George Carlin's American Dream

It appears that some people didn't watch this in it's entirety. Those who are wrapped up in the political and religion jokes are the ones who George Carlin wanted to offended the most. Mission accomplished. But this was such a great look at his entire career and hearing other comedians perspective on the bits being told and how Carlin evolved as an artist.

Always was a George Carlin fan loved his "HBO" specials, and listened to his C. D.'s, and even went to Vegas once to see one of his stand up acts. George was down right funny as his comedy attacked authority and challenged the yes men, and this "HBO" two part doc special "George Carlin's American Dream" was long, in depth and informative looking at his whole life and work with vintage footage, interviews with family(including daughter Kelly and first late wife Brenda) and friends as other now famous comedians really admired Carlin as his work rubbed off on them. Shown was his early humble start in New York in which his father left, and how he went away to service, and started out in radio by telling jokes, then it was on to his duo acts and variety shows, yet this really didn't fit George's image.

Now try a new Carlin with long hair and a beard would helped change his comic style as the jokes got tougher as they challenged culture and society, and his biggest funs was in front of college crowds, and doing stand up specials as his clubs days took a pause due to censorship. However with fame and money came the battle of addiction still George became a comedy legend for his blunt, brash, go against the grain tell it like it is style as Carlin felt all in society was diseased! It was more than the seven dirty words that you can't say on television with this man, as George became a PHD on word use and a friend to many, this doc was fun, revealing, and informative, a must watch for any Carlin fan and a must for any historical comedy buff.

Great documentary! George Carlin was one of my favorite thinkers, and no one has or probably will replace him. He was great at pointing out hypocrisy, and putting things into perspective. I love that they incorporated things he talked about 30 years ago, that are still true today. Even more now than when he talked about them. This is an important documentary for anyone that is a fan, or has yet to see his work. I've been a fan most of my life, have seen all of his HBO specials, saw him perform live, twice, have seen a bunch of biographical specials about him, and own all of his books including Last Words which was released posthumously, and written by Tony Hendra (who worked with Carlin on it until his death). Even this documentary had things I didn't know. ...and those saying that this documentary is liberal propaganda, don't realize that his work always pointed out what the documentary covered. They probably didn't flinch when he pointed out the hypocrisy of some environmentalists, but can't get past his stance on pro-lifers, gun control, police brutality, racism, capitalism, and religion. It's the old double standard, "I was enjoying when he was making fun of the things I don't like, but he went too far when he made fun of the things I stand behind." This is a great documentary for George Carlin fans, and anyone with an open mind.

It was nice to walk through the decades with Carlin, Brenda and Kelly. Its beautiful to see the "cynical/realist" have a life off the stage. The archival footage is amazing and crisp. The personal recordings, voicemails and letters put a personal touch on this documentary I think George himself would've approved of.

Really great show! Sad that some people only see it politically. It was really an American history lesson. I grew up watching Carlin and I see the dedication behind his work.