• Network: Channel 4
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 30, 2000
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 16
  2. Negative: 1 out of 16

Critic Reviews

  1. Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Jan 14, 2026
    60
    Though Baron Cohen is clever and amusing and quick on his feet, his humor boils down to a few endlessly repeated gambits: malapropisms, misunderstandings, and outrageousness in the guise of innocence.
  2. Reviewed by: Terry Sawyer
    Jan 14, 2026
    60
    Given his comedic breadth, it’s a shame that all the critical focus remains on his flattest sketch.
  3. Reviewed by: Phil Gallo
    Jan 14, 2026
    60
    Da Ali G Show is all over the map -- funny in parts, overlong and out of steam in some taped bits and generally very inside in the humor department. Late night's a good spot for it.
  4. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    Jan 13, 2026
    50
    There's no question that Sacha Baron Cohen is talented. And it may prove unwise to discount the tremendous popularity he and his Ali G character achieved in the United Kingdom. But the concept is hardly original to an American audience and, unfortunately, plays well under the acceptable level of greatness we've all come to expect from HBO. [21 Feb 2003]
  5. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Lynn Elber
    Jan 13, 2026
    40
    The galling part is how Cohen betrays satire by making it hollow and toothless. "Da Ali G Show" is a sheep in wolf's clothing. [21 Feb 2003]