I don't usually watch Fox News, but I was flipping channels this morning and saw George Carlin being interviewed by a blonde woman (is her name Heidi??). Everything was going fine until he mentioned his opinions about the Replublican party and how the new FCC fines are nothing more than an attempt to regulate morality. But the final straw for the interviewer was when he claimed religion makes us afraid of our bodies - he was immediately cutoff and she made some comment about how her religion didn't teach her that, blah. blah.

Fox claims to be fair and balanced? They should be able to take some alternate viewpoints....or simply not invite someone as opinionated as Carlin on the show!

I guess it wasn't Carlin's day as PTI was making fun of him as well (albeit in a more kind and humorous fashion than Fox News).

I love Carlin and applaud much of what he's done, but how many times do we have to hear this religion rant from him? He's said the exact same thing, verbatim, on at least 3 different talk shows (that I've seen, who knows how many more) this week alone. It's one thing to reuse a story, or pimp a film in the same way for a bunch of shows, but come on, George ... get some new material. Yeah, yeah, religion is the root of all evil. We get it. Next!

And as a side note, at least make an effort to promote Jersey Girl. I know this FCC stuff is rather timely with Carlin's press tour, but you're still there (in large capacity) to pimp this film.

das

Where's Joe Pecsi when you need him? Isn't this what god are for?

I was also wondering why he wasn't talking about Jersey Girl, which is why he was being interviewed in the first place. I don't think he was given his full air time, however, so maybe be didn't get to it.....but then again he'd probably rather argue politics.

*Slightly off topic question I've been pondering for a while*

When did George Carlin turn from his old look to his white trash, scratchy throat, you're all a bunch of dumb ************s persona and why?

That is funny. I hate when reporters/anchors put in their two cents. I remember a lot of stuff around 9/11 which I found annoying (such as people saying Bush should have stayed at the whitehouse.) Then I saw one (on I think NBC) when Wes Clark was still running, and someone (I forget who...) kind of went off on him, saying how he flip flops or something. Clark was totally taken aback. This Fox News one sounds worse though.

while I'll agree that reporters should refrain from putting their opinion in, they should also try to report facts. If it is a fact that her religion doesn't teach that it refutes something that isn't true

Umm...isn't it balanced to have someone as Carlin on and someone who disagrees with him (in this case the host)? That is the definition of balanced. Complaining that the host is not balanced is fine because they have other people with the different views....

I am not commenting on the channel, just this ONE paticular event and the context of the complaint.

Again, if you are under the belief that Fox News is FAIR and BALANCED.. then which rock have you've been living under?

You guys missed the point here.... at least Fox had the balls to invite someone with a different view knowing how he would act on air. Other channels don't even try to invite "other viewpoints" or they lie and say they wont' come on. I remember when Gloria Allred dared to criticize Clinton and his relationship with Monica back during that whole scandal. CNN cancelled her scheduled appearences and stopped calling her for interviews.

But of course CNN is just as FAIR AND BALANCED as Fox....NOT! Both have their agendas.

I LOVE Carlin, but his anti-religous rants for the better part of 35 + years is tired. It's obvious he was molested or something by a priest. I mean why are you so angry George? Let it alone and move on with your life.

Personally, i think going on a personal rant about religion on the air was wrong, and Fox was right to cut him off before they got bombarded by angry viewers. I love to see controversial topics and opinions presented, but i'd say many dont feel the same way.

Wouldn't the host, if your point is that the host is supposed to represent 1/2 of the "equal" fair and balanced equation, have considerably more control of what gets said and how the audience will perceive the information that they are hearing when these two sides "debate" one another? It would seem the guest wouldn't have much of a shot at presenting their views and the host would control what the audience hears and when to stop the audience from hearing what the host doesn't like. How is that fair and balanced and how does the second half of the "we report, you decide" come into play when you don't let someone say something because you don't agree or if you "think" your audience won't approve of it?

If he was truly making himself look bad, why not let him continue and if, for some reason, a guest becomes rude or hostile or you don't want it to continue, tell the guest politely while you feel you need to stop and let the people watching decide whether your reasons were good or whether your guest should have been allowed to continue speaking?

It doesn't seem like it took any balls to have Carlin on, when you know what he's bound to say if you ask him about a specific topic, and if you've paid any attention to him at all, you know what he says isn't going to sit well with the compassionate conservatives that watch FNC religiously. It seems like the agenda was to make the "liberals" look bad. Well executed plan, other than that most liberals don't agree with a lot of what Carlin says these days, oh yeah, but that was the point of bringing him on in the first place? Was he even asked about the movie he was their to promote? Did he really just happen to "mention" the Republican party and the FCC or was he asked about something that led him into sharing his opinions/rants? At least we know he won't get the gig replacing Dennis Miller doing a minute or two on Fridays at the end of Hannity and Colmes.

Do you think they would have cut off Mel Gibson if he went on and on about his views of religion? I like both Gibson and Carlin, but when people go on and on about something that a lot of other people watching might find annoying its not the end of the world. They cut Carlin because they didn't want to offend the religious viewers only. Which, admittedly, is most of the them.

I'd love to see FNC put Gibson and Carlin on and let them debate religion without a host. That would be fair and balanced. So, we'll never see it.

Was this a talkshow host that cut off Carlin or a regular newscaster?

The three big lies:

The check's in the mail
I won't cum in your mouth
I was just flipping channels

He's always been that way to an extent. But he got a much harder edge after his wife died a few years ago.

I really used to like George, but these days I find him unbearable. He's funny when he does comedy, but these days it's all about spouting off his political views, which I mostly disagree with.