George Carlin at USC (1977)

Original title

George Carlin: On Location at USC

Directed by

Marty Callner

Genre

documentary film, stand-up comedy, comedy film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 25m

Rating

7.7 of 10 from 36 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This is a filmed stand-up comedy performance by George Carlin from 1977 at the University of Southern California. It was his first HBO special and he sticks with milder material due to a legal controversy over profanity. The taping includes an introduction explaining the free speech court case.

livecomedicconversationalobservationalirreverentsharpdated

What happens

On Location: George Carlin at USC (aka An Evening with George Carlin at USC) is American comedian George Carlin's first ever HBO special, recorded March 5, 1977, at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. This unique taping lasted 85 minutes. He had also explained to the audience that before this special came about, he had never done a show for home consumption or reproduction. In the process of planning this broadcast, the word spread quickly, and so much so that it resulted in a serious legal hearing at the Federal Communications Commission. Due to the controversy, Carlin sticks with more user-friendly material. However, a federal court of appeals ruled in Carlin's favor and allowed him his right to free speech. This was mentioned during the opening of the program by Newsweek columnist Shana Alexander, which explained that it is the kind of entertainment that was rarely seen or heard on cable or network television at the time. Also, nearing the end of the taping, the video freezes and a message appears for the sense of responsibility. That message reads: For that segment was wholly based on the "Seven Dirty Words". He also mentioned that the many ways of referring to these words outnumbered the actual few words that existed. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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