New Sacha Baron Cohen show

[Noodle Lizard]

Just watching this now.  I'm actually surprised by how ropey his accents are.  Hard to believe nobody saw through it, especially given that they'd know it's being filmed for a Showtime show.  Some people seem to be playing along - badly.  Definitely doesn't feel as authentic as Ali G.

EDIT:  Yeah, that was really poor.  I didn't come close to laughing, and none of it was impressive.  When compared to Ali G, and now things like Nathan For You, this kind of thing seems weak and ineffectual in terms of comedy, and sophomoric in terms of political/social commentary.

[St_Eddie]

Just watching this now.  I'm actually surprised by how ropey his accents are.  Hard to believe nobody saw through it...

Yes, I mentioned the same thing in my review.  Sacha Baron Cohen occasionally slips back into his natural voice/accent as well.  I suspect that he may not have spent nearly as much time honing these new characters, prior to showcasing them to the public, as he did for Ali G, Borat and Bruno.

[Alberon]

Even the Trump supporters between Sanders and the gallery owner seemed to have twigged.

As to the disguises, they were variable but the Israeli was the most believable of the lot. There are people who genuinely look that strange.

In general, the Sanders bit was there mainly for balance, the other two bits were moderately amusing and I did laugh at some lines. "He inserted a chair leg in my arse" (or words to that effect).

The gun bit was very good though. Starting with the Florida Republican refusing to endorse without knowing more (the correct response) before showing a relentless procession of those who just jumped in with both feet. Though the most shocking bit was the one who laughed uproariously at the "it's not rape if it's your wife" line.

So I thought the show was good with a strong finish and, yeah, it might cover the same ground as Brass Eye if not quite as well, but it is still worth watching.

[New Jack]

As a first episode I think it was good, in that it introduced the characters better than it lampooned people.

[Hat FM]

i thought the gallery owner would definitely tell him that she couldn't add to his brush because there was nothing down there. fair fucks to her.

[New Jack]

i thought the gallery owner would definitely tell him that she couldn't add to his brush because there was nothing down there. fair fucks to her.

Suppose I should admit I was confused why the carpet didn't match the curtains, as her roots looked brunette and I don't necessarily want to adjudge strangers as pube-dyers. What a salient observation I made.

[phantom_power]

Seeing Morad in motion it doesn't look like a mask and he looks no stranger than someone like Uri Geller or David Gest

[monolith]

especially given that they'd know it's being filmed for a Showtime show. 

Would they? I'd be very surprised, I got the impression most thought it was for a foreign show, or a small show at best (same as with Borat).

[up_the_hampipe]

Yes, I mentioned the same thing in my review.  Sacha Baron Cohen occasionally slips back into his natural voice/accent as well.  I suspect that he may not have spent nearly as much time honing these new characters, prior to showcasing them to the public, as he did for Ali G, Borat and Bruno.

I don't think this show is about the characters as much as Da Ali G Show. They are just a way to disguise Cohen and trick the participants.

[Charcoal-ish]

Saying this show is not as good as Brass Eye (on a Chris Morris fan forum no less) seems like a slightly unfair standard.

Except that it's trying to do exactly what Brass Eye did, in exactly the same way. So there isn't really any other standard.

[New Jack]

Except that it's trying to do exactly what Brass Eye did, in exactly the same way. So there isn't really any other standard.

Depends if you live in 2018 where Brass Eye has ended, or in the past, and rewatches count for nowt. Do you still guffaw at Brass Eye now? Tonight? Does the originality make you guffaw even now? Do you despise all homages simply through virtue of referring to earlier work? Bo Diddley, better than Arcade Fire yeah? Ah, such objective lenses are shit.

It ain't being made no mo. Feels like that's being taken out on this here show. Although no, I don't think it's as good as early Ali G and Borat, you may as well be like: fuck Spotify man, music peaked at Mozart... But why close yourself off to experiencing it for what it is, in relation to the artist?

