RIP Ed McMahon

[spnited]

Just as no one ever will do the Tonight Show better than Carson, nobody will ever be a better "second" than Ed McMahon.

RIP

 

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

RIP

Was this really that long ago?

YYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! At least 17 years ago, anyway.

RIP Ed.

 

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

His ashes will be hermetically sealed in a mayonaisse jar under Funk and Wagnalls front porch at noon today.

OK, I hate to laugh at a time like this, but THAT'S funny.

 

[Huggy]

His ashes will be hermetically sealed in a mayonaisse jar under Funk and Wagnalls front porch at noon today.

OK, I hate to laugh at a time like this, but THAT'S funny.

Yes, very well played.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

After what he's been through the last few years, Ed is truly in a better place right now...

RIP

 

[crusoes]

American Idol would not exist without Star Search.

RB

Now we know who to blame.

 

[Rockbottom]

I remember, vividly, where I was for the last *real* Tonight Show -- balls deep into a one-night lass. Oh, the good times.

RB

 

[Bubbler]

Obviously, his Tonight Show legacy is his hallmark. And he has several other things to be remembered by, but let us not forget his foray into blaxsploitation in the early 70s.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

damn, damn, damn.

rip.

 

[Second Thoughts]

Was sad to hear. So many good memories from growing up watching Johnny and Ed before going to bed.

 

[finishthehat]

Marine pilot, too, in both WWII and Korea.

 

[Oz]

Growing up, when we got the Publisher's Clearinghouse envelopes, I had dreams of Ed McMahon showing up with an oversized check at our house.

RIP.

 

[da man]

Just as no one ever will do the Tonight Show better than Carson, nobody will ever be a better "second" than Ed McMahon.

RIP

You are correct, sir!

 

[Colton]

I haven't watched The Tonight Show once since Johnny and Ed were on the air.

Pretty much says it all. No due will ever match the chemistry they had.

RIP.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

When The Tonight Show moved from NY to LA, Ed came home and told his wife and kids they wouldn't be making the move.

That started him on a streak of marrying much younger women.

Hi yo!

 

[dooley_womack1]

One wonders if he squandered his money so much that he had to keep working into his 80s, or whether he thought he'd die if he stopped, a la Charles M. Schultz and Bear Bryant.

Anyhoo, Ed was kinda the comfort food of entertainment; you knew what you were going to get, and you knew it wasn't going to be haute cuisine, but you knew it would be consistently satisfying. Many times, when a Johnny monologue was bombing (and in the last 10-15 years of the show, a ton did; very few Leno monologues out and out bombed), Ed would be the one carrying the mail. Here's hoping he had a lot of Colonial Penn Life. R.I.P.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Just as no one ever will do the Tonight Show better than Carson, nobody will ever be a better "second" than Ed McMahon.

RIP

You are correct, sir!

Funny, I associate that phrase much more with Phil Hartman's impression of him than with Ed himself. (Can't say I really recall Ed saying that much at all.)

Yet another in the long line of Hartman winners.

 

[DanOregon]

The guy just always seemed to be "around," whether on Labor Day with the telethon, the Tonight Show, Bloopers and Practical Jokes, or Star Search. Maybe he didn't have a "talent", but it takes something to last as long as he did in an industry that isn't typically associated with longevity.
Pulled a list of Star Search contestants and it was pretty scary:
1983 Sam Harris (Male Vocalist Champion, Season 1)
1986 Jenny Jones (Comedy Champion)
1988 Linda Eder (Female Vocalist Champion)

Britney Spears, 1990 (singer)
Aaliyah, 1990 (singer)
Christina Aguilera, 1990 (Singer)
Sawyer Brown
Drew Carey (Comedian)
Dave Chappelle (Comedian)
Destiny's Child, 1991 (Singers as Girls Tyme)
Tatyana Ali 1984, (Junior Female Vocalist two time champion)
Bill Engvall (Comedian)
Sutton Foster, 1990 (Singer)
Brad Garrett (Comedian)
Dana Gould, 1987
Kevin James
Martin Lawrence
Norm MacDonald
Jackie Martling
Carlos Mencia, 1991 (Comedian)
Dennis Miller
Alanis Morissette 1988 (singer)
Rosie O'Donnell, 1984 (Comedian)
Ken Ober
Steve Oedekerk
LeAnn Rimes
Ray Romano (Comedian)
Adam Sandler
Jessica Simpson (Singer)
Sinbad
Britney Spears, 1992 (Singer)
Sharon Stone, 1984 (Spokesmodel)
Marc Summers
The Boys, 1986
Tiffany, 1985 (Singer, second place finalist)
Justin Timberlake, 1991 (Singer, as Justin Randall)
Coors Light Twins (Diane Klimaszewski & Elaine Klimaszewski), 1987 (teen dancers)
Usher
Phil Vassar, 1987, (Singer, finalist)

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

One wonders if he squandered his money so much that he had to keep working into his 80s, or whether he thought he'd die if he stopped, a la Charles M. Schultz and Bear Bryant.

He definitely needed money. He had some expensive divorces. I'm also sure there was an element of wanting to continue working. He was from that generation that had a gold-plated work ethic, to the point that he often had multiple jobs even after he hit it big with The Tonight Show.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Man, if you start getting a track record of not being able to keep it in your pants, why the hell keep getting married? Just keep getting the celebrity discount, as it were.

And great get, Dan O. Didn't know Timberlake was a pseudonym.