June 23, 2008
George Carlin Got It
Harry Smith: What He Lampooned Seemed Simple, But He Was The Genius That Made It Funny
-
George Carlin will be remembered for the genius that he was, says Harry Smith. (AP Photo/HBO, Robert Sebree)
-
Play CBS Video Video George Carlin, 1937-2008 Irreverent and provocative comedian George Carlin has died of heart failure at age 71. His staunch defense of free speech led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity. Bill Whitaker reports.
-
In The Spotlight Carlin's Cracks From ranting about religion to musing about life's quirks, George Carlin reveled in getting down and dirty.
-
Photo Essay George Carlin Frenzied comedian's "Seven Words" routine led to key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity.
George Carlin got it. He realized soon after he became a successful stand up comic that the truth was really a lot funnier than the shtick that was making him popular.
“Al Sleet, The Hippie Dippy Weather Man” was funny. But, it wasn’t as funny as the “The Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.”
True comedians know that humor is based in grievance. And when George Carlin was coming into his own there were plenty of sacred cows in need of slaughter. American culture was on a collision course with itself. The baby boomers were turning on the very parents who spoiled them. And no one better understood the absurdity of the conventions they were railing against than Carlin.
Those conventions and the words that populated our clichés and aphorisms…were Carlin’s playground. The stuff he lampooned seemed simple enough. But, he was the genius who made it so funny.
By Harry Smith
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
