'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Sacha Baron Cohen not so funny in Spain
by Joel Keller, posted Dec 11th 2006 7:33PM
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.So what's the problem? Well, the article does state that Spain has their own version of Cohen in Santiago Segura, who does similar humor that hits cloer to home with Spaniards. Also, Spaniards might not get the running jokes in the show unless they spent time in London (which is weird, because not many Americans have been to London, and the show was popular here). But it could be as simple as the fact that, even though the show is dubbed, you can still hear the original audio. That's pretty annoying during an interview on the news, so I can't imagine it being less annoying during an entire half-hour show.
7 Comments