Should You Throw In With Throwing Shade?

What Is This Thing?

Throwing Shade is a half-hour commentary/sketch show based/riffing on current events from the perspectives of its hosts: Bryan Safi (who is gay) and Erin Gibson (who is a feminist).

When Is It On?

Tuesdays at 10:30 PM ET on TV Land.

Why Was It Made Now?

Remember that infamous Vanity Fair story about late-night comedy hosts, and the even more infamous double-page photo spread of all their penises? I mean, I kid -- they're all in suits -- but they...were all dudes, even though at the time of the story's publication, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee was just a couple of months away from its series premiere, so including her would have made it less of a sausage party. In recent years, as various late-night hosts have stepped down from long tenures at the shows that made them famous, there have been online groundswells clamoring for them to be replaced by anything other than white dudes. So far, that's only happened once, with Trevor Noah replacing Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show. But now that Full Frontal has become buzzy, launching a late-night topical comedy show with hosts who aren't from the conventional mold just seems like the smart play. And it also helps burnish TV Land's cred as the home not just of decades-old sitcoms, but of envelope-pushing comedies like Younger, Teachers, and the forthcoming Heathers anthology series.

What's Its Pedigree?

Gibson and Safi have worked together for a long time: I used to watch their segments on InfoMania, the weekly topical comedy series on the late Current TV. (Remember Sarah Haskins's viral "Target: Women" videos? Those were from InfoMania.) After Current folded, Gibson and Safi moved on to producing comedy for Funny Or Die, and on the side created a podcast called, guess what, Throwing Shade, which launched in 2011 and moved to the Maximum Fun podcast network not long afterward; they've also toured the country putting on Throwing Shade shows live and produced related video segments for FoD. Throwing Shade: The TV Series is also under the FoD banner, which is probably how they got Will Ferrell to appear in a sketch in last night's series premiere; also appearing later in the episode is ex Happy Endings star Casey Wilson.

...And?

As a fan of the podcast from Day 1, I can say that a bit of slapdash-ness can be one of its weaknesses. In their defense, Safi and Gibson always emphasize that they're entertainers first; even in promos for the TV show, they make sure not to claim expertise as political commentators. Still, the TV format helps sharpen their focus in the stories they cover -- which, in the premiere, include the Pirelli cheesecake calendar, Milo Yiannopoulos's book deal, the First Amendment Defense Act, and the success of Hidden Figures.

Probably the best is a segment called "You Heard Of This Bitch?" The idea is to publicize people promoting progressive causes without getting the recognition they're due, starting with Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA), an advocate for gun control and a survivor of five gunshot wounds she received when she went to investigate Jonestown YES REALLY. In times like these -- very tough for those of us trying to be on the right side of history -- the constant barrage of horrible political news can be exhausting and dispiriting; celebrating people who are still fighting good fights even if they don't make many headlines outside their districts (I consider myself to be pretty well-informed and I'd never heard of Speier) is important, edifying, and great territory for Throwing Shade to own straight out of the gate, like Last Week Tonight's twenty-plus-minute reports on various flavours of political arcana.

...But?

I don't want to be rude. But among Gibson's many credits is Gay Of Thrones, the web series in which her hairdresser Jonathan Van Ness discusses Game Of Thrones with a variety of guest stars.

Honey, what is this crispy mess? Who are you, me in Grade 9 in 1988?! Yes, in fact, I am reaching for a negative because the premiere is pretty solid. Their Milo segment is called "Bless Your Heart"!

...So?

I feel pretty confident endorsing Throwing Shade -- not just because they also advanced my theory that Tiffany Trump could take down the Trump family, though that obviously doesn't hurt. If you like Full Frontal, you'll probably like this too.