Da Ali G Show: Season 01  (2003)

Theatrical Release Information:
Da Ali G Show: Season 01

Improvisational comedian Sacha Baron Cohen brings his hit British TV series Da Ali G Show to America's HBO in a full season of irreverent interviews and zany special features, with Cohen assuming the characters of malaprop-spouting "hip-hop" journalist and aspiring rapper Ali G; Borat, a TV reporter from Kazakhstan who naïvely takes everything at face values; and Bruno, a gay "fashionista" from Austria. Season one of HBO's Da Ali G Show begins with the episode "Law," in which Ali G tries out for the Philadelphia Police Department and interviews former U.S. attorney general Dick Thornberg, Borat tackles the topic of dating etiquette and Bruno launches the first of several in-depth looks at New York's "Fashion Week." The next episode, "War," features Ali G's wide-eyed tour of the United Nations and a chat with onetime UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Gali. Next up is "Politics," featuring the now-infamous Newt Gingrich interview (rumors persist that Gingrich was unaware that Ali G was a put-on) and Borat's clueless discourse on the American gun culture. "Art" finds Ali G chewing the fat with Inside the Actor's Studio's James Lipton and ex-astronaut Buzz Aldrin. The guests on "Science" include C. Everett Koop and Ralph Nader, with the added attraction of a sentimental stopover at a Nevada nuclear testing sight. And in "Belief," Borat braves the wilds of "The New South" and Ali G pitches a series idea to a group of network execs -- while still managing to spend quality time with interviewees James Baker and Marlin Fitzwater. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide