Da Ali G Show | |
---|---|
Created by | Sacha Baron Cohen |
Starring | Sacha Baron Cohen |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 18 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company(s) | Talkback |
Distributor | Fremantle Media |
Release | |
Original network |
Channel 4 (2000) HBO (2003–04) |
Original release | 30 March 2000 | – 22 August 2004
Chronology | |
Related shows |
F2F The 11 O'Clock Show |
External links | |
Website | www |
Da Ali G Show is a British-American satirical television series created by and starring English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. In the series, Baron Cohen plays three unorthodox journalists — faux-streetwise poseur Ali G, Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev, and gay Austrian fashion enthusiast Brüno Gehard. These characters conduct real interviews with unsuspecting people, many of whom are celebrities, high-ranking government officials and other well-known persons, during which they are asked absurd and ridiculous questions.
The first (2000) season originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK, and the second and third (2003–2004) seasons on HBO in the US. The second series was known as Ali G in da USAiii in the UK and Australia. In 2005, HBO stated they had no plans to make an additional season of the show.
Baron Cohen has gone on to make three films featuring each 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). In 2014, FXX reaired the show (including episodes unaired in the USA) under the branding Ali G: Rezurection.
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, whom he refers as "his Julie" (Jamaican slang for girlfriend) or a family member such as his nan or his Uncle Jamal (who is apparently secretly gay). The character was later the basis of the film Ali G Indahouse.