TVSquad

Wow. Busy day in celebrity deaths. First we hear that Farrah Fawcett finally lost her battle to cancer, then suddenly we hear that, after being rushed to a LA hospital in cardiac arrest, Michael Jackson also died. He was only 50, and he was about to embark on a comeback concert stint in London that he hoped would revive his career.

ABC News was already scrambling to move up the Farrah special they had planned to air on 20/20 this coming Friday. That special, where Barbara Walters interviews Ryan O'Neal, will be shown tonight at 10 PM ET. They also just announced that they will be airing an MJ retrospective at 9 PM ET.

Other networks are following suit with their own specials, according to THR.com.

It's interesting how most news outlets aside from Fox didn't confirm MJ's death even though our friends at TMZ had the news first. I guess it wasn't legitimate enough for them. Either way, it's a shockingly sad day in the entertainment biz, no matter what you may have thought of Farrah or Jackson.

During some of the television obits I've been hearing about the late, great Ed McMahon, one of the most common misunderstandings about the Tonight Show sidekick's career has been perpetuated: that he worked for Publishers Clearing House, handing out big checks to unsuspecting sweepstakes winners.

Well, Ed did work for one of those sweepstakes-and-subscriptions houses, but it was PCH's main rival, American Family Publishers. He often appeared in the AFP's ads and mailings with his Bloopers and Practical Jokes buddy Dick Clark.

Not once did McMahon work for PCH, but as Bob pointed out in his obituary, jokes about his sweepstakes work often kept the mistake alive.

Grammy-winning singer Lou Rawls, whose velvety voice earned him legions of fans, died today of cancer at the age of 72. Rawls was born in Chicago and raised by his grandmother. He started honing his voice at age seven in a Baptist church choir.

 Rawls got his start as a gospel singer, then later transitioned to more secular music, selling over 40 million copies of his 60-plus albums and winning four Grammys . In addition to his long career as a singer, Rawls also appeared in over a dozen films and 16 television series, including Fantasy Island and Fall Guy, and voiceovers for children's cartoons (among other roles, he was the voice of Harvey on Hey, Arnold!) . Rawls was also a humanitarian; he was well known as a huge supporter of the United Negro College Fund, and performed at the fund's telethon last year.

Looks like we need to add another one to Jonathan's list from earlier this week. Known primarily for his role as Blue in the recent comedy movie "Old School", Patrick Cranshaw has passed away at the ripe age of 86. Besides appearing in several other movies, Cranshaw also made recurring appearances in the television shows Alice, Mork & Mindy, The Ted Knight Show and Dukes of Hazzard. No obituary of Cranshaw's is complete without the phrase: "You're my boy, Blue!"

(Part 4 of 5)

It happens every year, and you hate to be the one who ends up writing about it (especially me because I'm a big cry-baby), but it's the right thing to do when it comes time to pay your respects to those we've lost over the last 365 days. So grab a box of tissues and join me along with the rest of my fellow TV Squadders as we remember some of the great actors, comedians, news anchors, producers, writers, and other television personalities who've moved on to what we can only hope is a better place.