Ed McMahon Dies at 86

Ed McMahon, the sidekick of Johnny Carson for years on "The Tonight Show," passed away yesterday at the age of 86. In a world with hundreds of TV stations just a click of the remote away, it is hard to understand how iconic he and his partner were. There wasn't a weeknight were the catch phrase "Heeeeeere's Johnny!," didn't introduce one of the most entertaining talk shows of all time.

Mr. McMahon was typical of his generation in many ways. He put himself through college as a pitchman for vegetable slicers on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Prior to that he was a carnival barker in Maine and a bingo caller. World War II turned him into a Marine Corps fighter pilot and was decorated six times. After the war, he got a job in broadcasting at WLLH-AM, a radio station in Lowell, Massachusetts. Then, along came TV.

In the 1950s, a TV set was a status symbol. Most programming was local, and most stations went off the air by midnight. Yet there was opportunity for someone with Mr. McMahon's Irish gift of gab. He landed a job at WCAU in Philadelphia, and he emceed game shows. One of these shows was "Who Do You Trust?" Despite the ungrammatical name, he and a man named Johnny Carson worked together on it from 1957-1962.

At that time, a late night talk show called "The Tonight Show" was looking for a new host. Steve Allen, as brilliant an entertainer as one could wish, started of this odd format of people talking rather than acting or such. Jack Parr took it over for a while, but Mr. Parr had had enough. So, in October of 1962, a partnership that has few equals first hit the national airwaves.

Mr. McMahon's greatest talent was playing foil, not quite straightman, to Mr. Carson's characters and comedic bits. Whether Mr. Carson was Carnac the Great, Floyd R. Turbo or Aunt Blabby, Mr. McMahon managed to laugh along with the audience and still do his job.

Mr. McMahon had his own projects during the 30-years he was half of the best late night partnership yet. He and American Bandstand's Dick Clark did "TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes." His "Star Search" predated "American Idol" and that lot by a good many years. That program show cased Brittany Spears, Dennis Miller, and Alanis Morissette to name but three. He pitched the Publishers' Clearinghouse Giveaway, neighborhood watch programs, and powered wheelchairs. None brought anywhere near the success of being Sancho Panza to Mr. Carson's Don Quixote.

American TV has altered beyond all belief, but much of that is mere technology. As Conan O'Brien takes over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno (Mr. Carson's successor), the program is largely unchanged. The form was perfected by the Carson-McMahon team. They are the giants upon whose shoulders the others stand. Being the country's first Second Banana isn't a bad career.

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