The final episode of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Showtime series — “Who Is America?” — aired on Sunday night and it was as notable for what didn’t air as it was for what did. Where was the highly anticipated interview featuring the former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin? You might remember: She was among the first to come out and publicly admit she had been duped by Mr. Cohen. In a July Facebook post, Ms. Palin said, “I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick ‘humor’ of the British ‘comedian’ Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime.” She said she had been interviewed by Mr. Cohen, who “heavily disguised himself as a disabled U.S. Veteran,” as part of a “legit Showtime historical documentary.” Showtime issued a statement soon after, pushing back, saying, “Baron Cohen never presented himself as a veteran of the U.S. military to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during the booking process or during the filming of her interview, and contrary to her claims he did not appear in a wheelchair.” The network added that Mr. Cohen was in character as Dr. Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., who had interviewed several prominent figures for the show.<doc-sep>Sunday night's episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series "Who Is America?" was the finale, and former Alaska governor and candidate for vice president Sarah Palin was noticeably absent. She was one of the first public figures to come forward saying she was tricked by Baron Cohen for his new series, and as the season went on with no Palin appearance, it seemed probable that Baron Cohen had decided to save her interview for last. It's not clear why Palin's interview wasn't included — the show hasn't said — but Baron Cohen did give Palin a shoutout in the closing credits as "Special Publicity Consultant (Inadvertent)." Palin may have been able to have her segment shelved, but Baron Cohen may also have simply decided to keep his show fresh for viewers, since so many of the show's targets exposed themselves ahead of time, which kills any element of surprise. However, the finale ended with a whole new subject, newly freed O.J. Simpson, who was released from prison last year after serving time for armed robbery and kidnapping. For his chat with Simpson, Baron Cohen deployed his Italian socialite character Gio Monaldo, with the clear intent of getting Simpson, who was acquitted of the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman but later lost a $33.5 million wrongful death judgment in a civil suit brought by their families, to confess to the killings. When the socialite's girlfriend entered the room, he tried to explain who Simpson is to her by referencing his work — football player for the Buffalo Bills, actor in "The Naked Gun" — none of which she recognized. But when Baron Cohen imitated murdering her, then she recognized Simpson immediately and acted starstuck: "So nice to meet you!" "She knows that, oh Jesus," Simpson replied, shaking his head. "Help me, help me." Simpson remarked how "gorgeous" Baron Cohen's girlfriend was several times, to which the host responded, "She's gorgeous, but sometimes I want to kill her, you know?" Simpson did object and appeared visibly uncomfortable, but not enough to get up and leave. He high-fived Baron Cohen when he said he wanted to take his girlfriend in a helicopter and drop her over the Grand Canyon. "Stop, stop," Simpson said, laughing. READ MORE: The bizarro world of Steven Seagal: Hero in the movies, villain in real life Baron Cohen suggested other ways he could kill his girlfriend and get it away with it, a conversation which Simpson contributed to. "If I do, you introduce me to [Johnnie] Cochran?" he asked Simpson. When Simpson reminded him that he's no longer living, Baron Cohen said: "What, you didn't kill him too, did you?" Both the host and Simpson laughed. In attempts to get Simpson to confess, Baron Cohen explained that his business partner "is obsessed about what happened the night with the wife," adding that he wanted Simpson to tell him what really happened. "What wife?" Simpson replied. "The one you shot," Baron Cohen fired back. "Well, first of all, she wasn’t my wife," Simpson said, in a hurry to dispel that part of the question before the murder accusation. "We had been divorced and separated for two years, and second, I didn't do it." Baron Cohen reframed his ask, saying his business partner wants to know "how you got away with it." Simpson disputed, "Hey, hey, I didn’t get away with nothing." After Baron Cohen told Simpson how he did not kill his wife either, but rather "she got depressed and she put herself into a bag full of rocks and then managed to drag herself into the sea," he said. "You weren't charged, so good for you," Simpson replied. "Me and you, we got something in common," Baron Cohen said. "We both, how you say, lady killers." "No, I didn’t kill nobody," Simpson said, laughing and shaking his head simultaneously.