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New Sacha Baron Cohen show

Started by up_the_hampipe, July 08, 2018, 11:53:01 PM

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c

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on July 14, 2018, 07:56:51 PM
I enjoyed that.

By his own admission Iain Lee is a lazy bastard; quite content to do shite talking-heads things for channel 4/5 'cos they pay well for no effort and a radio show he makes up on the hoof.

Those talking heads things do not pay well. Do they even do them anymore?

ajsmith2

Quote from: newbridge on July 15, 2018, 04:11:21 AM

How could anyone "like" Mike Love? Based on what? His co-writing credit for "Kokomo"?

To be fair, I was surprised read recently that he's not actually a right-wing Republican at all, even though I always assumed he was.

More based on his (deserved) co writing credits for classic Beach Boys hits like 'Good Vibrations' and 'I Get Around'.

Glad you clocked the Republican thing; once you start examining the tired old litany of negative things he's often associated with, you realise how little substance there is to most of them, and the whole 'Mike is the worst thing ever' construct starts to crumble.

I don't like Mike any more that the other Beach Boys btw, I just find the hate directed at him within a lot of BBs fandom to be ludicrous and dogmatic. I honestly think he became a target of all the hate just cos his persona is of the ultimate uncool dork; somehow he manages to be a big jock but also a ludicrously awkward geek. The worth of boast worlds.

Artemis

Just caught up with episode one of this. Random thoughts...

It took a little time to get going and improved as it went on, but it was structured well and had me open-jawed at the end, so that's something.

This felt much more straight-up punking personalities than the two Ali G HBO shows (again, his finest work in my opinion), which both had a much finer balance between solid material and ideas, and reactions. This was light on good material and relied a little heavily on OMG expressions, but hopefully that'll soften once the characters have bedded in. None of the characters immediately struck me as particularly strong, and they each felt like the punchlines were written first, and the characters designed to deliver them, rather than starting with an intriguing character and taking it places.

The promotion of the toddler-gun program by several different politicians felt quite Brass Eye-esque in it's delivery, which can only be an indicator of quality. That said, the title of the show is 'Who Is America' so perhaps it's appropriate for the most resonant moments to come from the people involved.

Having said all that, I enjoyed this a lot and chuckled several times. I'm not convinced the pube lady didn't get it, mind. 

up_the_hampipe

Wait, you've seen it already? I thought it didn't air until tonight in America and Monday on Channel 4.

newbridge

First time I've had a file deleted from the server in the middle of streaming it, but the first half of this was good fun. Echoing the Brass Eye reference above, it seems to rely more on the comedy of people accepting the most absurd statements if they are made in front of a TV camera, rather than on "believable" characters in the way that Ali G was sort of believable.

I certainly hope pubes lady was in on the joke to some extent

New Jack

Yes it's 'available' ...

Who.Is.America.S01E01.Who.Is.America.720p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-NTb.mkv

Will watch it after this football thingy has finished. Read a few reviews and it's promising!

newbridge

Ok, finished the first episode. This is extremely Brass Eye and I'm enjoying it!

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: New Jack on July 15, 2018, 04:01:54 PM
Yes it's 'available' ...

Who.Is.America.S01E01.Who.Is.America.720p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-NTb.mkv

Will watch it after this football thingy has finished. Read a few reviews and it's promising!

Ah I see. Thanks. Apparently he also got OJ Simpson for this. That should be interesting at least.

MortSahlFan

It's a bad re-make of Da Ali G Show

newbridge

Quote from: MortSahlFan on July 15, 2018, 04:45:12 PM
It's a bad re-make of Da Ali G Show

Not really, have you seen the first episode yet?

MortSahlFan

I saw it this morning.. I have all the Ali G shows on DVD, too.

up_the_hampipe

The ex-con interview at the art gallery is very funny. The ending of that scene made me gasp. The guns stuff was absolutely astonishing, a must watch, and yes very reminiscent of Brass Eye. The first two scenes weren't very strong. I know he does broad characters, but the republican and democrat characters are a bit too archetype. But there is going to be some horrifying stuff in this series and it might actually have a significant impact. And most importantly, Sacha Baron Cohen is not shit anymore!

St_Eddie

I've just finished watching the first episode.  It's great to see Sacha Baron Cohen back, doing what he does best.  If I have a criticism, then it's that I was left wondering just how many of his marks were in on the joke and how many were actually more than aware of the fact that they were taking to Sacha Baron Cohen in disguise.  The thing is, that I could easily hear Baron Cohen's voice underneath all of his characters' voices.  Also, the prosthetics used for the Erran character did little to disguise Sacha's real face.  Whilst most people in America aren't going to be as familiar with Baron Cohen, as myself, a frequent poster on a British comedy forum, I couldn't help but wonder if some were.

I don't doubt that some of the marks were fooled but then you have to wonder of those marks, how many of their aides and whatnot saw through the ruse and informed them.  This concern is highlighted by the articles written about O.J. Simpson's upcoming appearance on the show, where Simpson outright told the media that he was well aware that he was talking to Baron Cohen, performing as a character, during their meeting but was happy to play along because he was paid a handsome fee for doing so (although, on the flip-side; Simpson has something of a track record for being dishonest).

Anyway, regardless of what percentage of the marks knew the truth, it's simply wonderful to have Sacha Baron Cohen doing this sort of thing again and if the loss of anonymity is the price that must be paid, now that he's a known quantity, then so be it.

Hank Venture

Quote from: St_Eddie on July 15, 2018, 06:05:13 PM
(although, on the flip-side; Simpson has something of a track record for being dishonest).

Until someone else confirms, I'm not buying that. Simpson is a sociopathic narcissist, completely obsessed with his own image. He'd lie about it to make people believe no one fooled him.

