Share this article

print logo


When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? by George Carlin, author and reader (Hyperion Audiobooks, six CDs, eight hours, unabridged, $31.98). Long before Howard Stern, there was George Carlin. The original shock jock led a one-man insurgency against the Federal Communications Commission, pushing the boundaries of language and challenging the definition of indecency. He became famous for a 1973 bit on a New York radio station in which he talked about the seven words you can't say on radio or TV.

That was 30 years ago, and, if anything, there's more federal scrutiny than ever on the broadcast media. Remember the Janet Jackson Super Bowl flap? George Carlin could be a compelling voice in this debate. Unfortunately, he doesn't do it with this drivel.

There's plenty of indecency -- the material is at least an NC-17 by movie standards. He's more offensive than Jay Leno but basically just as sophomoric. His skits that are too crude and bizarre to describe in this space might get a few laughs from the frat-boy demographic. For a guy touted as an edgy social-commentary humorist, he's produced something that's not funny and about as edgy as "The Smothers Brothers."

-- Knight Ridder Newspapers

There are no comments - be the first to comment