SachaBaronCohen-related stories
Posted Sep 19th 2009 5:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, The Simpsons, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
Practically every other celebrity on Earth has been a guest voice on
The Simpsons. Hell, then even managed to land the reclusive author Alan Moore for a comic book-themed episode. Now,
Borat and
Bruno star
Sacha Baron Cohen will be lending his voice to an episode of the animated series.
Supposedly, Cohen will play an "angry but funny" tour guide that helps them while the family tours Israel with their church group. For such a low income family, the Simpsons sure get to tour a lot of different countries. Homer even went up into space at one point.
Cohen will not be playing any of his trademark characters, and that's probably for the best. They were getting a little stale anyway. Perhaps he could invent a new character (or at least a character voice) for this appearance.
In other facts about the episode, Homer gets Jerusalem complex while visiting and thinks he's God. And to the Fox network, he is.
Posted Jul 11th 2009 5:01PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Reality-Free
Granted,
Brüno is a movie and thus falls outside the purview of this site, but it is based on a character that originally appeared on a television show (
Da Ali G Show), so I'm hoping I can get a little leeway on this brief review of the movie, which i happened to catch last night.
Minor spoilers follow ...
Like its predecessor
Borat (also a character from
Da Ali G Show), the movie relies on shock humor. It certainly has its moments.
Continue reading Brüno: a mini-review
Posted Jun 4th 2009 1:07PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Music and Variety, Celebrities, Awards, Reality-Free
I was fine with the initial story that
it may have been a hoax, because it was news. After all the stunt Sacha "Bruno" Baron Cohen pulled putting his ass in the notoriously sensitive Eminem's face was the big buzz moment of the
MTV Movie Awards. But it didn't stop there. Finally, after speculation and reports all week about it,
Eminem admitted it was a stunt. Fine. Great. Does this mean it's over? I can't tell you how many "news" stories I read about this.
Everyone had their own take on it. You'd have thought it was the JFK assassination all over again. "There was one shooter with a camera zoomed in on Eminem's face. That's the only person who knew what was happening." "Impossible. Who worked the rig that lowered Cohen? Clearly there was a conspiracy." "But Eminem had to have been in on that conspiracy. Can you really lower a man on top of someone without them knowing it." "Perhaps, but did Em know Cohen's ass was bare." "Oh I think he most certainly did." Who cares, honestly?!
Posted May 3rd 2008 9:06AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Do you love Tracey Ullman? Yeah, who doesn't? The lady's a riot. Showtime is so enamored of the Brit-com-queen that they've ordered a second season -- seven fresh episodes -- of
Tracey Ullman's State of the Union. The network has also lined up another English artist for 2009. Comedy star Marc Wootton is locked in for six episodes.
"I won't hold it against them that both are from the U.K.," laughed Showtime prez Robert Greenblatt. "Tracey Ullman is the veteran genius who continues to impress us with her versatility, while Marc Wootton is the up-and-comer who will surprise our audience with his own unique voice. This is an embarrassment of riches for us in the comedy department."
Continue reading Showtime likes the laughs, renews Tracey Ullman
Posted Dec 11th 2006 7:33PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, HBO, Industry, OpEd
Variety is reporting that, despite comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's current international popularity, both of his signature characters are having a tough time gaining any kind of traction in, of all countries, Spain. Not only has the
Borat movie only taken in 2.1 million euros since being released almost a month ago, but the TV3 network's broadcasts of the old HBO series
Da Ali G Show are tanking in the ratings. The article speculates a bit as to why this is happening: since the TV3 network has been showing Britcoms like
Blackadder with success, that's not a reason; the time slot seems to be suitable for the audience the network wants to attract.
Continue reading Sacha Baron Cohen not so funny in Spain
Posted Dec 2nd 2006 2:24PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Video, Commercials, Celebrities
There's an old British 'Where Are They Now'-type special up
on YouTube that is all about Sacha Baron Cohen. The special looks a little dated because it focuses on his work on television as Ali G, and it shows Kristoff, an Albanian reporter character that strongly resembles Borat. It chronicles Cohen's childhood-- he attended an affluent school and then went to Cambridge. There are some old, cringe-worthy video clips of him and his brother ridiculing Jews and of Cohen hosting various cable access shows. One interesting revelation is a picture is of Cohen as a model. That's right- behind the Ali G and Borat characters is a rather good-looking fellow. His short stint as a fashion model reportedly inspired his red carpet reporter character, Bruno.
The video is after the jump. It's pretty long, so if you just want to see the modeling bit, it's at 8:00.
Continue reading Sacha Baron Cohen, former male model - VIDEO
Posted Oct 31st 2006 9:00AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, HBO, TV on the Bigscreen, Celebrities
With the release of Borat this Friday to movie theaters around America, HBO wants to remind you that they were the ones who gave U.S. audiences a look at the lovable Sacha Baron Cohen character that appeared regularly on Da Ali G Show. So, with that in mind, the network is going to go Borat crazy over the next two weeks.
It will begin this upcoming Saturday when HBO airs all 12 episodes of Ali G not once, but twice. The run of episodes (I get tired of saying marathon because it really isn't) will begin at noon and end at 6:00 PM. Then, the network will air eight episodes on Monday (from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am) and four on Tuesday (8:00 pm to 10:00 pm). If you miss those episodes they will be available on HBO on Demand from November until late January.
One can hope that the media blitz on this new movie as well as the word on the street makes Borat the hit of the year in the theaters. We shall see come this Friday.
Posted Oct 12th 2006 11:57AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on the Bigscreen, Celebrities
If you've never seen Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat in action, I'll direct you to this
recent post, or, just go to YouTube and type in "Borat" and enjoy the hilarity. The character, an out-of-his-element news reporter from Kazakhstan, was part of Cohen's
Da Ali G Show and is the center of the upcoming movie
Borat: Culture Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. If you're wondering how Cohen and his team get normal people to appear on his show, and, more impressively, get them to sign releases allowing themselves to be seen on television, Devin Gordon of
Newsweek spoke with some of the people who were duped by Cohen/Borat. Some of them found it funny, others not so much. While I'm not always the biggest fan of mining humor by accosting unsuspecting people on camera, I find Borat absolutely hysterical. I think part of his secret is acting as if he has no idea that anything he's doing or saying is wrong.
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