Posts with tag borat
Posted Jun 7th 2008 1:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Reality-Free
We've talked a lot here at TV Squad about movies made from TV shows. A while back, Anna listed her picks for the 10 best movies based on TV shows, and then Paul listed his picks for the 10 worst. (I also chimed in with my picks for 5 TV shows that are better than the original movie). Now Rotten Tomatoes picks the 50 best movies made from TV shows, and the results are...odd.
Now, some of the choices are predictable if not accurate, including Star Trek II, Wayne's World, South Park, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, and The Brady Bunch Movie. And fans of Firefly will be happy to see Serenity on the list (and in the top 10!).
Continue reading What are the best movies based on TV shows?
Posted Sep 21st 2007 9:28AM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Industry
The FOX network has announced plans for a brand new cop show about a police officer from Albania who is transplanted to the US.
The one hour project, currently tittled Raffik, will be a fish-out-of-water story focusing on the officer's reactions to the wonders of America.
The only details of the project that have been revealed are that Anthony Horowitz is the creator. Horowitz previously created Foyle's War and also worked on Poirot both for ITV.
Continue reading FOX turns Borat into a cop
Posted Mar 6th 2007 3:43PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, ABC, Industry

Most TV viewers don't know who Larry Charles is, but fans of the shows
Seinfeld and
Curb Your Enthusiasm are well aware of him. As one of the more underrated members of Larry David's team, he wrote some of both shows' most memorable episodes. His last project, as the director of the
Borat movie, also earned him praise, even if he toiled away deep in Sacha Baron Cohen's shadow.
But the success of
Borat has been good for everyone, including Charles:
Variety is reporting that
he has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the ABC TV Studio for what the industry rag said was in the "mid-seven figures." In the deal, Charles will write and direct a number of projects, including "scripted and hybrid comedies and possibly even animation," according to the article. This will be the first time he has worked for broadcast TV in a number of years.
Posted Jan 28th 2007 2:40PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: ABC, Celebrities, Awards
I thought Jon Stewart did a fine job as Oscar host, but I can understand them wanting to go with a more "traditional" choice. And with Ellen, I think the mainstream people get someone who they can enjoy (her daytime talk show is a hit) and the people who want their humor a little more wiseass will get their way too (people forget Ellen can be quite clever).
In this interview with TV Guide, DeGeneres promises not to suck, and also says that she's not going to copy what people in the past have done. Meaning, she's not going to put on the dance shows and dance a la Billy Crystal. She does say that it's going to be a little more fun and casual than most years.
And her favorite Oscars host was Johnny Carson, so that's a good sign.
Related:NPR wants you to write an Oscar speechEllen DeGeneres stand-up special on Comedy Central in FebruaryPosted 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 4th 2006 4:34PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, ABC, Industry, Pickups and Renewals
Felicity co-creator
Matt Reeves has a high concept series in development for ABC. (That's poor Matt on the right, sitting behind
Felicity's more famous half J.J. Abrams.) Called
Ordinary Joe, Reeves' new series follows the story of a man, who at 21 had to decide whether to go after the girl he always wanted, choose the girl who always wanted him or remain single. The show picks up 12 years later and flashbacks to the three different versions of his life that would have been depending on what choice he made. Each episode intertwines the series of events that follows the three different life choices - connecting them via theme.
It's a little
Sliding Doors, a little
Run Lola Run. All of my favorite themes are there -- fate, regret, choices, connection, what's unchanging about a person and what's not. Ever since
24's success, networks have been looking for high concept shows like this.
Hugh Jackman has a Rashomon-like project in the works. There are a slew of part-scripted, part-documentary
Borat-y projects in the works, too. What will float, and what will sink? We'll have to wait and see. Let's just hope the lead in
Ordinary Joe gets a haircut in each version of his life so we can tell the difference.
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 Nov 16th 2006 1:34PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Celebrities

You read that headline correctly: the current issue of
Rolling Stone has an interview with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Not Borat, not Ali G, not even the somewhat clueless version of himself that he projected when he was promoting
Talladega Nights. For some reason, the ever-elusive Cohen decided to bare all and speak to writer Neil Strauss, who's sold a lot of books by
putting on a character himself.
In the
excerpt that RS has posted online, we learn a few interesting things: for instance, we've known for some time that Cohen is Jewish, but here we learn that he's so observant that he keeps kosher and observes Shabbos (you'll never see him on Friday nights or Saturday during the day). We also find out that he's a bit reserved and would rather be plying his comedic trade behind his characters' faces than do anything on his own. It's an interesting read that makes me want to actually pick up the dead-trees version to read the entire article, which is saying something in this web-centric world.
Posted Nov 13th 2006 1:28PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities

