Ed McMahon, 1923-2009

“Who cares?” a follower on Twitter asked today, when the subject of the death of Ed McMahon came up.

I guess I don’t have a great answer for it, although I do think there’s value in remembering the icons of mass media when it was really mass media. Like McMahon, the Milton Berles and Dinah Shores poured the foundation for the influence of television.

“Here’s Johnny!” I wonder how many people think that’s Jack Nicholson’s line?

Long before people talked about what was on Daily Show last night, they talked about what was on Carson.

The Archive of American Television has a series of interviews with McMahon here.

McMahon also was the last of a breed. Like Ted Williams, he was a star who interrupted his career, to go fly planes in the war in Korea.

After Carson, McMahon went on to host a series of forgettable shows and commercials — Cash for Gold — which just made us old-timers feel sad for the guy.