Sacha Baron Cohen is coming back to television.
The Ali G Show actor and comedian is dropping a new Showtime comedy interview series, Who Is America?, which is already set to drop this Sunday, July 15.
Cohen’s July 4 tweet trolling President Donald Trump, in which the comedian featured real videos of Trump mocking the actor as the star’s face intermittently flooded the screen, teased the upcoming series with the text “Sacha graduates soon,” followed by a logo for Trump University.
“Sacha is a comedic genius who shocks you with his audacity, bravery and inventiveness,” said Showtime Networks president and CEO David Nevins. “He is the premier provocateur of our time, but not for the sake of ‘gotcha’ moments. Behind the elaborate setup is a genuine quest for the truth about people, places and politics. Nobody knows how to cause a stir like Sacha Baron Cohen, and it’s going to be fascinating to watch what happens when Who Is America? is released on the world.”
Showtime has been doing its own stealth promotion in the last few days with videos teasing a comedy that is “the most dangerous show in the history of television.” As the video promised, “Something huge is coming July 15.”
On Sunday, Cohen added a short video to his Instagram account, with the message: “Imagine if Sacha Baron Cohen had been undercover secretly filming a new show for a year…”
In voice-over, Cohen — presumably in character — can be heard asking former Vice President Dick Cheney to sign his “waterboard kit.” Cheney is seen signing something and then jokes, “That’s the first time I’ve ever signed a waterboard.”
Though Cohen initially rose to fame as the character Ali G on the U.K. network Channel 4 on The 11 O’Clock Show and Da Ali G Show, in recent years he has primarily starred in films including Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Brothers Grimsby (which he also wrote and produced), Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Les Miserables.
That is set to change with the Showtime series and Netflix’s upcoming limited series The Spy, in which Cohen will star as legendary secret agent Eli Cohen, a spy for Israel in Syria in the early 1960s.
Updated 4:56 p.m. Sunday, July 8: Added Cohen’s Instagram video.