With the
Village Voice reporting on the
general lameness of SNL's afterparties these days, it figures that it took two British dudes to shake things up post-show. When Hugh Laurie and Sacha Baron Cohen hit a local bar after their
SNL appearance, Cohen - still in his Borat character - couldn't resist messing around with the locals on the walk over. Unfortunately he messed with the wrong local.
British newspaper
The Sun is
reporting that he tried to buy a man's clothes saying, "I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with." I wonder which part the guy didn't find funny? He was so offended that he punched Cohen in the face and continued punching him. Who came to his rescue? None other than Dr. House, who pushed the attacker away and helped Cohen to his feet. Cohen received no lasting bruises, and I'm sure if there was something internal House would have noticed right away.
You got to give it to the guy for staying in character even in off hours, but for his own safety, maybe it's time the real Sacha Baron Cohen please stand up.
Thanks to TV Squad reader Chris W for the tip.Posted Nov 10th 2006 4:04PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, HBO, TV on the Bigscreen, Celebrities

Remember the '90s, that golden age of the internet when hamsters danced, there were mullets galore, sexually ambiguous men dressed as Peter Pan, all our base were belong to somebody, and
a man from Turkey offered his lips to the online world? Those were good times. Now one of those long lost remnants of Web's past have returned, and we can thank Borat for it. It seems that Mahir Cagri of "I Kiss You!" internet fame feels that Borat, the character created by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for HBO's
Da Ali G Show, and the star of the new film,
Borat: Culture Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, is based on him. In an e-mail and brief interview with
Wired, Cagri said he planned to seek legal action against Borat, and that "sometimes, I been no mustache." I think that goes to show that no matter how separated we are by geography, there are still some things that unite us all, for I have also never been a mustache.
Posted Nov 8th 2006 12:01PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, CBS, OpEd, Web, Documentary

No doubt capitalizing on
Borat fever, CBS' broadband channel
Innertube is broadcasting the
full-length pilot episode of The Papdits created by
Da Ali G Show writer and producer Ant Hines. The show's
Borat-type premise follows the misadventures of a family from Kashmir as they interact with Americans while looking for the perfect place to settle and make their fortune. Their journey begins in Arkansas.
The show, again like
Borat, is a comedy/reality hybrid. You've got mockumentary, talking head shots like
The Office, but also scenes in which the actors are improvising off of unwitting American dupes.
The Papdits perpetuate that uncomfortable, cringe-inducing humor we've all come to know and love.
Continue reading Meet the Papdits
Posted Nov 8th 2006 11:31AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on the Bigscreen, Comedy Central, Reno 911!

Those of you who saw
Borat last weekend probably also saw the incredibly hilarious trailer for the
Reno 911! movie, called
Reno 911: Miami. In the film, the team goes to Miami for a law enforcement convention and then ends up taking over for the Miami PD. From Dangle's short shorts to Wiegel's trash-talking on the beach... you're gonna love it. Plus, the whole cast of MTV's
The State makes an appearance. The trailer is now up exclusively
on Australian Yahoo! and it plays kinda crappy on a Mac (where's the love, y'all?).
I'm getting conflicting reports about when it will be released:
Wikipedia says it's February 23rd, but
Whitney at USA Today says it's not until May 10. Unfortunately, the
Reno 911! fan site hasn't been updated in a year so it was no help. If you know a release date, put it in the comments!
*Update: Thanks, Whitney! The movie comes out in the states on February 23rd.
Posted Nov 3rd 2006 11:34AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Late Night, OpEd, The Daily Show, Comedy Central

As part of
The Daily Show''s good-bye to Ohio State University, a few of the correspondents donned OSU gear and talked about how much fun they had during the past week. However, Rob Riggle put on some Michigan gear and pretty much made the entire crowd want to kill him. What a brave, brave man.
John Hodgman, Daily Show Resident Expert and second busiest man alive (
after Flavor Flav, because going through an intense
book tour is
just slightly less taxing than
Flavor of Love), dropped by to talk about the new
computerized voting methods. "These new voting machines are SHINY. They go
beep and
boop." This segment got me thinking... Which would be more awesome? The Diebold Transformer or the Diebold Accuclaw?
Continue reading The Daily Show: November 2, 2006
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 28th 2006 5:06PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Celebrities

If you're like me, you think about a Halloween costume at the very last minute. This year, if I suddenly need to dress up, I may go to
Forbes.com and . The financial website has printable face masks for all sorts of famous figures, including Stephen ColbertKatie Couric (although, it's the
old Katie Couric and it's scary).
There's also a Lindsay Lohan mask-- which looks more like Kate Bosworth if you ask me-- and a Borat mask. For the politically minded, there's Kim Jong Il, and for the people who like to make others uncomfortable, there's always Rep. Mark Foley. Blackberry not included.
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