Da Ali G Show: Da Compleet First Seazon

Ali G is indahouse, keepin' it real, so bigupyaself; respeck. If most of the foregoing sounds like gibberish, then you're probably not familiar with the hit HBO half-hour comedy series starring British comic Sacha Baron Cohen as the yellow-jumpsuited, bling-bling-wearing, "wanksta journalist" Ali G, a white hip-hop wannabe who traverses America visiting off-the-beaten-travelogue-track places (such as the UN headquarters) and interviewing various cultural, religious, and political figures (including Ralph Nader, Newt Gingrich, Buzz Aldrin, C. Everett Koop, and Donald Trump). The joke--and, in all honesty, it's one that begins to wear thin by about the third episode of this six-episode set--is that none of the interviewees are aware that the heavy-accented, slang-spouting, sexist moron "Ali G" (who thinks that homo sapiens is a synonym for homosexual) is actually the persona of Baron Cohen, and their attempts to field his off-the-wall interview questions produce some very funny moments (after Nader agrees that the world is running out of natural gas, Ali G asks whether we could get "humanoids that make a lot of natural gas to maybe squeeze one out into a box"). The true genius of Da Ali G Show, however, is that the amazing chameleon Baron Cohen plays three totally different characters on the show: in addition to Ali G, we have Borat, the Kazakhstan journalist who speaks broken English and displays a ready willingness (even eagerness) to discuss sexual matters; and Brüno, the gay Austrian fashionista reporter who twists designer interviewees into comic knots. DVD extras include audio commentary by Baron Cohen and producer/writer Dan Mazer on one episode, two extra "Borat" clips, and a glossary of Ali G jargon. Recommended. (R. Pitman)