Ed McMahon was Awesome

I guess we'd be remiss if WWoB didn't acknowledge the passing of broadcasting legend Ed McMahon yesterday. I never really considered myself a fan McMahon's...I didn't necessarily get excited when I saw him on TV nor did I ever seek out his appearances. Yet he was always around in one role or another as a very likable - always welcome - TV friend.

McMahon, of course, is best known as the sidekick to Johnny Carson on 30 seasons of The Tonight Show. I never saw too many actual episodes of The Tonight Show but as a child I religiously watched Carson's Comedy Classics which was a syndicated half-hour package of clips from early episodes of The Tonight Show. I was also a loyal viewer of TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes which Ed co-hosted with Dick Clark. (I thought that show had been on for many, many of my childhood years, but it turns out it was only on for three seasons.)

Ed also appeared as himself on an episode of ALF, where Alf ends up hosting The Tonight Show. Then many years later Ed and Alf teamed up again when Ed sat in the co-host chair again for the short lived (and not too great) ALF's Hit Talk Show which ran on TV Land.

My other stand-out Ed McMahon memory is a fantastic 1980 made-for-TV movie that I saw one afternoon 20 years ago called The Great American Traffic Jam, where he sits in a car with Rue McClanahan for two hours. I wonder if the casting decision to have McMahon and McClanahan play husband and wife was based on the fact that both their last names start with the "Mc" prefix!?!

He's guest stared on everything from C.H.i.P.'s and Newhart to Sabrina The Teenage Witch and even Higglytown Heroes (that's a Playhouse Disney show for those out of the loop!) Here's a great piece from The Tonight Show when Ed was able to steal the show from Johnny....