<doc-sep>Sacha Baron Cohen has hit back at Sarah Palin after she branded the comedian “evil, exploitive” and “sick” after posing as a wounded US veteran to get an interview for his surprise new series. In character as Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr, PhD, Cohen continued to tear into political figures as part of the promotion of Who Is America? which will land on Showtime tomorrow night (15 July). He responded to Republican politician Palin’s damning Facebook post by releasing a statement under the guise of a right-wing journalist branding her comments as “FAKE NEWS”. The letter reads: “I did NOT say I was a War Vet. I was in the service – not military, but United Parcel and I only fought for my country once – when I shot a Mexican who came onto my property.” Other politicians to admit being duped by Cohen include former Republican congressman Joe Walsh, who attended a fake pro-Israel event on his invitation without realising Cohen was the funnyman behind creations such as Ali G and Borat. Walsh has since joined a social media campaign to boycott the network that will debut the brand new series. Disgraced US Senate candidate Roy Moore – who was accused of sexual assault by nine women – also revealed he was tricked into appearing on the show, stating: “As an American, I would never hide my identity and deceive others only to mock and ridicule them as this Showtime series is designed to do. America is not only about being proud but about being brave and standing for what we believe.” Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did Show all 14 1 /14 Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Kicking us off is Phil Lord and Christopher Mille’s bizarre animated film about a scientist who creates a machine that transforms water into food. So far, not too crazy, but then the machine gets stuck in the sky and it starts raining food. Everything goes wrong and Flint Lockwood must save the day by flying up to the machine and kicking fried chicken butt. Yeah, a pretty crazy premise, but a fantastic film. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 2. Frank Michael Fassbender may be one of the most bankable stars of the moment - having starred in the likes of Steve Jobs, X-Men and Macbeth - but in 2014, instead of flaunting his face, producers decided to make him wear a weird papier-mâché mask for the film’s near entirety. The plot see’s Fassbender’s titular character front a rock band, play SXSW and make ‘likeable’ music. It’s all just a bit strange. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 3. Groundhog Day Almost anything with Bill Murray in it is a win in my book, but when you say the premise of Ground Hog day out loud - a weatherman who must relive the same day over and over again - it sounds quite boring. What transpired was one of Murray’s funniest films. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 4. Star Wars With Star Wars being so prevalent in pop-culture, it’s hard to imagine a time when no-one except George Lucas knew what a Lightsaber was. Producers must have been shocked when this young director came into the office trying to sell a script about Luke Skywalker, R2D2, Darth Vader, Chewbacca and Stormtroopers. Thankfully, they believed in his vision and now we have one of the best sci-fi sagas of all time. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 5. Incepetion A dream, within a dream, within a dream. Even those who watched Inception were left confused, let alone those who only heard what the film was about. Christopher Nolan’s final flick, however, was a masterclass in storytelling and one of the best films of the last ten years. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 6. Speed The high-concept Speed is quite ridiculous really. Keanu Reeves can’t let a bus go below 50 miles per hour or it will blow up. It’s quite amazing how Jan de Bont managed to make his debut 116 minutes long in the first place, let alone making it a decent film in the process. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 7. Edward Scissorhands Tim Burton is a director who could fill this entire list up. While he may have chosen to reboot numerous films in the past few years (Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the upcoming Dumbo 2) it was his original concepts that set him apart from everyone else. In Burton’s head, the love story of a man with scissors for hands and a young woman made complete sense, while for everyone else - from just the premise - it seemed entirely weird. Luckily, he was given the opportunity to make the film and a cult classic was born, all while Johnny Depp’s ability to play the outsider was solidified. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 8. Mrs Doubtfire Post-Hook and Aladdin, Robin Williams was on a role. One of his standout performances was as Mrs. Doubtfire, the father-turned-drag-housekeeper. As a premise, dressing your lead male as a woman wasn’t exactly new (see Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie), so the filmmakers ran the risk of it all seeming like an overdone joke. Luckily, Chris Columbus managed to pull off the ridiculous plot (how wouldn’t the kids know it’s their father, really?) leading to one of the funniest films of the 90s. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 9. The Lobster Like Burton, most of Yorgos Lanthimos’s films could probably feature on this page, but we’ve gone with The Lobster. The film tells of a hotel where residents must find a suitable partner within 45 days otherwise they will be turned into an animal. Try to run away and the other residents will hunt you down with tranquillisers. The result was one of the best love stories of 2015. Film premises that shouldn’t have worked but did 10.