Kelly Carlin brought a bit of her father’s spirit to the Creative Arts Ceremony. She was the executive producer of the film George Carlin’s American Dream, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. After accepting the award, Carlin went to the microphone for the following.
“I want to thank my parents Brenda and George. A couple of things my dad would want to say to you tonight — one of which is remember to take care of each other, and go fuck yourself.”
Carlin shares the award with director and executive producers Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfilio. She also shares them with producer Wayne Federman, supervising producer Amanda Glaze, executive producer Teddy Leifer, and co-executive producer Joseph Beshenkovsky. Carlin continued with a speech that was more to the point, celebrating and thanking everyone involved in the project on her father’s legacy.
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“Taking care of a legacy is one of the weirdest things ever but this group of people has helped us do that in such an incredible way. I want to thank HBO for bringing my father back home from where it all started, everyone from the Academy who believed in my father and his heart and his dreams, and this amazing production team filled with geniuses. I am so honored to be a part of this.”
Kelly’s reference to ‘bringing her father home’ is in reference to HBO airing various of Carlin’s comedy specials over the years. For American Dream, she shared the archives of her father with Apatow and Bonfiglio. The two-part documentary follows Carlin throughout his long life and career, starting with his upbringing in Manhattan, all the way to his solo act. George Carlin is considered one of the greatest comedians and harshest critics of American culture. Earlier in July, Apatow spoke with Deadline about the pressures of telling such a story.
“When you start a project like this, you really want to do right by the subject. We were all very intent on making something that was worthy of George. So it just makes me happy and gratified that so many people are learning about him and connecting with his work as a result of the documentary.”
A Story Worthy of George
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George Carlin’s rise to fame was no skip through the woods. After struggling through high school, Carlin joined the U.S. Air Force and trained as a radar technician, where he worked as a disc jockey at a radio station in Shreveport. He received general discharge in 1957. In 1959, Carlin met mellow DJ Jack Burns and struck up a friendship. The two formed a comedy team that earned enough success for the two to travel to California in 1960. After recording only a single album together, the two split to pursue their own careers, but remained good friends. It was here where George began his solo career, which involved numerous appearances on programs such as The Tonight Show.
While the road to fame wasn’t easy for Carlin, he found his own ways to cope. The comedian struggled with multiple addictions and had a strained relationship with Kelly’s mother, Brenda. Apatow praised Kelly when speaking with Deadline about her desire for honesty in the documentary.
“She was very open about his life and his history and his problems. The obstacles you can face when making a movie like this is if someone is seeking to protect the subject. And it’s really only possible to make a documentary like this if the family has a philosophy of telling the complete truth about the person we’re making the film about. And from the very beginning, Kelly said, ‘We want to do something that is new and innovative and not cliche. My dad would only be mad if this was bullshit.’”
George Carlin passed away in 2008 at the age of 71. During his long career, he was nominated for six Emmys but never won. In a way, this victory gives Carlin and his legacy the much-deserved gold. George Carlin’s American Dream is available to stream on HBO Max.
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