For Better or Werts : TV Worth Watching

TRIBUTE: George Carlin for kids

While everybody's tributes to the influential comic who died last weekend mentioned his "seven dirty words" (including mine), most of us forgot about a different side of this "adult" performer.

Carlin was likely best known to a younger generation not for his counterculture comedy but for his lengthy '90s stint as Mr. Conductor on public TV's kids fave Shining Time Station. (Watch an episode here.) His collaborator on the show, Britt Allcroft, wrote movingly this week about Carlin's "gentle invitation to kids to explore a safe, accessible fantasy world," in an anecdote-filled appreciation that's beautifully written and definitely worth reading. Find it here.

Also note that NBC has scheduled its own fitting salute, filling this week's Saturday Night Live slot (Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET, NBC) with an encore of the series' very first episode, from Oct. 11, 1975, when guest host Carlin delivered three vintage monologues. If you just can't wait, watch 'em online via Hulu.

1 Comments

Sally W. said:

Glad to see that Carlin's role for a different generation getting a bit of acknowledgment. I was always impressed that the Conductor role in "Shining Time Station" was such another side of him!

July 9, 2008 10:17 PM

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Diane Werts has been glued to the tube since she can remember, growing up in a household where the TV came on first thing in the morning and stayed on till bedtime and beyond. She worked for the USA Film Festival, then for The Dallas Morning News writing about everything from Shakespeare to macrame art to rock music (and has the hearing loss to prove it). She moved to New York's Newsday to edit their glossy TV magazine, then returned to writing about television, specializing in its stranger permutations. She's a past president of the Television Critics Association.

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