RIP: George Carlin
Sad news out of LA tonight… Comedian George Carlin has died. (Cut for language)
Seeing as I work in television, the only fitting tribute to Mr. Carlin would be to say… “Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits.” Those words are otherwise known as “George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words”1.
I don’t know what most people will remember him for, but those of us who work in and around broadcasting will remember him for his contribution to our industry. Whether it was his intention, or rather that of WBAI, or not his seven words will live on as the test of what you can, and cannot, say on broadcast television and radio in the United States2.
In any case, he was a creative genius and will be missed.
RIP George Fucking Carlin3.
1: George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words.
2: FCC vs. Pacifica
3: Line borrowed from an IM conversation between me and my friend Jess.