Showtime President and CEO David Nevins wants to stay in the Sacha Baron Cohen business.
The premium cable network boss told reporters during the Television Critics Association press tour on Monday that he’s itching to do a Season 2 of Cohen’s “Who Is America?” — which premiered last month to 1 million viewers, after being secretly in the works at Showtime for over a year.
“I’m dying to bring it back, you know,” Nevins said. “There’ll be a process and I don’t know that I’ll be making an announcements, but, you know, he had me at ‘Hello.'”
“I think he is one of the great, original comic performers of our time and I knew doing a show with him was a risk, but it’s a risk I’m really glad that we took,” Nevins continued. “And I think what he’s achieved is remarkable.”
When asked if he felt like the backlash against the show has been a blessing or a curse for Showtime, Nevins laughed and replied, “I think it’s been helpful.”
“Everything we did about the show, the whole way we launched it was incredibly unconventional,” Nevins said. “We kept secret that the show was in process for more than a year.”
Baron Cohen duped Sarah Palin, Bernie Sanders, Ted Koppel, Howard Dean, disgraced Senate candidate Roy Moore, ex-congressman Joe Walsh, and former Vice President Dick Cheney into appearing on Season 1 of the show. Well, he reportedly shot pieces with all of them.
You can read what Nevins told TheWrap regarding the chances some of Baron Cohen’s targets don’t make it on the show here.
“Who Is America?” airs Sundays at 10/8c on Showtime.
Sacha Baron Cohen's 9 Craziest Stunts Before 'Who Is America?' (Videos)
Bruno and Baby O.J.
In "Bruno," Sacha Baron Cohen's Austrian character adopted an African baby and brought him onto a reality show wearing a t-shirt that said "Gayby." Calling him O.J., Bruno revealed he "swapped the baby for a limited edition U2 iPod."
The Dictator's Oscars Blunder
In 2012, Baron Cohen took on the persona of The Dictator, and spilled Kim Jong-il's fake ashes all over the Oscars red carpet and host Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest later said he suspected a prank.
Bruno Interviews Neo-Nazis
Bruno chatted to Neo-Nazis about homosexuals at "Evil Fest" while a man in the video continuously did the Hitler salute.
Borat Sings National Anthem
Borat attended a rodeo and decided to sing the Kazakhstan national anthem lyrics to the tune of the American national anthem after he told the crowd he supported America's "war of terror." The whole stunt angered many to the point where rodeo officials had to escort Baron Cohen out of the arena for fear of a riot.
Baron Cohen Pushes Grace Cullington Off Stage
When the actor accepted the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award at the BAFTAs in 2013, he "accidentally" pushed Grace Cullington, the last person alive to have worked with Chaplin, off stage. After gasps and shock, everyone became aware it was a staged joke.
Bruno Labels Shopkeeper as Terrorist
In "Bruno," he interviewed a man he labeled as a terrorist from the al-Aqsa militant group in the West Bank and asked him to kidnap him so Bruno could become famous. In fact, the man was a shopkeeper and sued Baron Cohen for libel and slander, seeking $110 million in damages. He later settled for an undisclosed amount.
Bruno's Baby Photo Shoot
After picking up baby O.J. at the baggage claim, Bruno had a baby photo shoot, where he asked parents whether their babies were OK with exposure to wasps, fast acceleration, dead or dying animals and if they were fine with undergoing liposuction to lose weight.
Bruno Goes Camping
Bruno went camping with hunters in Alabama, and things quickly got tense when he started talking about hot men and wanting to get into tents with the hunters. The men loaded their guns on camera and according to many news outlets, the team had to flee.
Bruno's MMA Fight
Men in Arkansas went to see some cage fighting, but what they got instead was Bruno fighting against his ex-boyfriend Lutz before they ended up kissing and rolling around on the floor. The audience became enraged and threw beer cups and chairs at the pair, until the actors escaped through a tunnel, according to multiple media reports.
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Baron Cohen filmed a new series in secret for Showtime that includes an interview with Dick Cheney — these are the comedian’s other most outrageous moments
Bruno and Baby O.J.
In "Bruno," Sacha Baron Cohen's Austrian character adopted an African baby and brought him onto a reality show wearing a t-shirt that said "Gayby." Calling him O.J., Bruno revealed he "swapped the baby for a limited edition U2 iPod."
