Sacha-Baron Cohen's new series, Who is America?

[Julius Seeker]

Haha, just when you thought he was too visible, the prosthetics to the rescue =D





The Mossad anti-terror character is my favourite. Kinder-Guardians, I almost shit myself. Apparently Sarah Palin is pissed and is trying to lead a boycott against the show that made a fool out of her; but she uses the excuse "he impersonated a war veteran!"

[kali o.]

Not as good as Ali G -- but has potential. I am waiting a few more episodes before making a final judgement.

The pube thing, visually, was hilarious. One of the most interesting things so far is seeing what viewers seem to be taking away from it, based on individual bias. Personally, I thought Ep 1 really showed how kind Americans were and how far they'll bend backwards to try to engage with SBC absurdity.

[Shrinweck]

I didn't find it funny at all but it was very watchable as a spectacle. It's not something I'm going to be hankering to watch every week but I'll probably make my way through the series in bursts of interest/morbid curiosity.

[kali o.]

I didn't find it funny at all but it was very watchable as a spectacle. It's not something I'm going to be hankering to watch every week but I'll probably make my way through the series in bursts of interest/morbid curiosity.

I refuse to believe you didn't find at least some portion of that dinner funny. The wife having the affair the dolphin? Pee cams for the kids? Recyclable menstruation cup? "Honey, don't pass judgement"...."mmm. k."? Flag Bleeding sponsored by the Clinton Foundation?

[Shrinweck]

Okay you're correct I did laugh at the husband during the dinner getting told not to pass any judgments during the period talk. I also got a kick out of the reaction the husband had at the end of the episode.

I think I found myself laughing at the husband in particular because he was the one person in the episode that I actually felt like was acting as a reasonable person reacting to something ridiculous. The straight man in comedy is usually my favorite these days so I guess that makes sense.

[Julius Seeker]

Yeah, the humour is definitely mostly in how people deal with the absurdity. It's similar to Kaufman - many critics focused on the fact that Kaufman's gags weren't funny when taken for what they were, and couldn't understand why people found what he was doing so hilarious because fooling other people is so beyond their radar.

[kali o.]

Episode 2 was less funny, but I still found some humor in the last segment (the mosque proposal). Maybe I just like that SBC character (liberal hippy douche) or maybe its just that the SBC character adds balance (mocking both left and right).

[Shrinweck]

I found out Nathan Fielder is involved so I caught up on the show last night and I'm liking it more now that I can see his style in the show so much.

I think it's easier to enjoy the liberal character because the stakes are so much lower. It's more fun to catch people being fools than exposing someone who is willing to shout slurs on camera. These are largely the segments I think Fielder has an involvement in. The Nathan For You-style (Fielder's show) of making the character take the brunt of the awkwardness/negativity birthed from prank humor is something that makes me think of him during some of the segments. The town hall mosque proposition just screamed Nathan For You to me.

[kali o.]

I've found the last two eps rather laugh free (except maybe the Mexican party one -- the pay off was exceptional, but the build was long and slow). Probably the funniest thing is Liberal Hippy Douche's intro -- which changes slightly each episode. "I believe the World's most dangerous chemical weapon is testosterone" or "Two weeks after the election was stolen from President Clinton, I managed to get out of bed" or "listening respectfully, without prejudice, to ignorant racists Republicans" -- that stuff makes me lose my shit every time, lol.