First US critic savages Ali

Ali G has received his first US reviews - and it's not good news.

The comic's debut American series starts on prestigious cable network HBO tomorrow night, and the first journalist to review it, Associated Press's Lynn Elber is far from impressed.

In her review, which appears in such august newspapers as the Washington Post, Elber accuses creator Sacha Baron Cohen of picking easy targets and going for easier laughs.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Cohen. Now go home. Please," is her conclusion.

"Think Tom Green and his pointlessly cruel pranks or Jackass and its inane stunts played on the unsuspecting and, most importantly, undeserving," she adds.

" The galling part is how Cohen betrays satire by making it hollow and toothless."

And writing of the civic-minded people who were hoodwinked into agreeing to be interviewed by one of Cohen's creations she says: "What is Cohen mocking? Older people who have different standards of social decorum?"

The American series will be screened on Channel 4 this spring.

To read the review

Published: 20 Feb 2003