Not to mention, though I am.. The list of perfect first episodes is short to say the least. Preemptive judgement ITT

[Charcoal-ish]

Are you trying to suggest that Bo Diddley might not be better than Arcade Fire? That's fighting talk.

[New Jack]

Are you trying to suggest that Bo Diddley might not be better than Arcade Fire? That's fighting talk.

No, that's laughable, but do you put on Arcade Fire and just go, This Is No Bo Diddley?

... OK, bad example, I'll Chuck Berry things myself, but it holds water. Maybe literally!

But a fair few posts in this thread aren't a million miles away from Fuck Arcade Fire For Not Being Bo Diddley

.. I wouldn't even mind Fuck Arcade Fire For Not Being Funeral Arcade Fire, as so far this show fits that.

[Wet Blanket]

I don't think this show is about the characters as much as Da Ali G Show. They are just a way to disguise Cohen and trick the participants.

To me this is its fatal flaw. Ali G and Borat were rounded characters in their own right, so there were laughs to be had at their own foibles and weird perspective as there was in the questions they asked. They also had a likeable naivety about them which I think endeared them to the audience and disarmed the guests - I think this is why Tony Benn was prepared to indulge Ali G's madcap line of questioning while Bernie Sanders more or less shut down the conspiracy theorist guy (I re-watched that Tony Benn interview and there's a great moment where Cohen obviously corpses)

These characters are more broadly drawn so it feels more like the masks and silly voices are nothing more than a pre-requisite to needling various marks, which works when the targets are deserving (like the gun nuts) but not so much elsewhere. I'd say this was also the problem with Bruno.

[Clownbaby]

To me this is its fatal flaw. Ali G and Borat were rounded characters in their own right, so there were laughs to be had at their own foibles and weird perspective as there was in the questions they asked. They also had a likeable naivety about them which I think endeared them to the audience and disarmed the guests - I think this is why Tony Benn was prepared to indulge Ali G's madcap line of questioning while Bernie Sanders more or less shut down the conspiracy theorist guy (I re-watched that Tony Benn interview and there's a great moment where Cohen obviously corpses)

These characters are more broadly drawn so it feels more like the masks and silly voices are nothing more than a pre-requisite to needling various marks, which works when the targets are deserving (like the gun nuts) but not so much elsewhere. I'd say this was also the problem with Bruno.

^I agree with this, I'd maybe argue that Bruno got more fleshed out in the movie but he didn't have quite the same weight as Borat and Ali G

[Artemis]

To me this is its fatal flaw.

Not really. In the era of 'Ali G in the USAiii' (16 years ago), SBC was unknown. Back then, he wasn't making a point about America, he was relocating because he'd become to widely known in the UK and characters like Borat and Bruno would work best in places as fundamentally backward and racist as Middle America.

This latest iteration isn't so much a new try at comedy as much as a platform he's earned by putting in the work over the years. No longer a prank as much as a comment, so how 'well rounded' the characters are isn't very relevant. It's not about him any more.

[St_Eddie]

To me this is its fatal flaw. Ali G and Borat were rounded characters in their own right, so there were laughs to be had at their own foibles and weird perspective as there was in the questions they asked. They also had a likeable naivety about them which I think endeared them to the audience and disarmed the guests - I think this is why Tony Benn was prepared to indulge Ali G's madcap line of questioning while Bernie Sanders more or less shut down the conspiracy theorist guy (I re-watched that Tony Benn interview and there's a great moment where Cohen obviously corpses)

These characters are more broadly drawn so it feels more like the masks and silly voices are nothing more than a pre-requisite to needling various marks, which works when the targets are deserving (like the gun nuts) but not so much elsewhere. I'd say this was also the problem with Bruno.

I agree with all of this.  Except for the last part, as like Clownbaby, I felt that Bruno was fleshed out well enough in the movie.  Having said that, we're only one episode into this new show, so it's a little too early to fully judge the new characters yet, I'd say.

