Singer Ben E. King sings "Stand By Me" at the conclusion of a tribute to late stand-up comedian George Carlin at the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Gala in Washington November 10, 2008. REUTERS/Mike Theiler

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - George Carlin would have been greatly flattered and at least slightly embarrassed had he lived to see “George Carlin: The Mark Twain Prize.” Taped November 10 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, the event represents an honor that Carlin said meant a great deal to him. The comedian learned of it shortly before he died June 22 of a heart attack.

The much-deserved, clip-filled tribute features testimonials from such comic greats as Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers, Garry Shandling, Lewis Black, Margaret Cho and Richard Belzer. The evening, taped for broadcast on PBS, strikes just the right balance of reverence and mirth in paying homage to one of the greatest, most ingenious and most revered (by his peers) comedian of the past half-century.

But any review of this Twain Prize accolade would be incomplete without calling attention to a truth at once obvious, ironic and more than a little bit ridiculous. The comics onstage are bleeped here not simply for public TV broadcast but also in the venue itself, as is pointed out in his inimitable blustery fashion by Black. If you didn’t know what Carlin’s infamous “seven dirty words” actually were -- the ones that ultimately would be at the center of a Supreme Court test case -- you’d never learn them here because all are censored, along with numerous other purportedly profane utterances from the stage.

Carlin no doubt would have been both disgusted by the lack of progress we’ve made in allowing “naughty” words to be heard on the airwaves -- or seen in print -- and amused that a show celebrating his impact and legacy would be so ludicrously constrained.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter