Actress Estelle Getty passed away this morning at the age of 84. If you’re my age you probably remember the comedy series Golden Girls that was on in the second half of the 1980s. Estelle Getty portrayed Sophia, the mother of Bea Arthur’s character, on the successful series for more than seven years and won an Emmy for her role. I always thought she was adorable and that they gave her the funniest lines. Goodbye Estelle, you’ll be missed.

This Saturday NBC will be rebroadcasting the first episode of Saturday Night Live this Saturday in tribute to George Carlin. The episode will be shown on Saturday 06/28/08 and will be shown in its entirety. George Carlin, who died this past weekend, hosted the first episode of SNL back in 1975. The episode includes 3 monologues from Carlin. This is the episode of SNL that introduced the viewers to the Not Ready for Primetime Players, which included Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner. A special performance from Andy Kaufman was also part of the show.

Comedian George Carlin passed away yesterday in Los Angeles from heart failure at the age of 71. George was well known for speaking his mind. Many comedians considered him to be revolutionary, blazing a trail for other comics after him. He had 23 comedy albums and wrote three books, and also appeared in several movies. It was just recently announced that the comedian was to be awarded the annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which will now be given posthumously. George Carlin is one of the first comedians I remember hearing. I loved his old material, such as A Place For My Stuff.  Goodbye George. We’ll miss you.