Da Ali G Show Information

Da Ali G Show is the name of two related satirical TV series created by and starring English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and featuring the character Ali G.

The first (2000) series originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK, and the second (2003"2004) series on HBO in the US. The second series was known as Ali G in da USAiii in the UK and Australia. In the series, Baron Cohen plays as three unorthodox journalists — the main character Ali G, a Kazakhstani named Borat Sagdiyev, and a gay Austrian named Brüno Gehard. The trio conduct interviews with unsuspecting people (many of whom are celebrities, high-ranking government officials and other well-known persons), during which they ask absurd and ridiculous questions.

On 23 July 2005, HBO announced they had no plans to make an additional season of the show.

Baron Cohen has gone on to make three films featuring one of his three characters from the show: Ali G Indahouse (2002), Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), and Brüno (2009).

Characters

Ali G

Ali G (Alistair Leslie Graham) is the main character of Da Ali G Show. He is the self-proclaimed "voice of da yoof" and the leader of the West Staines Massiv. His mannerisms are a mix of stereotypical and often exaggerated British African-Caribbean and hip hop cultures, with some American urban influences thrown in. He interviews unsuspecting guests; in the American version of the show, he tells them he is a British talk show host and wants to discuss the media and politics. He often asks a question, and upon receiving an answer, instantly creates a story of an event relevant to the topic, employing his neighbours and fellow "gangsters" such as Ricky C, Dangerous Dave (who refuses to speak because he is terribly embarrassed about his voice) and Rainbow Jeremy (also known as Jezzy), his girlfriend "his Julie" (her name is not necessarily Julie) or a family member such as his nan. The character was later the basis of the film Ali G Indahouse.

Borat Sagdiyev

Borat Sagdiyev is another character featured frequently on the show, introduced as someone Ali G came across on obscure satellite TV "whilst waiting for the 10-minute free preview on the Fantasy Channel". He comes from Kazakhstan, and travels around the United Kingdom and United States interviewing people and engaging in their activities. Though well-intentioned, Borat often makes his guests feel uncomfortable by introducing them to "Kazakh" customs, or by making misogynistic, anti-Semitic, or other comments based on his unfamiliar culture, which are often undercut by various aspects of the film, e.g., Borat's hometown being a gypsy village and Hebrew being his native language. Borat makes references to his favourite sport called "shurik", a "Kazakh" custom where dogs are shot and killed in a field. He also makes references to his dead wife, his brother Bilo and his desire to have "sexy time" with many of his interviewees. A highly successful film based on the Borat character, titled Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, was released by 20th Century Fox on 3 November 2006. In the film, Borat travels from Kazakhstan to learn more about American culture for his country.

Brüno

Brüno Gehard is a gay Austrian and is the third character of Da Ali G Show. He claims to be the voice of Austrian youth television. He often makes others uncomfortable by flaunting his flagrant homosexuality. In one episode, Brüno performs cheers with exaggerated, limp-wristed, stereotypically gay mannerisms, along with University of Alabama cheerleaders, provoking the ire of some Crimson Tide fans during the 2002 Alabama-Mississippi State football game, and convincing the students to say that they are gay in Polish.

Brüno also interviews fashion aficionados and 'party people' and exposes their extreme views of how unfashionable people should be treated and aims to show the superficiality, hypocrisy and inconsistency of the fashion world. For example, he gets them to say that they think fashion has saved more lives than doctors, that people who have bad fashion should be sent to concentration camps, that Osama Bin Laden is cool, and that if house music were around in the 1930s, it would have prevented World War II.

Universal Pictures released a film about the character, Brüno, on July 8, 2009.

Episodes

Channel 4

Episode	Original air date	Title
101	30 March 2000	Neil Hamilton
102	7 April 2000	John Humphrys
103	14 April 2000	Roy Hattersley
104	21 April 2000	Mohamed Al Fayed
105	28 April 2000	Gail Porter
106	5 May 2000	Anita Roddick

HBO

Episode	Original air date	Title
101	21 February 2003	Law And Order
102	28 February 2003	War
103	7 March 2003	Politics
104	14 March 2003	Science
105	21 March 2003	Media
106	28 March 2003	Belief
201	18 July 2004	Respek
202	25 July 2004	Rekognize
203	1 August 2004	Peace
204	8 August 2004	Realize
205	15 August 2004	Jah
206	22 August 2004	Realness

Controversy

The methods used by Baron Cohen often cause considerable controversy. Some guests become upset upon learning they have been tricked and various comments made on the show have caused outrage with viewers. In one episode, Borat goes to a bar in Tucson, 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." Many patrons of the bar were shown responding gleefully and singing along (though an investigation by the Jewish Daily Forward found that many or all of the audience were aware that the song was meant to be funny, and that one of them was Jewish herself). A prominent Jewish anti-racism group, the Anti-Defamation League, complained about this segment. 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." In real life, Sacha Baron Cohen is himself an "observant Jew." in an interview, Baron Cohen explained his character's racist nature by stating that the show's 'Borat' segments are a "dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry," rather than a display of racism by Baron Cohen himself.

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 upset some Jewish communities and prompted Broadwater to post a letter on his website denouncing Da Ali G Show, demanding the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) exert greater control over the "liberal, anti-God media", and stating "I have had a logo on my website which says, 'I am a proud friend of Israel.'"

Differences

There are some differences between the original series of Da Ali G Show shown on Channel 4 and the later two seasons shown on Channel 4 and HBO.

Channel 4:

• Location interviews take place in Europe and some parts of the USA
• Contains scripted segments
• Contains monologues
• Contains skits
• Contains guest music performances (which Ali G would deliberately ruin)
• Has a studio audience

HBO:

• Takes place in USA
• Wholly unscripted performance
• Has limited and brief studio monologues, but no skits or music performances
• Does not have a laugh track

DVD releases