Samantha Bee also leaving The Daily Show, gets own comedy series on TBS

Hot off the presses!

Here is the TBS press release announcing it’s signed Samantha Bee to a deal for her own topical satirical comedy series on the cable network — presumably airing either before or after Conan, don’t you think? She’s already executive-producing and writing a newly-announced TBS sitcom starring her husband, Jason Jones. Both Jones and Bee are departing their long-held gigs as correspondents on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

TBS is giving longtime Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee her own show. Hot on the heels of announcing a new scripted comedy series created and executive produced by Bee and her husband, Jason Jones, TBS is cementing its relationship with the prolific couple even further. The new show, which is in the early stages of development, is being planned as a platform for Bee to apply her smart and satirical point of view to current and relevant issues. In addition to hosting, Bee will serve as executive producer on the show, along with Jones. The series is being produced by TBS.

“We’re thrilled to have Sam join Jason at TBS and really make this a family affair. We actually have their kids coming in next week to pitch us animation,” joked Brett Weitz, executive vice president of original programming for TBS. “Like her fans around the country, we absolutely adore everything about Sam, from her straight-faced sarcasm and ruthless wit to her uncanny ability to mine comedy gold from just about any awkward situation. After watching Sam’s work for years, we knew that her distinctive humor and talent belong at the front of her own show.”

This marks TBS’s second project with Bee and Jones. The network recently announced a 10-episode order for a new comedy series created and executive-produced by the couple. Inspired by their own experiences with family getaways, the untitled series will star Jones as the head of a family taking a road trip to Florida. Also starring are Natalie Zea (Justified, The Following), Ashley Gerasimovich (Louie, We Need to Talk about Kevin) and Liam Carroll (The Neighbors). Production is slated to begin this summer, with the TBS launch scheduled for Q4 2015.

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Samantha Bee began her career performing as a member of the all-female sketch comedy troupe The Atomic Fireballs. She joined The Daily Show’s “Best F#@king News Team” in 2003, serving longer than any other correspondent on the series. Bee will continue to do occasional pieces on The Daily Show until production begins on the new TBS comedy series she created with her husband and fellow correspondent, Jason Jones. In addition to her work on The Daily Show, Bee starred opposite Jones, in the 2010 movie Coopers’ Christmas. She will be appearing in the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy Sisters, slated for a Christmas 2015 release. Bee is currently writing a middle-grade novel for Farrar Straus Giroux. Her collection of personal essays, entitled I Know I Am, But What Are You?, was published in 2010 by Simon and Schuster.

It’s looking more and more like an outsider will have to come in to helm whatever The Daily Show is going to become for Comedy Central into the end of 2015 and beyond…

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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