• 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. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Linda Stasi
    Jan 13, 2026
    100
    As funny as TV gets. [20 Feb 2003, p.112]
  2. Reviewed by: Alessandra Stanley
    Jan 14, 2026
    90
    Irresistibly, corrosively funny. It also serves as a reminder of why HBO is home to so many comedies and dramas that are unmatched on network television.
  3. Los Angeles Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Kronke
    Jan 13, 2026
    90
    This is rich material: Think of it as a particularly outrageous "Candid Camera," with politicians and Sunday-morning talking heads as the marks. [21 Feb 2003, p.U35]
  4. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Phil Rosenthal
    Jan 14, 2026
    75
    You've seen this kind of shtick before on other shows, but Cohen occasionally gets off a laugh-out-loud moment. [21 Feb 2003, p.45]
  5. Houston Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ann Hodges
    Jan 13, 2026
    75
    He moons ya, he fools ya, and it don't mattah much if ya love him or ya hate him, he gonna make ya laugh. Dat's Ali G. [20 Feb 2003]
  6. Kansas City Star
    Reviewed by: Aaron Barnhart
    Jan 13, 2026
    75
    I'd seen a tape of Cohen's UK show and wasn't impressed - but as with so many TV stars, being on HBO just seems to improve him. [18 Feb 2003]
  7. Slate
    Reviewed by: Virginia Heffernan
    Jan 14, 2026
    70
    What Cohen's characters lack in originality, they make up for in execution. [24 Feb 2003]
  8. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Noel Holston
    Jan 13, 2026
    67
    In England, critics have called Cohen the new Peter Sellers. If that's the case, it's not Sellers at his "Dr. Strangelove"-"Being There" shrewdest but, rather, at his do-it-for-the-money "Pink Panther"-sequel broadest. [21 Feb 2003]
  9. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    Jan 14, 2026
    63
    Despite Cohen's talent for submerging himself in his characters, "Da Ali G Show" is a spotty venture. [22 Feb 2003]
  10. San Diego Union-Tribune
    Reviewed by: Robert P. Laurence
    Jan 13, 2026
    63
    The Brits just love Ali G, but they have a considerable appetite for rude, politically incorrect satire. Americans may just find him rather peculiar. [21 Feb 2003, p.E5]