Ed MacMahon Passes

After a myriad of recent financial and medical problems, Hollywood legend Ed MacMahon passed away last night.

Ed MacMahon was best known to generations as Johnny Carson's announcer and sidekick on "The Tonight Show." For over thirty years his trademark intro of "Here's Johnny!" was a signal that the show was about to begin, and greatness would follow. In a era of numerous talk shows, and before they became promotional tools and spotlights for trailer trash, "The Tonight Show" was the best. That might be Ed's claim to fame, but that's not all he did.

He was also the face of American Family Publishers sweepstakes, a frequent partner of Dick Clark's on many TV projects and the co-host of Jerry Lewis' annual telethon. Ed hosted "Star Search," a series that launched the careers of Britney Spears and Arsenio Hall among others.

MacMahon also did quite a bit of acting over the years. Of specific interest to me was 1967's The Incident, one of my favorite films. It's a small part in an ensemble film, but Ed is excellent.

We've lost a legend, and he'll be missed. Rest in peace, Ed.


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Super Bowl Aftermath: Commercials

Despite one of the better (or at least more interesting) commercials this year being banned from being broadcast, there were still a few ads that stood out during this year's Super Bowl.

The main idea is to surprise, entertain, and most importantly let the viewer remember the name of the product when it's all over. I mean everyone remembers the amazing Big Brother commercial from 1984 - but come on, who remembers what they were selling?

Let's start with a good one from Doritos that aired early in the game...

It met criteria by making me laugh and I knew what they were selling. On the bad side, there were a few that creeped me out. Like the NBC ads for "Heroes" where the casts of that show, "Medium" and "Chuck" lipsynced to an old Motown tune. As a matter of fact, all of the commercials for NBC shows were pretty bad, and disrepectful to the shows themselves. Were they trying to turn folks off?

None of the Coke, Pepsi or Budweiser ads did anything for me, and that "Pepsuber" bit not only made me not want to drink Pepsi but also stop watching "Saturday Night Live." Speaking of bad commercials, what was up with that Cash4Gold.com one with Ed McMahon and MC Hammer? Was that for real, or just a cruel joke?

A joke that worked and that I loved was Alec Baldwin for Hulu...

My absolute favorite of the night however was the CareerBuilder.com commercial with the fuzzy logic ad...

Although I could see it getting very annoying if it starts playing repetitively in general circulation.

So anyone know who won the game?