If there's such a thing as surreality TV, then Sacha Baron Cohen is da man, and Da Ali G Show is da bomb. Better known as his alter egos Ali G (the "wanskta" journalist), Borat (the clueless correspondent from Kazakhstan), and Bruno (the gay Austrian fashionista), Cohen is consistently hilarious in these six episodes (on two discs) from the 2003 season of his HBO show. With his cracked Cockney-Rasta patois ("does you 'tink'c9 ") and constant malapropisms (confusing "incest" with "incense" and "bi-lingual" with "bi-sexual"; calling MIT linguistics professor Noam Chomsky "Norman"), Ali G is the star. But so is the odd and, well, surreal assortment of folks he interviews in his relentless, "Candid Camera"-goes-hip-hop assault on the idiots and idiosyncrasies of American culture and politics. Some are at least partly complicit; Pat Buchanan, of all people, plays right along with the shtick, as does Immigration and Naturalization Service chief James Ziegler. Others are merely confused, like the doc who grows increasingly frustrated by Ali's inability to differentiate between "veteran" and "veterinarian," newsman Sam Donaldson, or former LAPD chief Daryl Gates. But as absurd as Da Ali G Show gets, this isn't Jackass, and Cohen is no dummy. Along with all the goofing are some shrewd questions about abortion, teaching religion in schools, Iraq, and homeland security, to name a few ("How come there ain't no security on trains?" Ali G asks Ziegler, who laughs off the question'c9 and then came the Madrid and London subway bombings). With a generous helping of extras (including Ali's commencement speech at Harvard!) along with the episodes, Da Ali G Show is a riot. Fuh real, yo. --Sam Graham

uuid:	63500B40-B2FB-442F-959F-3566A3480172
upc:	9780783121154
title:	Da Ali G Show - The Complete Second Season
theatricalDate:	21-02-2003
stars:	Sacha Baron Cohen
purchase date:	07-09-2006
publisher:	Hbo Home Video
published:	13-09-2005
price:	$29.98
net Rating:	5
MPAA Rating:	NR
minutes:	180
number of media:	2
last lookup time:	179361536
genre:	Ali G Show
fullTitle:	Da Ali G Show - The Complete Second Season
features:	Closed-captioned Color Dolby Subtitled NTSC 1.33:1
director:	Scott Preston James Bobin
currentValue:	$20.05
created:	179361504
country:	us
aspect:	DVD
asin:	B000A88ESW