George Carlin, 1937-2008

IantheGecko · **Posted:** Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:22 pm

Whoa. This was a TOTAL shocker for me when I heard this on the news this morning. George Carlin, one of the greatest stand-up comedians ever, died last night of heart failure at the age of 71.

Now I can't say I was much of a fan of his, but you've got to respect the guy for being so bold. Like his 7 Words You Can't Say on Television bit. Or "I Used to be an Irish Catholic". Not only that, but he was the Conductor on Shining Time Station for a while, narrating the Thomas the Tank Engine stories.

You will be missed, Mr. Carlin.

The Noid · **Posted:** Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:24 pm

This isn't religious or political.

Anyways, I haven't seen much of George Carlin, but from what I've seen, he was really funny, and if Quint on AICN's story is true, a really nice guy. Rest in peace.

Beyond the Grave · **Posted:** Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:03 pm

I'm gonna miss him. Even though I have enough Carlin stuff to last me a life time(All three books and 8 of his HBO Specials), I will never have the opportunity to see him live.

DS_Kid · **Posted:** Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:24 pm

This deserves its own thread.

It was also a shocker to me when my dad sent me a link to the story over AIM early this morning. I've only known about him for a year (I watched Life Is Worth Losing at my dad's house last June), and it sucks that I won't be able to ever see him live, or watch another new HBO Special by him. When watching It's Bad For Ya earlier this year, he still seemed to show a lot of spunk, so this is quite surprising.

He really did change the way that I look at things--he gave me a whole new perspective of the world, and he did it with layers upon layers of good humor. However, I'm sure that he wouldn't want anybody being really sad over his loss. I could quote him, but some of the quotes that I've thought of would be a little too crude for even my tastes, so I'll end off with a Rest in Peace.

Beaums · **Posted:** Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:13 pm

Oh man... this hits hard. George Carlin has always been one of my favorite comedians, and he was always my dad's all-time favorite. His HBO specials have always been classics and his books were never shot of lols. (When Will Jesus Bring the Porch Chops? is pure gold, I highly recommend that all ya'll read it.) But yeah, it's really unfortunate. I'll never get a chance to see him live, and I'm sure with age George Carlin had the potential to become even grumpier and thus even funnier. At least we got the memories of him though... my dad has an autographed picture of him and everything.

He will be missed.

R.I.P. George Carlin. :-(

Duecex2 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:15 pm

This honestly brought a tear to my eye and I'm really depressed about this. I've been quite the Carlin fan for awhile, I've read all of his books, seen a lot of his shows, and to see him go really saddens me. Never forget.

ramrod · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:23 am

What the hell is going on? First Harvey Korman dies, now Carlin? Is 2008 the year of dead awesome people?

StrongRad · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:37 am

When I first heard of this, the phrase "negative patient care outcome" came to mind.
At first I was appalled that I could find humor in death, however, I'm fairly sure Carlin would find humor in one of his jokes coming to someone's mind upon hearing news of his death.

Beyond the Grave · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:11 am

I'm watching Carlin at Carnegie. It's as epic as always.

silent wulf · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:35 am

And the thing that sucks the most is he was supposed to get that mark twain humor award.

ramrod · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:15 am

StrongRad wrote:

When I first heard of this, the phrase "negative patient care outcome" came to mind.
At first I was appalled that I could find humor in death, however, I'm fairly sure Carlin would find humor in one of his jokes coming to someone's mind upon hearing news of his death.

Carlin would probably applaud you for it.

DS_Kid · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:23 am

So wait, what's going to happen to Rufus? He's supposed to be 680 years ahead of us still...

I should just spend all of tomorrow looking over Carlin material. It should be worth it...if Youtube still has most of the HBO specials tucked in its roots somewhere. If not, then I guess I'll have some tasks to do at Amazon.com.

NeoKnight · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:35 am

I propose a 21 middle finger salute to our hero. We'll miss you George.

DS_Kid · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:42 am

I just purchased Three Times Carlin from Amazon. It's a compilation of three of his books, plus a bit of extra content. It'll give me something to do over this long summer.

Beyond the Grave · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:56 pm

DS_Kid wrote:

I should just spend all of tomorrow looking over Carlin material. It should be worth it...if Youtube still has most of the HBO specials tucked in its roots somewhere. If not, then I guess I'll have some tasks to do at Amazon.com.

I think HBO released all 14 in a box set. I need to get that.

StrongRad · **Posted:** Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:40 pm

NeoKnight wrote:

I propose a 21 middle finger salute to our hero. We'll miss you George.

Carlin wasn't a "middle finger" guy.
He didn't shoot the bird, he lived it, so to speak.
In other words, he didn't have to shoot the finger. His words and actions did that for him.

silent wulf · **Posted:** Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:19 pm

I watched most of "it's bad for ya" last night.

iKipapa · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:05 am

I never really watched any of his stuff until after his death. And now that I have, I feel really horrible that he is gone.

When I first heard he had died, BTG instantly came into my head, just because I know how big a fan he is.

May he rest in peace.

ChickenLeg · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:23 am

SLEEP TIGHT SWEET PRINCE

Seriously though, he will be missed.

HHFOV · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:34 am

I think the last thing I watched of his was Life is Worth Losing, somewhat ironically...

silent wulf · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:37 am

I'm currently watching the tribute marathon on hbo

Jitka · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:21 am

As a tribute, SNL showed their first ever show, which George Carlin hosted. I watched some of it, it's really amazing how different the show became over the years.

He had brown hair, too, which was cool.

Beyond the Grave · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:15 pm

My councilor e-mailed me this a couple of days ago.

Carlin's Last Interview

Acekirby · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:39 pm

Carlin's death is truly a great loss. What an amazing man.

Now that both him and Richard Pryor are gone, the best stand-up comedians of all time are no longer with us.

Pop_tire1 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:33 pm

Acekirby wrote:

Carlin's death is truly a great loss. What an amazing man.

Now that both him and Richard Pryor are gone, the best stand-up comedians of all time are no longer with us.

And the depressing thing is, the comedians of today aren't showing much promise, while many of the baby boomer and Gen X comedians are all selling out.

Beyond the Grave · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:44 pm

There was one who had the chance to fill the shoes of Carlin and Pryor, but he died a few years ago.

Acekirby · **Posted:** Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:47 am

Beyond the Grave wrote:

There was one who had the chance to fill the shoes of Carlin and Pryor, but he died a few years ago.

Hedberg?

Beyond the Grave · **Posted:** Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:41 am

Acekirby wrote:

Beyond the Grave wrote:

There was one who had the chance to fill the shoes of Carlin and Pryor, but he died a few years ago.

Hedberg?

Correct. His style was like Carlin's Short Takes. Great one liners and non-sequitors. Like Carlin. I don't know if he would have made the political change like Carlin, but he was on his way.

Jitka · **Posted:** Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:24 am

Add Bill Hicks to the pantheon of awesome dead comedians. He was one of the best ever, but I think he hated everyone maybe a little bit more than they really needed to be hated.

Mr. Sparkle · **Posted:** Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:56 am

BILL COSBY IS THE BEST

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George Carlin, 1937-2008

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