By Cleo E. Brown
 

Some years ago, George Carlin was regularly featured on television and on the radio. It did not last for long. For although Carlin, has been called one of the funniest men in the World only rivaled by Richard Pryor, and even considered to be funnier than the legendary Lenny Bruce, he incurred the wrath and the scorn of the FCC when he used four letter words over the air in his skit entitled Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television. He was fired and fined and arrested on July 21st, 1972 for violating the Nation’s obscenity laws.   

Well, that was many years ago. Times have changed for the better. Freedom of Speech in the United States is adhered to. And although George Carlin died a couple of years ago on June 22, 2008, thank god for HBO who managed to produce, along with his wife Brenda, fourteen segments of George Carlin On Location. First filmed in 1976 up until just a few weeks before the time of his death, two segments entitled “George Carlin on Campus” and “George Carlin again” are thoroughly entertaining and filmed before a live audience. “George Carlin on Campus” was filmed in 1984 and is the fourth installment in the HBO Series, while “George Carlin Again” was filmed in 1990 and is the seventh installment in the HBO Series.

Carlin is, in addition to being a comedian, very much a philosopher who provides social commentary on life as he speaks to his audiences about the everyday commonplace and real occurrences in life which most of us have deemed unmentionable or even too disrespectful to think about. In these two, hour-long HBO Specials he uses many four-letter words; speaks about sexual situations; addresses Herpes, Aids, other Venereal Diseases; and does discuss bodily functions such as defecation and gas.

George Carlin, however, who uses words like water, is very funny. He is also brutally frank and honest. George Carlin, who is an extremely intelligent human being, is a pure delight to watch as he twists his body like a contortionist, dances, grimaces, mimes and asks us to examine ourselves and the reasons why we respond and react as we do to life’s situations. Highlights of these segments are discussions on: Sports, Time, Death, Words, The News, and events which are “weird but true” as well as a recital of Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television. On a scale of from one to twelve roses I am giving to the two segments of classic George Carlin, as a whole, eleven roses.

About the Author: Cleo E. Brown graduated suma cum laude from California State College at Stanislaus and has a Masters Degree in Contemporary American History from UC Davis. In addition to having worked as a College Instructor and as the Dean of Student Affairs in a GED Preparation Program she has had experience working in live theater. Cleo also has minor baccalaureate degrees in political science and education. She has pursued a Ph.D. in Education from The University of San Francisco and is also a published poet.