*HBO is set to take a deep dive into the life and work of late-great comedian George Carlin in a two-part documentary directed by Judd Apatow (HBO’s “Girls,” “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling”) and Michael Bonfiglio (HBO’s “May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers”).
Per the network, the synopsis reads: GEORGE CARLIN’S AMERICAN DREAM chronicles the life and work of legendary comedian George Carlin. Dubbed the “dean of counterculture comedians,” Carlin’s career spanned half a century during which he headlined 14 HBO comedy specials and appeared on “The Tonight Show” over 130 times, constantly evolving with the times and staying sharply resonant up until his death in 2008 and beyond. Carlin’s ability to zoom in on societal ills has proven eerily prophetic and much of his work resonates today with alarming (and still hilarious) clarity. The documentary examines a cultural chameleon who is remembered as one of the most influential stand-up comics of all time.
Per press release, the documentary tracks Carlin’s rise to fame and opens an intimate window into Carlin’s personal life, including his childhood in New York City, his long struggle with drugs that took its toll on his health, his brushes with the law, his loving relationship with Brenda, his wife of 36 years, and his second marriage to Sally Wade. Intimate interviews with Carlin and Brenda’s daughter, Kelly Carlin, offer unique insight into her family’s story and her parents enduring love and partnership.
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The documentary features a treasure trove of never-before-seen archival material including archival films, photos, audio recordings, letters, and diaries and interviews with Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Colbert, Bill Burr, Bette Midler, W. Kamau Bell, Sam Jay, Judy Gold, Jon Stewart, and others. Joining them to share their memories of Carlin are daughter Kelly Carlin, manager Jerry Hamza, second wife Sally Wade, and others.
EURweb’s Ny MaGee caught up with Kelly Carlin during the HBO TCA panel on Feb. 15, and noted how lately, several comedians have spoken about how “cancel culture” is making it challenging for them to be great. Carlin was absolutely fearless with his standup comedy and his material was brutally honest. So I asked Kelly if her father was serving up his style of comedy today, what would he say to the cancel culture movement?
“Well, I think he always made it very clear his stance about political correctness. He never believed that less speech is good for a society and less speech doesn’t actually protect people,” Kelly Carlin said.
“So he had a pretty strident First Amendment, absolutist stance on that. But at the same time, as a human being, and even as a comic, he never believed in punching down. He always fought for the underdog and tried to lift the underdog up or anyone else who was oppressed by the system. My dad was lucky. He had a very loyal audience and he would go out every 18 months to different markets and different cities,” she explained. “And I think he’d still be able to say whatever he wanted to say right now, and I don’t know if he would use all of the social media and all of that kind of stuff, but I think he would definitely play with it.”
She continued, “And the thing is, because he’s not here, we don’t get to have his angle on it, which I know would blow all of our minds and we would all go, wow, I’ve never thought about it that way because that’s the genius of what he did. So, I really wish he was here. I try to piece together the clues also. But I know he really believed in letting people say what they had to say.”
And there you have it, folks!
“George Carlin’s American Dream” will debut this May on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
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