George Carlin's American Dream

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.

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.

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.

George is my favorite comedian of all time. He left us far too soon, because we need his insight today possibly more than ever. George wasn't just funny, he was intelligently funny and he made PEOPLE THINK. I'd trade Heard, Depp, Cyrus and so many more to have him back for one final show to talk about today.

Best biography I've ever seen. The format, editing, content and casting are perfect. The family's involvement was really great. Well worth the watch. If you are a fan it's a must.