Da Ali G Show (formal English: The Ali G Show) is a satirical Channel 4 show (aired on HBO in the United States) starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays three bumbling journalists — Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, and Bruno — who interview unsuspecting people (sometimes very high-ranking officials) and make them look foolish.
Characters
Ali G
Ali G is the main character of Da Ali G Show. He interviews unsuspecting guests, often telling them he is a British talk show host and wants to discuss the media and politics. Other times he tells his guests that he is teaching civics to British teens. Regardless of his method of procuring the interview, the outcome is often the same—he sits down with his guests, and then asks a string of loaded questions devised to coerce them into replying with something equally ridiculous.
See Ali G for more information on this character.
Borat
Borat Sagdiyev is another character featured frequently. He comes from Kazakhstan, and travels around the United Kingdom and United States interviewing people and engaging in their activities. Borat often makes his guests feel uncomfortable by introducing them to Kazakh customs, or by making misogynistic and anti-Semitic comments based on his unfamiliar culture.
See Borat for more information on this character.
Bruno
Bruno is the third, and least used character of Da Ali G Show. He claims to be the voice of Austrian youth television, and makes others uncomfortable by flaunting his apparent homosexuality. Bruno also interviews fellow fashion aficionados and exposes their extreme views of how unfashionable people should be treated.
See Bruno for more information on this character.
Episodes
Season 1
- Law
- War
- Politics
- Art
- Science
- Belief
Season 2
- Respek
- Rekognize
- Peace
- Realize
- Jah
- Realness
Controversy
The questions and methods used by Sacha Baron Cohen through his characters do not come without occasional controversy. Some guests become upset when they learn they've been tricked, and various comments made on the show have caused outrage with viewers. In one episode, Borat went to a bar in Arizona and sang a song about Jews, in which he said, "Throw the Jew down the well/so my country can be free/you must grab him by his horns/then we have a big party," to which the bar responded gleefully, and joined in. This caused some disruption in the Jewish community, to which HBO spokesman Quentin Schaffer replied, "Through his alter-egos, he delivers an obvious satire that exposes people's ignorance and prejudice in much the way All in the Family did years ago" [1]. It should be noted that Sacha Baron Cohen is himself Jewish. In another incident, Ali G said to a guest, "'nuff sadness 'bout da tragic events of 7-11," in reference to the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
One upset interviewee was James Broadwater , a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress. He was interviewed by Borat, who told him that the interview would be played in Kazakhstan and other foreign countries to teach others about the American political system. Borat's questioning led Broadwater to state that Jews would go to Hell if they did not follow the Christian religion. This comment sparked upset in some Jewish communities, and prompted Broadwater to post a letter on his website denouncing Da Ali G Show. [2]
External links
