. Also, like Stephen, I like floral prints and coordinated plans.

The other Emmy-nominated talk show host to comment on last night's event was Jimmy Kimmel on Trump and Biden’s Final Debate. He also thought Welker did well.

Jimmy breaks down the final debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the mute button, Trump spreading lies and still refusing to release his tax returns, walking out of his 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl, VP Mike Pence stops by the show, we compare and contrast Barack Obama’s rally for Joe Biden with Trump’s rallies, and Jimmy’s wife Molly made a video that details their experience with their 3-year-old son Billy, who was born with a pre-existing condition, to help everyone remember what this election is really about.

I think Kimmel and his crew did a better job with the White House's version of the "60 Minutes" interview and former President Obama's appearance in Pennsylvania than with the debate. I have clips of Seth Meyers and Trevor Noah over the jump on those subjects, but first I'm sharing Samantha Bee's Debating Sam-antics, which serves as a good comment on political debates in general as well as a good punctuation for this part of the post.



It’s the debate we’ve all been waiting for! #ExpectTheWorst
All of the Sams have a point, including Sam as the moderator.

Follow over the jump for more from Bee along with a closer look from Meyers and the latest upload to The Daily Show's YouTube channel.