TruF 

Yes, I know this will tick a lot of us off, but love him or hate him, he was so funny. Had to include his comments about bicyclists to be on-topic.

Cycling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6zj5nhASk0
Environment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c

maddmaxx 

I have only one thing to say about his passing...............and I can't say it here....

Tony (Michigan)

I'm a Christian but I thought what George said about some of Christendom's more embarrassing beliefs was rather interesting:

He said something about God is going to eternally torture you in hell fire for ALL Eternity! All Eternity! then he said: "Oh, by the way, God loves you" in the most pathetic voice he could conjure.

Louis

It was sad news, his death. He was a comedic genius and one of my all time favorites.

cranky old dude

He's one of the few who could always make me laugh.

gforeman 

You didn't have to agree with him to find humor in what he said. Even if I disagreed with his opinion, I applauded is way of presenting it. He will be sadly missed by me for sure.

TruF 

It's kind of funny. I heard an old George Carlin interview on Fresh Air, and he ranted and railed about government conspiracies and big corporations. Total leftie! I thought. Then I heard his routine about the environment. Wait, maybe he's not a totaly leftie? He had the ability to expose and find humor the irrational extremes on each side. I wish I paid more attention to him while he was alive.

Digital Gee

George Carlin has been booked on Meet the Press (Heavenly channel) with Tim Russert for this Sunday.

TruF 

Hope someone up there has a Tivo!

John E

I always enjoyed Carlin's routines, whether or not I agreed with the message du jour.

Yen

His football vs. baseball comparison is classic. I liked his way of viewing ordinary events in that way, and ordinary words such as "fine" -- "people aren't fine.... hair's fine! How's your hair? Fine!"

It amazes me that he took himself to the hospital late Sunday afternoon, and was gone just a couple of hours later.

SaiKaiTai

"Roberto Clemente's got two balls on him..."
Still makes me laugh... "Poppa stoppers"... yeah, that, too.

I haven't bought an recording of his since Class Clown but I always watched him on HBO (or was it Showtime?) There were times that I thought he was going to far with the rants. He just seemed angry and bitter. Then I realized, "Of course, he;s angry and bitter... and he's throwing that right in your face"
Then I really started to respect him. A brilliant mind.
Think I'll go watch the Aristocrats again.

sknhgy 

I like when he said "Man created God in his own image and likeness" as a spin-off on the old Catholic catecism.

We saw him live in Vegas a few years ago and all I could think was I wouldn't want him for a next-door neighbor. He came off as a crank.

BluesDawg

They are showing the 1st episode of Saturday Night Live tonight with Carlin as host. It is on now on the East coast.

TruF 

I'll check it out, BluesDawg. I heard that they had to put him on a six-second delay, just in case.

Tom Bombadil

Yes, he skewered both sides, but he was quite liberal in his own views.

Here's an interview he did with Keith Olbermann in 2007:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UVXj8F9Fmk

BluesDawg

This is Al Sleet, your hippie dippy weather man, with the hippie dippy weather...man
The forecast for tonight is dark.

Kurt Erlenbach

Was he in that movie? I've wanted to see it, but figured my ears, or the TV, or the wife, would explode.

Tom Bombadil

Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely-scattered light towards morning.

SaiKaiTai

Yep, he has some scenes in it...
We watched it on cable and Mrs S bought the DVD for me last year but they weren't the same.
A lot of it was but it's like it was edited differently for cable and the DVD.
So, I don't quite recall anymore -they're kind of mixed up in my head-which version was which but in one of them -maybe both- Carlin opens the movie. Talk about a jolt. This movie is pretty tasteless ("pretty tasteless?) and not for the squeamish or faint of heart but, gawd, I laughed 'till I cried. I almost had to as a defense mechanism.

Digital Gee

I believe last night's Saturday Night Live was the original, first-ever show, which Carlin hosted. The whole show was fascinating in terms of how much has changed, and the roots of the show, etc.

TruF 

I caught some of it. Carlin looked wound up extremely tightly. I found it rather uncomfortable to watch him. I noticed right away that there was none of that automatic applause when John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, or Gilda Radnor first appeared; that must have come a lot later. They all looked so young. And Billy Preston! I'd fogotten all about him. Such short lives. First time I think I've seen Janis Ian, too. Wonder what happened to her? Oh, still going strong!

Tom Bombadil

That first SNL was from Oct, 1975. Carlin had been a big comedy hit for a few years by then. And had 3 albums released, with a couple being huge hits.

If they didn't applaud it might have been because they were afraid of what he might say!

Or perhaps the audience didn't know if they were supposed to be quite, given that it was the first show.

BluesDawg

Rumor has it Carlin was pretty coked-up during that show. It was funny how the audience (who had been laughing all along) all started applauding together at the end of the segment. It was very obvious there was an applause light involved.

Billy Preston was cool, but the sound quality was terrible. Glad they improved that later on.

Good to see that Janice Ian has survived and is smiling. Her big hit that she sang on SNL was such a depressing song that you'd expect her just stop breathing.

Blanchje

He was the Babe Ruth of comedy. Brillant mind who gored every ox.