Friday, July 4, 2008

A Tribute to Mr. Television Milton Berle with guest George Carlin (1978)

When George Carlin's career was faltering in the late seventies, he reverted back temporarily to the type of path he had been following throughout the sixties until his LSD induced breakthrough. He returned to the world of hokey variety shows and sitcoms, doing sanitized versions of the good Carlin. Although this had a bit to do with the changing tides of showbiz and the new onslaught of comedy styles brought on by the burgeoning club comic scene, a lot of it can also be chalked up to Carlin's increasing dependency on cocaine and the adverse affects it had on his process.

What's My Line with mystery guest Frederic March (1954)

Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Price is Right with Surprise Cameo (1994)

Godamn, the Price is Right audience is so pre-greased, they'll go nuts for absolutely anything!

The Perry Como Show with guests George Gobel and The Mills Brothers (1957)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The Dick Cavett Show with guest Woody Allen (1969)

Woody Allen plugs his Sunday night Kraft Music Hall (and you can watch that here), a special that in later years he disowned - but even here he calls it "an hour of corny comedy."

Sunday, June 29, 2008

The Jack Benny Program with guest Humphrey Bogart (1953)

What's My Line with mystery guest Debbie Reynolds (1954)

Welcome Back, Kotter with special guest star George Carlin (1977)

Captain Kangaroo with guest Joan Rivers (1978)

"A comic I admire very much, Joan Rivers, did one of my pieces on The Tonight Show just recently. I couldn't believe it, because it was a bit I'd used regularly for years. I said, 'When my mother was pregnant with me, she carried me very low. In fact, for the last few weeks my feet were sticking out.' And my follow-up, which Joan also used, was, 'However, she did tell me it came in handy on stairs.' Theft is one of the risks you run when you buy material, and I'll bet Joan bought that joke . . . Now that I've said this in public, I guess I'll find out." - George Carlin, 1982

Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary with Steve Martin (1977)

"I like Steve Martin's mind. I like the attitude he brings to that arrow through his head. And I love the way he mocks the performer's situation and self-image - the way he does that phony asshole onstage." - George Carlin, 1982

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guests Bette Davis and Richard Pryor (1982)

"In the early Sixties, Richie and I would frequently be on the same bill at the Cafe Au Go Go, and sometimes while introducing each other, we'd do a few improvs between sets. There was always a rapport, and perhaps we share certain comic viewpoints, but I think Pryor is without peer. The thing he does better than anyone else is represent who he is, where he's been, and who has been around him. He doesn't do whole characters in the sense that Lily and Jonathan do, but Richard does fantastic characterizations - an entire personality implied by just a line here, a gesture there. And his white guys really kill me. Richard is just a genius. He makes me laugh from the soles of my feet - that's S-O-L-E-S." - George Carlin, 1982

The Late Show withn David Letterman with guest Don Rickles (1994)

"The first few times I saw Rickles, he amazed me with his brashness and his willingness to cross lines. But I don't like the way he closes his act - by apologizing for what he does. It's insincere. A performer who kisses the audience's ass is full of shit." - George Carlin, 1982