Saturday Night Live commemorates George Carlin

The type of sappy eulogizing inevitable after a celebrity passes away would likely have disgusted George Carlin (case in point). We can be relatively sure, however, the tribute NBC has planned in Carlin's honor would have been to his liking. The network is not talking about him. It's always generally been a good call to shut up and let Carlin do the talking, and in that spirit, NBC is replaying one of his finest and funniest moments.

Carlin was the original host of Saturday Night Live when it debuted in 1975. This premiere episode will re-air on Saturday (June 28), not only featuring three separate monologues from the man himself, but also musical appearances from Janis Ian and Billy Preston and a performance from Andy Kaufman. The cast at the inception of the series, and therefore appearing in Saturday's episode, consisted of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Larraine Newman and Gilda Radner. "You never forget the people who were there at the beginning," said creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels in a release. "George Carlin helped give Saturday Night Live its start as our first host. He was gracious, fearless, and most important of all, funny."

You can read Paste's ruminations on Carlin's large legacy here and here.

Related links:
NBC.com: Saturday Night Live
Feature: George Carlin: Celebrating 50 Years of 'Anger' Management
Feature: George Carlin On....

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