Da Ali G Show

Da Ali G Show is a British satirical sketch comedy television series created by and starring British comedian and actor 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 figures, during which they are asked absurd and ridiculous questions.

The first (2000) series originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK, and the second and third (2003–2004) series on HBO in the United States. 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 series of the show.

Baron Cohen has gone on to make four 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), Brüno (2009) and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020).

In 2014, FXX reaired the show (including episodes unaired in the United States) 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 partner, whom he refers as "me Julie" (Jamaican slang for girlfriend)^{[irrelevant citation]} or a family member such as his grandmother or his Uncle Jamal (who is apparently secretly gay). The character was later the basis of the film Ali G Indahouse.

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 a fictionalized version of 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 politically incorrect comments based on his unfamiliar culture. The culture he presents is entirely fictional, however. For example, a real-world Roma ("Gypsy") village in Romania stood in for Borat's "typical Kazakh village", while the character of Borat dislikes Gypsies and claims to have once been a "Gypsy catcher". Similarly, the foreign language Baron Cohen speaks in this role is Hebrew, but interviewees and the average audience member are led to believe the anti-Semitic Borat is speaking in Kazakh. 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. There are two films based on the character, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, released in 2006; and the sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, released in 2020.

Brüno Gehard is a gay Austrian fashion reporter and is the third character of Da Ali G Show. He claims to be the voice of "Austrian gay 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. He nevertheless convinces 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, in 2009.