George Carlin

In one of his final interviews, George Carlin (1937-2008) revels in his ability to get to the truth in life and society: "Everybody thinks they have rights. And I tell them why they don't have any rights — because your rights can disappear. So they're not rights, they're privileges…. It's fucking make believe, folks. It's like the boogeyman. We made that up. And people, they cling to these things. Not my audience. My audience is glad to hear me get in there with the Rotor Rooter and the deep enema. Cleans the system out. I mean, I love doing this stuff. It's such a joy, god." In his three-hour interview, Carlin describes his early comedic talents and how, as a teenager, he would record bits on a tape recorder and play them back for friends. He talks about the influences from the movies (particularly Danny Kaye's films) and early television (such as the variety series Broadway Open House) on his comic sensibilities. He then chronicles his early life through the Air Force, as a disc jockey, and as half of a comedy team with Jack Burns, leading to his first professional appearance on television on Jack Paar's Tonight Show. He notes various "breaks" along the way and talks about going solo, working as a stand-up comedian for several years, before he got back into making television appearances on such programs as The Ed Sullivan Show. He speaks in detail about his infamous "Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television" monologue and the FCC case that resulted from it (filed against WBAI radio, for obscenity), bringing it up-to-date: "Now piss has changed. Piss, interesting development, piss is now okay on television if you're pissed off, but not if you're pissed on. In other words, if you change the preposition you get in trouble. It's all right for me to say to you, 'Why are you pissed off at me?' But you can't say, 'Because you pissed on me.'" He recalls his appearance as the very first host of Saturday Night Live and discusses how his HBO specials resurrected his career. He touches on his later work as an actor in Kevin Smith's movies and shows including the PBS series Shining Time Station, which earned him two Daytime Emmy nominations as Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series. Henry Colman and Jenni Matz conducted the interview on December 17, 2007 in Venice, CA.