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NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > ED MCMAHON DEATH BRINGS FOND MEMORIES OF JOHNNY CARSON
ED MCMAHON DEATH BRINGS FOND MEMORIES OF JOHNNY CARSON
June 23 2009
Los Angeles, CA – The sidekick has always been an important part of comedy. The straight man, the one liner, or the support system for the joke, the sidekick has a long and storied history. The great comedy duos of the past have made legends of men who, unto themselves, may not have achieved great success. Jerry Lewis, Lou 
Costello, Stan Laurel, and Larry Fine are all examples of men who flourished in a partnership with a dominant other and not only became legends in their own right, but helped create a team for the ages.
Ed McMahon is not one of those people. For thirty years the co-host and announcer of ‘The Tonight Show’ acted as a sidekick to the most legendary late night talk show host in history. Despite that McMahon received little acclaim or respect for his own work, becoming a true second banana to Johnny Carson. While the duo worked together for thirty-five years it was Carson who came out on top and while the partnership no doubt contributed to Johnny’s success, it was his success. Now with McMahon passing away at the age of 86, more and more people have grown nostalgic for the late great Carson.
“There’s little doubt that synergy between two people can create dynamic
relationships even when one of those people doesn’t appear to have a whole lot of 
talent or input. Sometimes it is what the dominant person gets from the weaker one that’s important not how he contributes. It’s the spark that’s created when the two work together that really make the magic even if one is obviously inferior as far as talent goes. Sometimes that’s enough,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple. “Of course no one knows if t hat’s the case with Carson and McMahon. True they had a lot of success but it’s entirely possible that Johnny just liked the way Ed said his name. McMahon really wasn’t much unto himself unless you count pitchman for Publisher’s Clearing House or Star Search. After all, no one talks about the greatest sidekick ever.”
Johnny Carson dies in 2005. He passed ‘The Tonight Show’ to Jay Leno who earlier this month passed it on to Conan O’Brien. Steve Allen and Jack Paar both hosted the show before Carson.
“Many people are too young to remember how great Carson truly was. Many have grown up with the milquetoast Leno and that has left a bit of a sour taste in their mouths but Carson’s greatness isn’t something people simply pay lip service to, he truly was great and essentially created the late night talk show format that we are now used to,” continued Temple. “Whether it was his skits or his sly wit, Carson carved out a tremendous career that will likely never be matched. People like Leno, Letterman, O’Brien, Craig Ferguson and to some degree even Jimmy Fallon all owe their careers to Carson and have followed and are following in the best tradition that he established. Carson wasn’t one of the greats, he was The Great.”
Carson hosted the show for thirty years and filmed over 4500 episodes of the legendary show. His retirement sparked a battle between Jay Leno and David Letterman which eventually led to Letterman leaving NBC and setting his own show at CBS which continues today.
“This whole phenomenon and huge money maker that is late television existed of course before Carson but it was who made it popular and established it firmly in people’s minds. One could argue too that the same can be said about television in general. He took over when TV was still in its early life and he was one of the biggest stars which led to people continuing to take an interest in the medium,” continued Temple. “We run on this assumption that television makes the stars and that is more or less true now, but in the early days it was the stars that made TV. They made the medium popular and as more stars started to appear the popularity continued. Carson was one of those early stars that brought television into people’s lives and made them truly love the medium.”
Carson was survived by his wife of eighteen years, Alexis. His only son Richard died in a car accident in 1991.
Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent
NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > ED MCMAHON DEATH BRINGS FOND MEMORIES OF JOHNNY CARSON
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