The George Carlin Show

George Carlin plays if I remember a New York City taxi driver who frequents a bar which is also like his second home. He is surrounded by a group of fellow barflies. A single older New York City blue collar man played by the wonderful George Carlin who also produced the entire season. Maybe the show never got the right attention because it was a far better sitcom than others on television. Sadly, it was canceled after only one season. Of course, George would go on to do what he does best which is his stand-up. Nobody was like George Carlin who was brash, honest, candid, and devoutly atheist and proud of it. George Carlin did everything else well including his roles in film especially in Kevin Smith movies like the Cardinal in Dogma and the father to Ben Affleck in Jersey Girl. George might have been more comfortable playing the blue collar roles like the New York City taxi driver struggling to survive but George was great at being George and I loved this show which never got the praise it rightfully deserved.

This is one of the funniest shows to appear on network television in a long time. Unlke current hit shows like Friends and Will and Grace which just scream out pretension, like "look at us,we are beautiful, we are funny, and the critics love us!," The George Carlin Show was straight forward, down to earth comedy mainly because George Carlin is the most unpretentious down to earth, humble guy working in show biz today. With a top notch suppporting cast, Alex Rocco, Christopher Rich, Anthony Starke, this comedy delivered fall down on the floor laughs week after week, during its extremely short run. And that damn dog was so cute too. If this show ever runs on TV again, check out the episode with Tommy Chong and you will see what I mean. Susan Sullivan playing against type as George's blue collar girlfriend. This show came out around the same time that Friends did and it deserved a better shot at attracting an audience. The execs at FOX blew it big time. Cheers and Seinfeld started off very slow. Hopefully someone will release this on home video soon.

I love this show and was very sorry to see it canceled. It was like a low-brow Seinfeld. Instead of clean-cut, comedian like Jerry, George Carlin's character is a rather sloppy, unbathen cab driver. He's a single guy with his circle of wacky friends. Action usually takes place in his apartment or in a local bar that his friend's gather at (which is sort of like Monk's as a hang-out spot in Seinfeld). I enjoy Carlin's Stand-up comedy, but he's always pretty funny when he takes on an acting job (he out-shines Bette Midler and Shelley Long in Outrageous Fortune).

It would have been nice if the show lasted longer. I have one episode that I taped off the TV that I drag out to show friends. It always yields laughs. I just wish I could fine a place to buy or watch the other episodes.

The comedy isn't for everyone. I wouldn't recommend it for people who like shows such as Friends or Mad About You.

Edit: I found a place on AOL to watch it, but you can see where Fox dubbed in other words (apparently they found the show too offensive). You also need to watch commercials, but at least it's available somewhere. I'd enter the link, but I don't think it's allowed here.

Fortunately I taped the first episode of the series and still have it in my collection. This show was not given a very good chance to make it in today's "get ratings NOW" attitude among television executives. Carlin is one of the funniest and most intelligent comedians of all time and I would like to see him get another shot with this show. Perhaps on cable where it isn't ratings or nothing right out of the gate. I also liked Paige French who played the waitress at the bar where George's character hung out. Strangely enough, I haven't seen her in anything else since the show went off the air.

I've seen the list of shows that have already been released on DVD and I'm just wondering what's taking so long with "The George Carlin Show"? The show was short lived and to me that alone makes it a big seller, especially for the 1000's of george carlin fans out here! ONE season! Let's go!