Show biz trifectas

What a pity Ed McMahon, the solid, TV side-kick/funny guy, and Farrah Fawcett, the gorgeous actress with hair, eyes, teeth and red bathing suit who overcame it to gain plaudits and awards for her acting, died within days of each other and then, Michael Jackson joined them in death the same week.

Guess who gets all the attention?

What a pity since of the three, Jackson, while an immensely talented performer, was the most bizarre example of humanity. He's not exactly the role model parents might desire for their children

Call me old fashioned, but I'd keep my children, male or female, away from a man who regresses into childhood and yet whose music and performances range from bizarre sexuality to crotch-grabbing; uses medical means to change his body to the extent he's barely identifiable by race or even sex; is dependent on pharmaceuticals to get him through the day – every day; produces three children by methods that spin the brain, raises them privately, swathed in masks and scarves (a news report says two of the children do have a known birth mother, the third, "Blanket," born to a surrogate, is now a child without a parent); lives a lavish lifestyle and yet was immersed in gigantic debt, maintained suspicious relationships with young boys to the point of lawsuits, settlements and court proceedings, and yes, I know he was found not guilty but so was O.J. Simpson.

I never considered him a role model. But others do and did – why else would parents let their young boys stay overnight with Jackson? One grieving fan told a reporter, "All of us grew up with Michael; we all love him."

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Uh, no. Not all of us.

Another supporter praised Jackson not so much for his music but because "he brought black culture into the mainstream."

Really? Look at my description of Jackson again. Is that black culture? For the sake of blacks, I hope not, because he reflected someone constantly trying to escape the person he was and transform himself into some sort of myth.

The tragedy is that along the way, Jackson lost himself and never became the person he desired, whoever that was.

Despite the money, hangers-on, adulation, fans, press hounding and show business trappings, Michael Jackson was a sad, lonely, pathetic individual.

Clearly, he had no true friends and no one who loved him for himself because if he had, someone would have helped him and been there for him. He essentially died alone.

Yes, he was talented and yes, he made a huge impact on the music world and yes, I enjoyed some of his work – but … but.

He'd passed his prime and wouldn't accept it. He was preparing a new concert tour. He announced it while I was in London in March for my own radio programs. The city was in a swoon, but there was an undercurrent of doubt it would even happen. Jackson was so weird.

Show business deaths frequently occur in threes, and we're in the middle of – as they say – "déjà vu all over again," from different aspects.

First, a really famous three:

Elvis: I was working for the CBS station in Los Angeles and was in the newsroom when the news of Presley's death hit the wires. Someone shouted, "Elvis is dead!" At that moment, everything stopped. The entire focus of the news operation was on Elvis.

Never mind real "news," Elvis' death took precedence. It was a national, media frenzy focusing almost exclusively on the life and death of the singer, and of course, tabloid aspects of his life.

John Lennon: The same reaction. The world stopped; news focus was on the man, his music, his life and his death.

I was anchoring at KTVU in Oakland, and our news broadcast was wall-to-wall Lennon. Any attempt to lessen the coverage was met with scorn; such a thought was heresy.

Producers and reporters hyped to tell and retell the story, assumed everyone cared only for Lennon.

They were wrong. Many people stopped me on the street, complaining about the media excess. But it didn't matter what they said or what I thought; my job was to read the script.

Michael Jackson: It's the same media overkill. First, the shock then media overdrive. Reporters were at the hospital and Jackson's house, questioning officials about suspicions and story angles. There were file clips, sound bites, pictures and of course, music.

Again, real news takes the back seat. Iranian bloodbath? Korean nuclear threats? Israel in the crosshairs? A Congress out of control creating a socialist state? Virtually everything is ignored as media spin around Jackson.

I work in talk radio, and there's a difference between conservative and liberal programs.

Conservatives reference the sudden, and thus far unexplained, Jackson death but also focus on critical national and world events, which are more important than the death of a talent past his prime.

Conversely, the liberals go on and on about Jackson's childhood, why we was as he was, and even whether his fans enabled what he became because of their support.

Ed McMahon, despite his own demons – apparently alcohol – maintained a clean-cut, guy next-door image.

Farrah Fawcett too, despite that poster of a gorgeous young woman, presented a clean cut, healthy sexiness that didn't threaten girls and allowed boys their dreams. No sluttiness there, despite the tough personal problems she faced later in life. Then, as she battled cancer, she bravely allowed a film of her journey and her determination to beat it.

No, not Jackson's "Beat It," but to beat the disease and live.

It was not to be – for her or for McMahon, but I've no doubt they're the best role models in this show business "trifecta."

Too bad, the media virtually ignore them.