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May 24, 2013

Ali G

Sacha Baron Cohen Was Considered as Oscar Host

by Allison Waldman, posted Feb 19th 2010 3:03PM

sacha_baron_cohen_headshotThe history of the Academy Awards telecast has been generally a pretty traditional show. You've had historic moments of bad taste like Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White, bizarre musical opening numbers from the likes of Lucie Arnaz and Liza Minnelli -- not together -- and, of course, great highs like most of the Billy Crystal musical medleys of the Best Oscar nominees.

This year if Billy were there, his medley would be about 20 minutes long to include all ten nominated movies! They'd have needed an oxygen tank in the wings to revive him after that.

But here's a wickedly wild idea that might have set the Oscars into to fierce wilderness of 'oh-my-God' TV. The Oscar producers were toying with the idea of having Sacha Baron Cohen host the show. Yep, believe it. Producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic were on NPR's 'Fresh Air' with Teri Gross, and they said when they contemplated shaking up the broadcast, they thought of 'Borat.'

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USA invests in Universal films

by Varun Lella, posted Aug 7th 2007 9:00PM

USA network logoThe basic networks used to be the kings of theater to TV imports. When I was a kid I used to get genuinely excited about Saturday night's Wonderful World of Disney movie.

Since the turn of the new millennium -- been a while since you heard that phrase, huh? -- cable networks have been playing the movie game. TBS, HBO and others have all brought big name movies to television at a very slow pace.

USA Network has made a 11-movie deal with Universal Studios to bring films such as The Bourne Ultimatum and Children of Men to the NBC-owned channel.

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Sacha Baron Cohen not so funny in Spain

by Joel Keller, posted Dec 11th 2006 7:33PM

Ali GVariety 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.

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Sacha Baron Cohen, former male model - VIDEO

by Anna Johns, posted Dec 2nd 2006 2:24PM

sacha baron cohenThere'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.

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New TV on DVD releases today

by Bob Sassone, posted Nov 21st 2006 9:31AM

  • Ali G Show - Complete Series
  • Alias - Season 5 and Complete Series sets
  • Boston Legal - Season 2
  • Dr. Katz - Season 2
  • Family Affair - Season 2
  • Get Smart - Complete Series
  • How I Met Your Mother - Season 1
  • Kenny vs. Spenny - Season 2
  • Match Game '73 - Best Of
  • NoTORIous - Season 1
  • Perry Mason - Season 1, Vol. 2
  • Seinfeld - Vol. 6
  • Star Trek Animated - Complete Series

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Rolling Stone actually interviews Sacha Baron Cohen

by Joel Keller, posted Nov 16th 2006 1:34PM

Sacha Baron CohenYou 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.

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Mahir Vs. Borat

by Adam Finley, posted Nov 10th 2006 4:04PM

mahir cagriRemember 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.

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It's Borat-mania on HBO

by Richard Keller, posted Oct 31st 2006 9:00AM

BoratWith 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.

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