Bad news for Sacha Baron Cohen fans hoping his Showtime political comedy series “Who Is America?” would return for a second season. The comedian confirmed in an interview with Deadline the show is over for good and will definitely not be returning for another round of episodes. Even if Cohen was interested in more “Who Is America?,” he said new episodes could never feasibly happen.
“It would be impossible,” Cohen said. “We relied on the fact that no one was expecting me. I hadn’t done anything undercover for over a decade and so nobody thought, ‘Oh wait a minute, is this a Sacha Baron Cohen character?’ That’s the problem.”
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Cohen continued, “You’d have to wait another 10 years to get away with it again, otherwise you’d have some very slim pickings. And no publicist worth his or her weight would allow an interview with anyone suspicious now.”
“Who Is America?” premiered July 15 on Showtime and featured Cohen undercover as various alter egos interviewing political figures and everyday Americans on the state of the country. The show made headlines for featuring Dick Cheney signing a waterboarding kit and a cut segment starring Sarah Palin, who accused Cohen of mocking military veterans because of one of his disguises.
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Cohen’s work on “Who Is America?” recently earned earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series Musical or Comedy. The fate of the series had been a question mark following its finale. Cohen had tweeted on the day of the finale that it was the last episode ever, but Showtime Networks CEO David Nevins expressed interest in a Season 2 while speaking at Television Critics Association press tour in August.
“I’m dying to bring it back,” Nevins told reporters. “There will be a process. I don’t know if I’m going to be making any announcements”
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Other Showtime executives, such as programming head Gary Levine, also expressed interest in working with Cohen on more episodes. “It’s remarkable that we were able to keep it under wraps,” Levine said. “Sacha does what he does better than anybody. I think the desire is there, he’s enjoyed the time at Showtime and we’ve loved having him on our air. If there’s a way we can find to continue the show we’d love to do it.”
Cohen has not announced any “Who Is America?” follow-up plans.
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