Filed by Bil at 8:23 pm under Pop Culture, Shameless Plugs

One nice thing about working in the office where I work is that so many of my coworkers are so plugged in. I got the news about Michael Jackson today at about 4:45 PM, before his death had even been confirmed.

The not-so-nice thing about where I work is every time there’s news of this magnitude, I’m so backed up with work that I don’t have the mental capacity to care. I felt badly right away, of course, but I also felt a very quick annoyance at everyone getting up from their desks and talking loudly and not working while I was answering phones and typing furiously. I was working, those bastards, couldn’t they see? Lazy and irresponsible pricks.

But now I’m not at work. I’m at home, and I am slowly getting that profound sense of loss that I’ve seen on the faces of so many people at work and on the train ride home. And not just over Michael Jackson – I’m also sad that Farrah Fawcett passed away, since I had just heard that she was finally going to get married after being with the same guy for, like, 30 years.

And I had been thinking how much Ed McMahon did to further the status of sidekicks in society. I was grateful for Ed when I watched the first “Tonight Show” with Conan O’Brien and saw his old pal Andy Richter standing there – it was very much the Ed-and-Johnny feel, and that’s a good, good feel. It made me happy.

I have nothing earth-shattering to say about these three; I was not the most obsessive fan of any of them. But controversy or no, they were, in fact, true American icons, and I acknowledge the gravity. I would never have predicted that these three would be grouped together in any category, but this kind of makes sense.

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EDIT 6/28
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Actually, apparently they come in fours sometimes: Billy Mays, darling of infomercials everywhere, has also died.

TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead in Tampa home

And, if you count David Carradine not too long ago, that could really make five.

Or else we should be waiting for one more, which would make two sets of three. Who’s next in line?