The Great George Carlin

Last night (Sat.), PBS aired the Mark Twain Award tribute to George Carlin. Right off the top I have to say that George Carlin is one of my all-time favorite comedians. I’ve always been fascinated with words, as did the late Mr. Carlin.

How ironic, though, that here is a great man who made fun of our society’s laughable fear of the “wrong” words being spoken on television having his “honored” bits bleeped by PBS during the tribute! Even funnier was that the telecast aired his “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” routine and every one of the seven was bleeped. I really hoped there are those out there who saw this tribute got as much of a laugh over that as I did. Those words are still being bleeped to this day, some forty years later. Maybe “never” means “never.” Who knows?

Even more hysterical was his talking about “half-way” words. Those that can have more than one meaning. One meaning the TV networks will allow you to hear the word. The other meaning is a big no-no. I particularly noted his use of the word “ass.” You will be able to say on television that you would like to “kick someone’s ass," and PBS dutifully allowed the word to be said on the air. When Mr. Carlin then proceeded to say that if one were to remark something like “Boy, I’d like a piece of that ass,” PBS bleeped the word! Funny stuff. Same exact word, just a different context. To bleep or not to bleep, that is the question.

I remember seeing George Carlin when he was an “establishment” comedian back in the 60s. He wore the typical suit and tie, and he had some great bits, such as the Hippy Dippy Weatherman (“tonight’s forecast…Dark!”) and the Congolia Breckinridge “Let’s Make a Deal” routine (“Oh, Monty, Monty, Monty!”). I loved what he was doing then. Little did I know what was to come.

I distinctly remember not seeing him for a while, then all of a sudden his appearing on a show I happened to be watching, and he suddenly had a ponytail and beard. A 180 degree turnaround from his former self, and yet he was even funnier. Check out his before (establishment) and after (anti-establishment) “AM/FM” album (I know – it’s on a CD now, but back then it was an album…with real vinyl!). I was impressed at the time how a person can do such a major makeover and still be so great. What a giant among us.

I realize this post is a bit off what I usually write about, but, to me, George Carlin is one of the true greats. I consider myself lucky that he lived in my lifetime and that I was able to enjoy his thoughts/routines as they were first performed. His perspective of how we as a people approach words and the meanings behind them truly helped shape my view of the absurdity of our handling of words.

Finally, it is truly amazing the relevance Mr. Carlin’s routines are to this day. Will we ever get over our puritanical mindset? After all, they're just words! They won't "curve your spine" or "keep the country from winning the war."

And in my tribute to Mr. Carlin, I just have three little words: “R**t in P***e.”