[Wet Blanket]

Not really. In the era of 'Ali G in the USAiii' (16 years ago), SBC was unknown. Back then, he wasn't making a point about America, he was relocating because he'd become to widely known in the UK and characters like Borat and Bruno would work best in places as fundamentally backward and racist as Middle America.

This latest iteration isn't so much a new try at comedy as much as a platform he's earned by putting in the work over the years. No longer a prank as much as a comment, so how 'well rounded' the characters are isn't very relevant. It's not about him any more.

I would argue that the greater attention to detail he afforded his early characters led to more interesting and revealing interviews, as well as opening up alternative avenues for humour (and I'm going back further than Ali G in the USA, which I don't even remember). If he's in it just to make political 'comment' why bother with annoying pretentious but game-for-a-laugh gallery owners by pretending to shit on a bit of paper?

[Hank Venture]

https://www.dailywire.com/news/33246/watch-gun-store-owner-nails-disguised-sacha-baron-emily-zanotti?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=051717-news&utm_campaign=dwtwitter

[up_the_hampipe]

I would argue that the greater attention to detail he afforded his early characters led to more interesting and revealing interviews

I'd say he got some pretty revealing stuff here too. They just need to believe the character is real. Morris' characters weren't exactly detailed either, for the most part just a pseudonym.

[manticore]

Just watched the Bernie Sanders bit and thought it was very funny despite the bad acting from Cohen. Cohen is patently out to make a fool of himself by going into absurd flights of fancy and ludicrous thought processes while Sanders' role is basically to be a witness, which is often needed to make things work as humour. Some of Morris' interviews work on just the same principle.

I've only seen this and the guns for children pieces and both are obviously deeply indebted to Brass Eye and I think they show Cohen has learned good lessons from Morris.

[Johnny Yesno]

https://www.dailywire.com/news/33246/watch-gun-store-owner-nails-disguised-sacha-baron-emily-zanotti?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=051717-news&utm_campaign=dwtwitter

Which is pretty funny in itself, the bunny on a gun bit, in particular.

Sweidan told Fox 11 that he can't believe legislators fell for Cohen's act and his shoddy disguise.

Indeed. I don't think anyone, gun-nut or otherwise, would disagree with this.

The question is, was it intentional or just lazy?

[Mr Faineant]

As a first episode I think it was good, in that it introduced the characters better than it lampooned people.

The characters are all shit though, that's the problem.

[The Boston Crab]

I'd like him to show up more non-English speakers around the world and highlight the 'less guarded' prejudices, such as racism in China/Japan, homophobia and 'superstition' in Africa, slaves and sexism in the Middle East. That would be well funny. Also, he could do his normal voice because the foreigners would already be doing their funny voice.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

Just watched episode two - brilliant. A massive improvement over the first episode, some genuinely hilarious scenes and cringe yourself to death (in a good way) moments. This series has instantly redeemed itself for me.

[jobotic]

This does sound impressive

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/sacha-baron-cohen-gets-georgia-lawmaker-to-bare-buttocks-say-n-word-1.6296389

[Johnny Yesno]

This does sound impressive

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/sacha-baron-cohen-gets-georgia-lawmaker-to-bare-buttocks-say-n-word-1.6296389

Fuck. Ing. Hell.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

Just watched it again. Can't wait to see the reactions on here. I thought the first episode was mostly terrible but this was classic Cohen.

[yesitsme]

I thought it was ok, so much so that I started going 'Aiiiiiiiiiiiie'

The thing I'm not sure about in stuff like this is are we supposed to think American's are stupid?  Often they are bending over backwards to be ultra-polite and accommodating to their brash guest that they can't do right for doing wrong.

That's the 'normal' people anyway.

It's staggering what politicians will say to someone they think agrees with their secret thoughts.

You'd think they'd learn.

[Jerzy Bondov]

This does sound impressive

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/sacha-baron-cohen-gets-georgia-lawmaker-to-bare-buttocks-say-n-word-1.6296389

Fuck me. This is really good.