Small Man Big Horse

I found the Bernie Sanders, Trump Supporters and Art Woman interviews to be quite drab, but the gun section was superb stuff. Also: Nathan Fielder and Peter Baynham are listed as consulting producers in the credits and I'd love to know what their input in to the show was.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Hank Venture on July 15, 2018, 09:35:06 PM
Until someone else confirms, I'm not buying that. Simpson is a sociopathic narcissist, completely obsessed with his own image. He'd lie about it to make people believe no one fooled him.

Well, yes.  That was what I was implying with my parenthesis.

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on July 15, 2018, 09:40:22 PM
I found the Bernie Sanders, Trump Supporters and Art Woman interviews to be quite drab, but the gun section was superb stuff. Also: Nathan Fielder and Peter Baynham are listed as consulting producers in the credits and I'd love to know what their input in to the show was.

The ending of that one didn't raise your eyebrows at least?

newbridge

Quite drab? The 99/1/19/1+9 thing and the dolphin cuckoldry were hilarious.

I don't really care about the characters themselves. Borat is an awful character but he produced funny content.

New Jack

Who knew the world was capable of such oxymoronic, paradoxical juxtapositions?

bgmnts

Quote from: St_Eddie on July 14, 2018, 05:08:44 PM
Absolutely agreed.  It did a great job at highlighting the rampant homophobia in America and other parts of the world.

Just the sound of Scooter's Crank It Up brings back memories.

https://amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jul/15/who-is-america-sacha-baron-cohen-new-show

His victims during the Brass Eye section were extremely low-hanging fruit, providing exactly the reaction you'd expect. Nothing particularly shocking, funny or illuminating. Easy prey.

As with some of the Bruno sketches, most of the other interviewees were just trying to be polite (especially the third lady who was definitely going along with it) - Cohen's characters are just too silly and his choice of subject "matter" for two of them was juvenile and stupid. Badly thought out and poorly written.

The only thing that got a smirk from me was some of the Morris-esque phrasing during the final section, but it was hardly anything we've not seen before.

Potentially good format but disappointing overall.


up_the_hampipe

Quote from: Fried Egg Sandwich on July 16, 2018, 09:21:39 AM
His victims during the Brass Eye section were extremely low-hanging fruit, providing exactly the reaction you'd expect. Nothing particularly shocking, funny or illuminating. Easy prey.

Well, you could say that about the victims in Brass Eye as well.

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on July 16, 2018, 09:26:46 AM
Well, you could say that about the victims in Brass Eye as well.

Quite the opposite actually. Vertical farming and strong wind came into my head straight away.

Artemis

Quote from: Fried Egg Sandwich on July 16, 2018, 09:30:06 AM
Quite the opposite actually.

Yeah, Nick Owen, Jenny Powell and Ceasar the Geezer were top shelf, weren't they?

Cohen's guests are of greater significance because they represent swathes of America (not least because they were elected). BE was monumental, but like Cohen, Morris went for easy targets with just a few exceptions. Doesn't make it any less of a great show but let's not kid ourselves.

Moribunderast

I thought the first episode of this was hysterical. Cohen back to doing what he's best at and tying it together with, as many have noted, elements of Brass Eye. This could turn into something quite special given the current political and social climate and the many buttons SBC could push. I'm happy for it to work just as a very funny comedy (which, to me, the first three segments were) but if it can continually elevate itself with stunts like the Kinderguardians thing then it'll quickly become a favourite of mine.

newbridge

Quote from: Fried Egg Sandwich on July 16, 2018, 09:21:39 AM
His victims during the Brass Eye section were extremely low-hanging fruit, providing exactly the reaction you'd expect. Nothing particularly shocking, funny or illuminating. Easy prey.

Getting prominent Republican politicians to advocate arming toddlers was expected and low-hanging fruit? Fair point on the former I guess.

Ant Farm Keyboard

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on July 15, 2018, 09:40:22 PM
I found the Bernie Sanders, Trump Supporters and Art Woman interviews to be quite drab, but the gun section was superb stuff. Also: Nathan Fielder and Peter Baynham are listed as consulting producers in the credits and I'd love to know what their input in to the show was.

Not just them, as Brian Reich and editor Eric Notarnicola, who have both worked on Nathan for You, are credited as writers on this.
My take is that the segments are heavily prepared during large group meetings, where writers try to guess what people may say and pitch lines and reactions for the character in advance. They're doing it this way for any Triumph The Insult Comic Dog segment. As NFY and Triumph are currently in a hiatus, it makes sense for Baron Cohen to get part of their creative team for these pitches.

rasta-spouse

It was okay. I enjoyed seeing the Trump supporters' house and the art gallery pube shaving, which felt like new territory for this kind of show. But this could be funnier, and I'm hoping it will be in future eps.

All we're getting so far is diluted Brass Eye, and not-as-good Ali G interviews (although I may have to re-watch those, they're not fresh in the memory). Still, one must admit that KinderGuardians video promo was a big missed opportunity. 

Mr Faineant

Quote from: St_Eddie on July 15, 2018, 06:05:13 PM
; Simpson has something of a track record for being dishonest)..

My grandma actually thinks he killed someone just for bringing his readers back, and then lied about that, so you never know.

In general, though the show was shit. Crap characters, cartoonish and dull, and not at all nuanced. The gun stuff was insane, but as someone else said, low hanging fruit. Hopefully this improves.

Utter Shit

Watching this on Channel 4 now. Pretty shit so far. Baffling that none of them have seen through the crap disguises, but they've all fairly obvious worked out it's a wind up and are just playing along. Zero subtlety.