Editing George Carlin (section)

=== 1972–1979: Stardom and acclaim ===
[[File:George Carlin In concert at the Zembo Mosque, Harrisburg, Pa.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Carlin in the 1970s]]
In 1970, record producer [[Monte Kay]] formed the [[Little David Records]] subsidiary of Atlantic Records, with comedian [[Flip Wilson]] as co-owner.{{sfn|Sullivan|2010|p=114}} Kay and Wilson signed Carlin away from [[RCA Records]] and recorded a Carlin performance at Washington, D.C.'s [[The Cellar Door|Cellar Door]] in 1971, which was released as the album ''[[FM & AM]]'' in 1972. De Blasio was busy managing the fast-paced career of [[Freddie Prinze]] and was about to sign [[Richard Pryor]], so he released Carlin to Little David general manager Jack Lewis, who, like Carlin, was somewhat wild and rebellious.{{sfn|Sullivan|2010|p=158}} Using his own persona as a springboard for his new comedy, he was presented by [[Ed Sullivan]] in a performance of "The Hair Piece" and quickly regained his popularity as the public caught on to his style.<ref name="GoldmarkBio">{{cite web|last=Goldmark|first=Tony|title=George Carlin – Biography|url=http://www.amoeba.com/george-carlin/artist/146678/bio|website=Amoeba Music|access-date=September 1, 2016|quote=He bridged these two sides of his persona with 'The Hair Piece,' a whimsical poem about public aversion to long hair that he performed on Ed Sullivan, effectively reintroducing and reinventing himself to America. FM & AM went Gold, got him a gig at Carnegie Hall, and won the Grammy award for Best Comedy Album.}}</ref>

Starting in 1972, singer-songwriter [[Kenny Rankin]] was Carlin's label-mate on Little David Records, and Rankin served many times as Carlin's musical guest or opening act during the early 1970s. The two flew together in Carlin's private jet; Carlin says that Rankin relapsed into using cocaine while on tour since Carlin had so much available.<ref name="Jet">{{harvnb|Carlin|Hendra|2009|p=[https://archive.org/details/lastwords0000carl/page/151 151]}}</ref> ''FM & AM'' proved very popular and marked Carlin's change from mainstream to counterculture comedy. The "AM" side was an extension of Carlin's previous style, with zany but relatively clean routines parodying aspects of American life. The "FM" side introduced Carlin's new style, with references to marijuana and birth control pills, and a playful examination of the word "shit". In this way, Carlin renewed a style of radical social commentary comedy Lenny Bruce had pioneered in the late 1950s.<ref name=Zoglin/>

