Funniest TV character of the year? Borat from "Da Ali G Show."

When attending a wine tasting with two white southerners, the reporter from Kazakhstan refers to their African American servant by asking "Is he your slave?" The southerner responds "No no" Borat turns to the other man and asks "He is your slave?" They cough and say "No we don't have slavery in this country anymore." "Why not?" asks Borat. They respond "Well a law was passed against it... which is a good thing.. for them." Borat questions "But not for you?" And one of the men mumbles "No."

Borat later goes to a redneck bar and takes the stage where he sings "In my country there is problem. And we call it the Jew. They take everybody money. And they never give it back. Throw the Jew down the well. So my country can be free. You must grab him by its horns. And we'll have a big party." Sure enough, the redneck patrons get all into the song, signing along and making horn gestures with their hands.

Another time Borat goes househunting and says to the real estate agent, "My wife is afraid of the man with the chocolate face. Do you have any of those here?" The agent replies "Well there might be some but they would have to be very wealthy to live here so they wouldn't behave like the others."

Borat, in his ignorance and stupidity, exposes the prejudice of others. Whereas he is acting, his interview subjects think he is real and thus often betray their true feelings to him. However, this past weekend Borat got in a bit of hot water in the filming of his latest skit...

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'Ali G' Comedian Risks Riot at U.S. Rodeo
Thu Jan 13, 1:07 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - British comedian Sasha Baron Cohen escaped a near-riot at an American rodeo while filming his satirical "Da Ali G Show."

According to a report in the Roanoke (Virginia) Times, a man who was introduced as Boraq Sagdiyev from Kazakhstan -- in reality a Cohen character named Borat -- appeared at the rodeo over the weekend after organizers agreed to have him sing the national anthem.

After telling the crowd he supported America's war on terrorism, he said, "I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq down to the lizards ... And may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq." He then sang a garbled version of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The Roanoke Times reported that the crowd turned "downright nasty." One observer said "If he had been out there a minute longer, I think somebody would have shot him."

Cohen and his film crew were escorted out of the Salem Civic Center and told to leave the premises.

"Had we not gotten them out of there, there would have been a riot," rodeo producer Bobby Rowe told the paper. "They loaded up the van and they screeched out of there."