May 27, 1972…George Carlin Debuts The Infamous “7 Words” Sketch

44 years ago today, George Carlin’s now-legendary, “7 Words You Can Never Say On Television” sketch from the “Class Clown” album, was performed in concert for the first time. It was an instant hit!

A few years ago, Carlin discussed this in an interview for the Emmy TV Legends bio series, and the video is linked above. The 4 minute XXX rated clip is not for the faint of heart, and the list is at 2:57. Carlin’s perspective as a true wordsmith, and his context is fantastic as always.

On his next album, 1973’s “Occupation: Foole”, Carlin performed a similar routine titled “Filthy Words”, dealing with the same list and many of the same themes. Pacifica station WBAI broadcast this version of the routine uncensored on October 30 that year, and a complaint was filed by a listener with the FCC.

Following up on the complaint, the FCC proceeded to ask Pacifica for a response, then issued a declaratory order upholding the complaint. No specific sanctions were included in the order, but WBAI was put on notice that “in the event subsequent complaints are received, the Commission will then decide whether it should utilize any of the available sanctions it has been granted by Congress.”

WBAI appealed this decision, which was overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a 2–1 decision on the grounds that the FCC’s definition of “indecency” was overbroad and vague, and thus violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.

The FCC in turn appealed to the Supreme Court. The United States Department of Justice intervened in the case, supporting Pacifica’s argument that the FCC’s declaratory ruling violated the First Amendment, and that it also violated the Fifth Amendment in that the FCC’s definition of “indecency” was too vague to support criminal penalties.

In follow-up rulings, the Supreme Court established the safe harbor provision that grants broadcasters the right to broadcast indecent (but not obscene) material between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am, when it is presumed many children will be asleep. The FCC has never maintained a specific list of words prohibited from the airwaves during the time period from 6 am to 10 pm, but it has alleged that its own internal guidelines are sufficient to determine what it considers obscene.

The seven dirty words have been assumed to be likely to elicit indecency-related action by the FCC if uttered on a TV or radio broadcast, and thus the broadcast networks generally censor themselves with regard to many of the seven dirty words. The FCC regulations regarding “fleeting” use of expletives were ruled unconstitutionally vague by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York on July 13, 2010, as they violated the First Amendment due to their possible effects regarding free speech.

At “Saturday Night Live”, some of these words have always had a way of just popping into a live show…especially the F word and here’s a brief F’ing history of those “special” moments.

During a sketch in 1980, Paul Shaffer said “f****n'” instead of “floggin'”; in 1981, Charles Rocket, said “I’d like to know who the f**k did it” during a “Who Shot JR?” parody, and on the same night Prince sang the lyric “Fightin war is such a f****n’ bore”; in 1990, singer Morris Day of The Time said “Where the f**k did this chicken come from?” and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith sang “feedin’ that f****n’ monkey on my back” during their performances.

In 1994, Michael Stipe of R.E.M. sang “Don’t f**k with me” and Adam Horovitz of Beastie Boys sang “So won’t you f****n’ listen” in their performances. In 1997, Norm MacDonald accidentally said, “What the f**k was that?” after flubbing a line during “Weekend Update”. James Hetfield of Metallica sang “F**k ’em man, white knuckle tight” during their performance in 1997. In 2009, Jenny Slate accidentally said, “You know what, you stood up for yourself and I f**king love you for that.” Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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