<doc-sep>A character of Sacha Baron Cohen’s has responded to Sarah Palin’s claim that she was exploited, calling it “FAKE NEWS”. The former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate called the comedian “evil, exploitative and sick” in a Facebook post on 10 July after he duped her into an interview for his new show Who Is America? In response, Baron Cohen has posted a letter on Twitter as a new, previously unrevealed character, Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr, PhD, who runs the site Truthbrary.org. Palin had claimed Baron Cohen disguised himself as a “disabled US veteran” during the interview before she walked out. “I did NOT say I was a War Vet,” the letter reads. “I was in the service – not military, but United Parcel and I only fought for my country once – when I shot a Mexican who came onto my property.” The letter goes on to praise Palin for “TELLING THE TRUTH about Obama’s birth certificate and the location of Russia” before claiming that she had “been hit by a bullshit grenade” and was “bleeding FAKE NEWS”. It arrives after a source told People that Palin decided to end the interview after a question about a “government funded sex-change operation for Chelsea Clinton”. The site Truthbrary.org features a variety of articles including titles such as Why Do Liberals Despise The West? and Hibernating Alien Discovered Inside Secret Chamber In The Great Pyramid. The disgraced US Senate candidate Roy Moore has also released a statement revealing that he too was convinced to appear on the show, saying that he was embarrassed and humiliated by Baron Cohen. “I don’t need Sacha Cohen to tell me who America is, but I can tell him that America is a proud Nation which sprang from humble beginnings and a strong belief in God, virtue, and morality,” he said in a statement. “As an American, I would never hide my identity and deceive others only to mock and ridicule them as this Showtime series is designed to do. America is not only about being proud but about being brave and standing for what we believe.” Moore, who was accused of sexual misconduct by nine women, also complained that Baron Cohen was part of a string of “vicious false political attacks” and that his art is “trickery, deception, and dishonesty”. The conservative pundit and ex-congressman Joe Walsh has revealed on Twitter that he was also duped into an interview with Baron Cohen for the show after being told that Steven Spielberg and Rupert Murdoch also took part. “Dressing up as a wounded veteran is absolutely stolen valor, his tactics are disgusting,” he tweeted. “I totally get @SachaBaronCohen’s gig. He’s a comedian, and he can be funny, but mocking a disabled veteran to spoof @SarahPalinUSA is a serious matter. I am just telling you what I encountered – it was much of the same she experienced.” In a previously released clip, Baron Cohen had Dick Cheney sign a “waterboard kit” while a teaser suggested a variety of characters used in the upcoming series which has been in development for over a year. Who Is America? begins on Showtime in the US and Stan in Australia on Sunday, and on Channel 4 in the UK on Monday.<doc-sep>
After former Alaskan Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin accused Sacha Baron Cohen of duping her that he was a handicapped U.S. military veteran during an interview, Showtime president of programming Gary Levine hinted today at TCA that the segment may not even air on the British comedian’s series Who Is America? “All I can say about that is that there are several people who have thrown themselves in front of buses that may not be heading their way,” Levine told reporters about the status of the Palin interview. And the chief reason why the Palin interview may not make a future episode’s final cut is because Baron Cohen “is always refining” the final product because he “has a very high bar” said Levine. The Borat creator even screens episodes before audiences so that he can fine tune the series. In early July, Palin took to Facebook and claimed that she was “a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitative, sick ‘humor’ of the British ‘comedian’ Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime. This ‘legit opportunity’ to honor American Vets and contribute to a ‘legit Showtime historical documentary’ was requested of me via a speakers bureau.” Palin claimed that she endured a disrespectful, sarcastic interview and finally removed her mic and left. She slammed Baron Cohen for mocking vets, and dared him to air the footage. She also wagged a finger at “the Cohen/CBS/Showtime production team purposefully dropped my daughter and me off at the wrong Washington, DC airport after the fake interview, knowing we’d miss all flights back home to Alaska.” Showtime issued a statement in the wake of Palin’s gripes saying that “Baron Cohen never presented himself as a veteran of the U.S. military to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during the booking process or during the filming of her interview, and contrary to her claims he did not appear in a wheelchair. In both the interview with Governor Palin and the interview with Senator Sanders, he did not wear military apparel of any kind.”