The Good

The Bad

I had never really understood what this show was about. After watching but a few minutes of Da Ali G Show - The Complete Second Season, I understood everything and was laughing my head off. Sacha Baron Cohen portrays not one but three characters who go into very real situations and never break character. As Ali G(a UK journalist), Cohen interviews the likes of Pat Buchanan and Sam Donaldson. As Borat (a Kazakhstani correspondent) he learns football and does interviews with people who have no idea this whole thing is a ruse. As Bruno (an Austrian Fashionista) he fools a psychic and basically plays up the whole style angle to his character.

In much the same way that Phil Hendrie has created radio alter egos that interact with real people, Sacha Baron Cohen has gone out of his way to create the most outrageous characters, who say the most outrageous things, yet amidst all of this he makes legitimate points and pokes fun at stereotypes for simply being stereotypes.

Features

Unseen Sh*t

This 2 disc set comes with a bevy of things we haven’t seen from Ali, Borat and Bruno. My favorite thing, even though it is very brief, was when Ali visited the Civil War Navy Ship. The things he says to those officers were priceless. Borat learning football was interesting but I loved when he “lunched” with the Pima, AZ Republican Club. Bruno, I have to admit, was the least of my favorite characters and this probably has something to do with Ali G nailing his character so perfectly. Still, visiting a psychic to speak with his dead boyfriend did have a lot of comedy to it, even though it was hard for me to decipher what he was saying at times.

Video

4:3 Aspect Ratio. When I used to see little pieces of this show on HBO, it seemed too busy for me. My only problem with this disc is the way the subtitles are used for Borat’s sequences. I just found them to be too quick and busy for my tastes. Once I settled in and watched them I was able to easily orient myself to what was happening. So well done is this show that a viewer, who wasn’t in on the joke, might sit down and watch this show and never realize that it is one big comedy skit.

Audio

English 2.0. This show sounds great even though there were a few times when I had a hard time understanding everything that Ali G was saying. Then when I realized that this is just the character of the show, I was fine. Still, all of the characters are so distinct that I kept having to “readjust” my hearing each time a new one came on to the screen. In fact, I think that Borat is actually the easiest one to understand. There is loud, annoying music from time to time but this is all part of the show and without it I don’t know that Da Ali G Show - The Complete Second Season would have the effect that it does.

Package

Neatly packaged in one case, the character of Ali G stands holding 2 fingers. This could symbolize that this set is for Season 2, or it could be the “British Bird.” The whole color scheme is that of red and yellow. The back features all 3 characters from the show, a description (which really helped me out) and a listing of these discs bonus features. There are two separate trays inside the plastic case which holds each disc. I am really surprised at how much I enjoyed this show. I was expecting it to be hard to follow and full of “Sherlock Holmes Humor” and I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible it was.

Final Word

As I had only seen little snippets of this show on HBO, I honestly had no idea what it was about. Put off by all the “wanksta” schtick that Ali G presents, I never saw this show for what it really is. I don’t remember the last time I came into something this cold and laughed as much as I did. His ability to stay in character and keep pushing the limits of the people he is tricking is truly a gift. I could not believe the things Borat said to the Arizona Republican Party!!

How long this show can last is the question I have on my mind now. For Phil Hendrie, he’s on the radio, so physical identification is minimal. Ali G is out in the spotlight. We see who he is and we know (at least I know now) that there is an actor behind all of this madness. Now that I know this, the joke is still funny, but I can’t help wondering how quickly downhill this show will go if his guests are “in on the joke.” This might have something to do with why the Harvard Commencement speech didn’t make me laugh that much.

Overall, if you want to really give yourself a good laugh, then Da Ali G Show - The Complete Second Season is for you.

Da Ali G Show was released .