TVSquad

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.