Sacha Baron Cohen’s Secret Showtime Series Could Be The Only Political Comedy Worth Watching

While it’s not a full Beyoncé surprise release, the fact that we found out about a secret Sacha Baron Cohen Showtime series, called Who Is America?, under two weeks before it premiered, could be the total key to its success. And 2018 is desperately in need of this.

Political comedy is awfully tricky in these times. It’s alienating, it’s super quick to get stale, and it’s just plain predictable. Which is why Cohen could, and probably will, shake things up in a big, big way.

There’s not much to go by right now. There was his Fourth of July tweet that didn’t reveal much except the likely target of his comedy, and then a Showtime promo that revealed even less, and it’s better that way. “Imagine if Sacha Baron Cohen had been undercover secretly filming a new show for a year…” it reads, with the teensiest glimpses at frames that could be from the show and ends with Dick Cheney signing a “waterboarding kit.”

“That’s a first,” the former Vice President announces, and hopefully he’s not the only one. You have to respect and admire that Cohen watched this whole circus in action and quietly got to work on making fun of it, with no one aware he was even attempting it. There are no details or expectations which is precisely what can make it as cutting and surprising and outrageous as he’s known to get.

Cohen’s show could be the equivalent of Kathy Griffin’s severed head picture — pushing all the boundaries, sure to outrage many, and likely to include stunts we’ll be discussing for some time. He’s going to get an angry tweet from Trump and then millions of others from his supporters, and no one has the backbone (or protections) in place to both anticipate and weather that storm the way this man does.

As you’ll recall, Borat, Cohen’s 2006 release was so much more than the neon mankini and the birth of the “My Wife!” catchphrase. It was a direct reflection and satire of the George W. Bush years from the British performer. And now we find ourselves in even more extreme times, calling for extreme comedy. Monologue jokes and late night bits are cute but Cohen is the ultimate disruptor, sure to irritate and innovate at once.

Sacha Baron Cohen is the human form of accidentally hitting the front camera button on your phone: he shows us how this country really looks when we’re not expecting it, double chins and all. He’s not the type to pace a stage remarking on conservatives or snowflakes: his comedy is slick and unbelievable and oftentimes dangerous. I’m not going to agree with all of it. Some, and maybe even most of it will be incredibly stupid, but I will always respect him for having zero boundaries and staying as committed to the joke at hand.

While Showtime only officially announced the 7-episode series today, we can spend the week leading up to this Sunday’s premiere of the show searching for clues. There’s the report that he filmed something with O.J. Simpson in Las Vegas back in February, and that Spencer Pratt’s crystals kept him aware enough not to fall for a stunt, but The Real Housewives of Orange County’s Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley did. Plus, there are comparisons to his previous Da Ali G Show with the likely interview format, and of course the inevitable comments through comedy on the political situation we’ve currently got on our hands.

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July 15, Showtime.

A post shared by Jensen Karp (@jensenkarp) on Jul 8, 2018 at 7:57am PDT

Whatever Cohen’s series turns out to be, or not to be, it’s all but guaranteed to be an astute, shocking, and utterly ridiculous adventure worth watching, simply to see what he comes up with, who he suckers into participating, and if he’s hopefully pulled off the biggest stunt of all and reveals himself to have been the actual President for the past year and a half. Hey, if anyone could do it…

Who Is America? premieres at midnight Eastern time, July 15th on Showtime.