TV HIGHLIGHTS

George Carlin’s American Dream, 8 PM on HBO; 1 AM on HBO: This new twopart documentary from filmmakers Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio profiles an iconoclastic comic who was well ahead of his time at the peak of his career. George Carlin, who died in 2008, was a cerebral stand-up performer who earned the nickname “the dean of counterculture comedians,” yet kept working for half a century and made more than 130 appearances on “The Tonight Show.” He was best known, however, for his stand-up riff on “the seven dirty words” that once got him thrown into a Milwaukee jail. Part 2 airs tomorrow night.