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thatcrazycajunWashington, D.C.'s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (where the Kennedy Center Honors are delivered each Christmas week) has for the past eleven years presented its annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Previous recipients include Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Carl Reiner and Bob Newhart...but until now, the prize has never been given posthumously.
Sadly, within four days of learning he was to become the 12th recipient last summer, George Carlin passed away at 71 of cardiac failure in a Santa Monica, CA hospital. This week, PBS airs its annual telecast of the Kennedy Center show awarding the Twain Prize, showcasing a bevy of today's top talents in comedy gathered to celebrate Carlin's life and legacy. I just saw it tonight, and it is 90 minutes well worth your time if you have any appreciation at all for the man who gave us "The Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" and "A Place for My Stuff," among much else. Past Twain laureate Lily Tomlin appears, as do Joan Rivers, Richard Belzer, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Margaret Cho (who actually gets to rummage through some of Carlin's famous stuff onstage). The man himself is represented in both his early-years clean-cut stage and his later, better-known "hippie" and "curmudgeon" personas, via video clips (though of course, this being PBS and not HBO, some of it has to be bleeped). The show is produced by station WETA and has a page on their website here.
Check your local listings; if you live in the US, the show should be airing in your area sometime between now and this coming Sunday. It's a great chance to say a last farewell to one of the true kings of subversive entertainment.
Sadly, within four days of learning he was to become the 12th recipient last summer, George Carlin passed away at 71 of cardiac failure in a Santa Monica, CA hospital. This week, PBS airs its annual telecast of the Kennedy Center show awarding the Twain Prize, showcasing a bevy of today's top talents in comedy gathered to celebrate Carlin's life and legacy. I just saw it tonight, and it is 90 minutes well worth your time if you have any appreciation at all for the man who gave us "The Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" and "A Place for My Stuff," among much else. Past Twain laureate Lily Tomlin appears, as do Joan Rivers, Richard Belzer, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Margaret Cho (who actually gets to rummage through some of Carlin's famous stuff onstage). The man himself is represented in both his early-years clean-cut stage and his later, better-known "hippie" and "curmudgeon" personas, via video clips (though of course, this being PBS and not HBO, some of it has to be bleeped). The show is produced by station WETA and has a page on their website here.
Check your local listings; if you live in the US, the show should be airing in your area sometime between now and this coming Sunday. It's a great chance to say a last farewell to one of the true kings of subversive entertainment.
