Every HBO Comedy Ranked From Worst To Best

The characters have become so ubiquitous now that it’s hard to recall a time when Sasha Baron Cohen’s creations were genuinely shocking and capable of tricking people. In its heyday, though, Da Ali G Show was the best purveyor of pranks and gotchas since the early work of Chris Morris.

In wannabe rapper Ali G, outrageous Kazakh reporter Borat, and to a lesser extent Austrian fashionista Bruno, Cohen had three golden personas with which to entrap celebrities, politicians, and experts. Interviewees, from Donald Trump to Buzz Aldrin, wanted to appear hip before Ali or tolerant and inclusive with Borat and Bruno.

Being a list of HBO shows, we’re obliged to exclude the first season with which the network wasn’t involved, but even so, the second two seasons provided some incredible and cringeworthy moments, with Cohen winding up DEA officers, Hollywood bigwigs, and the deep south en masse.

For the most part, Cohen is keen to position himself as the butt of the joke (unless he has a truly deserving target); it’s mischievous, rather than truly meanspirited TV.