[[File:George Carlin and a cardboard cutout of himself from a few years ago, c. 1973.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Carlin c. 1973, with a cardboard cutout of himself as he looked in the 1960s]]
In this period, Carlin perfected his well-known "[[seven dirty words]]" routine, which most notably appears on ''[[Class Clown]]'' as follows: "'Shit', 'piss', 'fuck', 'cunt', 'cocksucker', 'motherfucker', and 'tits'. Those are the heavy seven. Those are the ones that'll infect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war." On July 21, 1972, Carlin was arrested after performing the routine at [[Milwaukee]]'s [[Summerfest]] and charged with violating obscenity laws.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=626471|title=Carlin's naughty words still ring in officer's ears|author=Jim Stingl|newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]]|date=June 30, 2007|access-date=March 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929124942/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=626471|archive-date=September 29, 2007}}</ref> The case, which prompted Carlin for a time to call the words the "Milwaukee Seven", was dismissed in December when the judge declared that the language was indecent but that Carlin had the freedom to say it as long as he caused no disturbance.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 23, 1972 |title=Against Comedian: Charges Refused |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19720723&id=3RcfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3488,3633489 |work=The Tuscaloosa News |access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref> In 1973, a man complained to the [[FCC]] after listening with his son to a similar routine, "Filthy Words", from Carlin's ''[[Occupation: Foole]]'', which was broadcast one afternoon on radio station [[WBAI]]. The FCC cited Pacifica for violating regulations that prohibit broadcasting "obscene" material. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] upheld the FCC action by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was "indecent but not obscene" and that the FCC had authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience.<ref>''[[F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation]]'', 438 U.S. 726 (1978); the court documents contain a complete transcript of the routine.</ref><ref name="EFF">{{cite web |url=https://w2.eff.org/legal/cases/FCC_v_Pacifica/fcc_v_pacifica.decision |title=FCC vs. Pacifica Foundation |date=July 3, 1978 |publisher=[[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] |access-date=June 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211103830/http://w2.eff.org/legal/cases/FCC_v_Pacifica/fcc_v_pacifica.decision |archive-date=December 11, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The controversy increased Carlin's fame. He eventually expanded the "dirty words" theme with a seemingly interminable end to a performance, finishing with his voice fading out in one HBO version and accompanying the credits in the ''[[Carlin at Carnegie]]'' special for the 1982–83 season, and a set of 49 webpages organized by subject and embracing his "Incomplete List of Impolite Words".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.georgecarlin.com/dirty/2443.html |title=BBS – Incomplete List of Impolite Words |publisher=George Carlin |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406052624/http://www.georgecarlin.com/dirty/2443.html |archive-date=April 6, 2012 |access-date=June 12, 2014}}</ref> On stage, during a rendition of this routine, Carlin learned that his previous comedy album ''FM & AM'' had won a Grammy. Midway through the performance on the album ''Occupation: Foole'', he can be heard thanking someone for handing him a piece of paper. He then exclaims "shit!" and proudly announces his win to the audience.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55pfcmUzGhw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/55pfcmUzGhw| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=George Carlin - Occupation: Foole|date=July 27, 2012 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Over his career, Carlin was arrested seven times for reciting the "Seven Dirty Words" routine.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Watkins|first1=Mel|last2=Weber|first2=Bruce|date=June 24, 2008|title=George Carlin, Comic Who Chafed at Society and Its Constraints, Dies at 71|language=en|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/arts/24carlin.html|access-date=April 7, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Carlin hosted the premiere broadcast of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' on October 11, 1975. Per his request, he did not appear in its sketches.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Geoffrey Hammill, The Museum of Broadcast Communications |url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/saturdaynigh/saturdaynigh.htm |title=Saturday Night Live |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020820194836/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/saturdaynigh/saturdaynigh.htm |archive-date=August 20, 2002 |access-date=June 12, 2014}}</ref> The next season, 1976–77, he appeared regularly on [[CBS]] Television's ''[[Tony Orlando & Dawn]]'' variety series.<ref name="TVGuideTonyOrlandoAndDawn">{{cite web|title=Tony Orlando and Dawn 1974 TV SHOW|url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/tony-orlando-and-dawn/cast/205090/|website=TVGuide.com|access-date=September 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901182949/http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/tony-orlando-and-dawn/cast/205090/|archive-date=September 1, 2016 }}</ref> Carlin unexpectedly stopped performing regularly in 1976, when his career appeared to be at its height. For the next five years, he rarely performed stand-up, although it was at this time that he began doing specials for HBO as part of its ''[[On Location (TV series)|On Location]]'' series; he did 14 specials, including 2008's ''It's Bad for Ya''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biography.com/people/george-carlin-9542307#comic-great |title=George Carlin stand up comedian does 14 specials for On Location |publisher=[[Biography.com]] ([[FYI (TV network)|FYI]] / [[A&E Networks]]) |access-date= October 8, 2016}}</ref> He later revealed that he had suffered the first of three [[heart attacks]] during this layoff period.<ref name="bravo">{{cite episode|title=George Carlin|series=Inside the Actors Studio|series-link=Inside the Actors Studio|network=[[Bravo (US TV channel)|Bravo TV]]|air-date=October 31, 2004|season=11|number=4}}</ref> His first two HBO specials aired in 1977 and 1978.<ref name="EssSplitsider2015">{{cite news|last1=Ess|first1=Ramsey|title=How George Carlin Changed comedy In His First HBO Special|url=http://splitsider.com/2015/04/how-george-carlin-changed-comedy-in-his-first-hbo-special/|newspaper=Splitsider|access-date=September 1, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160617094322/http://splitsider.com/2015/04/how-george-carlin-changed-comedy-in-his-first-hbo-special/|archive-date=June 17, 2016 |date=April 24, 2015}}</ref><ref name="LeveretteOttBuckley2009">{{cite book|last1=Leverette|first1=Marc|last2=Ott|first2=Brian L|last3=Buckley|first3=Cara Louise|title=It's Not TV: Watching HBO in the Post-Television Era|date=March 23, 2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135902742|page=128|url=https://www.routledge.com/Its-Not-TV-Watching-HBO-in-the-Post-Television-Era/Leverette-Ott-Buckley/p/book/9780415960380|access-date=September 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901182100/https://www.routledge.com/Its-Not-TV-Watching-HBO-in-the-Post-Television-Era/Leverette-Ott-Buckley/p/book/9780415960380|archive-date=September 1, 2016}}</ref>