Trump bowed out of this year’s event so Samantha Bee decided to host her own, featuring surprise guest Will Ferrell

When Samantha Bee announced in January that her weekly late night show Full Frontal would put on its own version of the White House correspondents’ dinner (WHCD), it seemed, if briefly, that the actual event might not happen. In the event, the WHCD survived, President Trump said he would not attend, and Bee’s former Daily Show colleague Hasan Minhaj was named to act as host.

Trump appeals for loyalty as 100th day fanfare threatens to fall flat Read more

On Saturday, it remained to be seen what Bee’s party would be all about if it wasn’t a substitute event.

Taped in the afternoon for air on TBS and Twitter in the evening, Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner bore visual hallmarks of the actual event: famous faces from media and entertainment dolled up in dresses and tuxes to socialize and swill champagne, among them Padma Lakshmi, Jake Tapper and Melissa Harris-Perry. But the event itself was less like the dinner than a one-hour version of Full Frontal, a crowd-pleaser for Bee’s fans with a sprinkle of spectacle.

Bee, in a white suit, center stage, presented a series of segments related to the night’s theme of the media and the free press and was joined briefly by her on-air correspondents. Even when she went after the media – CNN took a particular beating – there were no cutaways to the audience, so we’ll never know if anyone reacted as poorly to her jabs as Trump did to Seth Meyers’ jokes back in 2011.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Seth Meyers speaks at the 2011 White House correspondents’ dinner.

All the proceeds from the event went to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and crew members at the event wore “Free Press” T-shirts.

Like Full Frontal, the show folded heartfelt moments into a tightly written package. A running gag of pre-tapes saw Bee hosting WHCDs back to the Hoover administration, stuffed with history nerd references and plenty of dick jokes and bookended with a horrifying vision of “Mrs Jason Jones” hosting 2018’s dinner for President Pence.

A presidential-esque podium was set up in one corner in preparation for a special guest, and to promise CNN producers they could simply show a shot of the empty podium instead of the rest of the show.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Will Ferrell appears as former president George W Bush, ‘the Martin van Buren of the 21st century’. Photograph: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TBS

The special guest lived up to the title: Will Ferrell, in character as George W Bush, boasted about his now-elevated status among modern presidents: “I am the Martin Van Buren of the 21st century, so yeah, I’m doing just fine.”

‘Donald Trump is the Chris Brown of politics’ – the best presidential gags Read more

The pre-tapes were also jammed with cameos, including Allison Janney as The West Wing’s CJ Cregg, Steve Buscemi, Patton Oswalt, Billy Eichner, Carl Reiner, Retta and Kumail Nanjiani.

A few of the best lines of the night: