George Carlin… It's Bad for Ya! (TV Special 2008)

George Carlin… It’s Bad for Ya!: Directed by Rocco Urbisci. With George Carlin. It’s Bad For Ya, Carlin’s Emmy-nominated 14th and final HBO special from March of 2008 features Carlin’s noted irreverent and unapologetic observations on topics ranging from death, religion, bureaucracy, patriotism, overprotected children and big business to the pungent examinations of modern language and the decrepit state of the American culture. Carlin once again comes up with an hour of brand new material that not only makes you laugh, but makes you think. George Carlin will always remain part of the popular lexicon for his ‘Seven Dirty Words’ routine, and as a comedian who was never afraid to challenge his audience.

“It might be a stretch saying this as a die-hard Carlin fan, but the material, both written and as performed, in Itu0026#39;s Bad for Ya is some of the best late-era material yet. At 70 Carlin bounces back from the level of despair (and some of the stumbles in the act itself) from Life is Worth Losing to a special that is firmly structured but loose and playful- or as much as the u0026quot;old f***u0026quot; can get- and is continuously, ceaselessly, funny. And funny as in reminiscent of what some of us had going on when watching Back in Town or u0026#39;Diseasedu0026#39; the first time. The material, even if sounding at times a tinge of the previously done (i.e. the whole bit on children in school and camp like the Children segment in Diseased), is always fresh and with such a sting of truth to everything that it scalds the mind while (here goes) tickling the funny bone.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGoing from the topic of death (how long to wait to scratch off a name from the book? six weeks, unless if on the computer scheduler), the facets of communication, looking down from Heaven, spots of God (naturally), kids, and just troublesome gestures involving hats in religion and if people really have u0026quot;Rightsu0026quot; make up the bulk of the special, centered around the premise that whatu0026#39;s bad for you, plain and simple, is BS. Total, complete BS, which as we also learn (or if youu0026#39;ve really learned it youu0026#39;re like the kid waiting at the street corner for a week following dropped off not-quite randomly by the parent) holds the country together. Carlin isnu0026#39;t necessarily angry though, even if disdain seems to spout out at most turns, even just to observe how horrifying childrenu0026#39;s teeth coming in look. Itu0026#39;s skepticism tinged with the feeling that everything is NOT going to be u0026quot;fineu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat it comes down to is this: Carlin is to dirty, witty, cautionary stand-up comedy what Yoda is to Jedis everywhere, which is a small spark of hope via crystal clear wisdom in a world where itu0026#39;s pretty damn hard to get any. At the least, we get classic GC – outrageous lines and bits from the manu0026#39;s 13th (or is it 14th) comedy special, including as far as an eyebrow-raising observation on people who play Mozart music during a birth!”