Carlin’s Legacy Was His Breaking of Barriers

"Always do whatever’s next," George Carlin, who died Sunday at 71, once famously said. He did, and the rest of the culture followed.

Forget those seven words, which you still mostly won’t hear on commercial TV. Carlin’s influence was of the sort that went beyond mere obscenity and mere television as well. It was a language-busting, barrier-breaking influence that soared past TV and strafed popular culture at large (before rebounding, naturally, back to TV).

Today, Carlin’s impact is spread wide, from "The Simpsons" to "South Park," from "Saturday Night Live," which he helped launch 33 years ago, to "Family Guy" and just about everything Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up") does.

Tributes to Carlin began pouring in yesterday, reflecting the breadth of that impact. "His fearlessness and ability to challenge audiences to rethink the world around them and question the status quo was unparalleled and led the way for a generation of comedians that followed," said a statement from Comedy Central. "George Carlin was a pioneer who continued to be vital and relevant till the day he died," said Sarah Silverman, one of many Carlin acolytes.

George Denis Patrick Carlin was born in 1937 in New York City, was a high-school dropout (the Bronx’s Cardinal Hayes) and an Air Force enlistee who flopped at that as well. Stationed in Louisiana, he worked the coffee house circuit in nearby Texas with his comedy partner, Jack Burns, then spent the ’60s perfecting his mainstream act on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," where he appeared no fewer than 130 times.

The break with the ’60s, along with his tie and neatly trimmed hair, was dramatic. "Class Clown," released Sept. 29, 1972, became not just one of the best-selling comedy albums in history but included a riff on seven words you couldn’t say on TV; "400,000 words in English," he mused, "and seven you can’t use on TV. … They must be really BAD."

In October 1973, when New York radio station WBAI played a cut from the same routine on the follow-up album "Occupation Foole," the FCC sought to fine it, and the Supreme Court upheld the ruling, which later led to broadly defined if unenforceable creations such as the "family television hour."

Meanwhile, an entire generation of TV writers — who would go on to create the television and movies we watch to this day — absorbed "Class Clown" and other groundbreaking albums through each and every pore. While it kept the seven words off the air, the FCC couldn’t prevent the deluge to follow — a coarsening of prime time TV with words and actions that were euphemisms for the ones Carlin could never say.

In an interview two years ago with New York-based journalist T.J. English, Carlin said his "words" act "summed up a lot of what I’d been grappling with in the mainstream television world of variety shows and internal censorship."

But it also overshadowed a rich and often brilliant career, enshrined in dozens of albums and HBO specials — yes, filled with scatology and singular insight as well. "By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth," he once observed. Or, famously, this: "If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little."

"This is as significant a loss as if Bob Dylan passed away," said English, who was developing an authorized biography at Carlin’s death. "We can argue about Richard Pryor’s brilliance and who had the most significant impact, but I don’t think you can argue about the scope of Carlin’s career.

"When he made this gestalt break from his former self — I think he actually came out on a Tony Orlando show with a cardboard cutout of the old George with [short hair] and said, ‘this is the guy I used to be and this is the guy I am now,’ it was extraordinary. I could feel the generational shift take place right at that moment."

Carlin recently told The Associated Press that "I was doing superficial comedy, entertaining people who didn’t really care: businessmen, people in nightclubs, conservative people. It finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong things for the wrong people."

What comics are saying

Paul Anthony of Massapequa, comedian and host of this weekend’s Long Island Comedy Festival:

"He was one of the originators of what is now the most popular form of standup comedy in terms of his style and ability. He cleared the path for comedians to talk about anything.

What I really loved about George Carlin was he truly spoke about what was on his mind. He was phenomenal. People were passionate about him."

John Blenn of Bellmore, comedy writer, friend:

"George’s legacy to comedy was that he was able to strike a chord with a Harvard professor as easily as with a farmer in the Deep South. He was able to really get both ends of the spectrum to make people laugh. He will be missed."

Mike Dillon of Medford, comedian and manager of Gateway to Comedy in Ronkonkoma:

"He influenced every comic who came after him, along with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. Those are the great names that transformed American comedy. "

Jackie Martling of Bayville, chief writer for the Howard Stern show from 1986 to 2001. He met Carlin for the first time in 1988 when Carlin was a guest on the show:

"He was an incredible pioneer, and a very valuable voice has been lost. "

Comedian Chris Rush of Rego Park, who knew Carlin since the mid-’70s:

"His outrage and sadness at our failings he turned brilliantly into laughter, so that we might learn in a gentle way."

Comedian and actor Paul Mooney:

"His legacy was that he was an innovator. … He was a funny man who opened doors for things like freedom of speech."

Joan Rivers:

"His legacy to comedy is to tell the truth. Because the truth is hilarious…. This man never compromised, and that’s a great thing to say about a comedian."

Comedian Wanda Sykes:

"We have lost one of the last founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Well, at least now [Richard] Pryor will have somebody who can make him laugh." — DEBORAH S. MORRIS

LIFE AND TIMES:

–May 12, 1937: Born in Manhattan

–1956: Starts career at radio station in Shreveport, La. 1959: Fired from Boston radio job for driving mobile news van to New York to buy marijuana.

–1962: First "Tonight Show" solo appearance.

–1968: Fired from Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas for using word "ass" on stage.

–September 1972: "Class Clown" album includes "Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV."

–October 1973: FCC issues an order against WBAI-FM for playing "Filthy Words" from the "Occupation Foole" album.

–Oct. 11, 1975: First host of "Saturday Night Live."

–1978: Supreme Court upholds FCC decision; seven words cannot be said on TV or radio.

–1994: "The George Carlin Show" debuts on Fox and lasts 27 episodes.

–2008: Final HBO concert special, "It’s Bad for Ya"