Every year in Hollywood when the long, hot days of summer set in, some story comes along to shake up the media, and reporters seem to bite into it like a dog with a bone. Absent anything else going on in town, that story is becomes the tale of Hollywood’s summer.

So far, early in this summer of 2009,  the story has been celebrity deaths. When Karl Malden died yesterday, he was added to a growing list of celebrities who either died after long illnesses or suddenly, topped off by the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson.

When Jackson died last week, fans across the world went into shock and are still waiting news of an official funeral or public memorial.

Also catching fans by surprise was the strange demise of “Kung Fu” actor David Carradine, who was found in the closet of his Bangkok hotel on June 4. A pathologist who oversaw a private autopsy told

Reuters the cause of death was asphyxiation, but so far an official cause has not been released by Thai police.

However, most of the stars who have passed on to that major studio in the sky were in poor health or had a serious illness.

Farrah Fawcett, the 1970s icon who captivated teenage boys with her smile and golden wavy hair, ended her struggle with cancer on June 25, the same day Jackson died.

Ed McMahon, America’s favorite sidekick on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” died on June 23 at 86 and had battled a series of illnesses.

Karl Malden, who won acclaim for his roles in “A Streetcar Named

Desire” and “On the Waterfront,” had been in failing health in

recent years. The actor, famous for playing ordinary guys, died in his sleep on July 1. He was 97.

And over the weekend, there were three other deaths: impressionist and singer Fred Travalena, who could voice nearly everyone from Bugs Bunny to George W. Bush; pitchman Billy Mays; and 1950s sitcom star Gale Storm. Maybe they were not all on the A-list. But they were well-known during their time.

The real question is whether the stretch of celebrity deaths is over? There is an old saying that celebrity deaths come in threes, and so far, we’ve had far more than three.

Thursday’s elimination show of “So You Think You Can Dance” began on a somber note as executive producer Nigel Lythgoe paid tribute to Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, all of whom passed away this week.

Nigel paid special recognition to the enormous contribution Jackson made to music and dance.

“We will not see his like again. He changed the face of music and dance in the world — not just in this country.”

He called Jackson’s 1991 “Black or White” music video — which incorporated a number of international dance styles — an inspiration for the show.

“This is a life to celebrate. This is a life that remains inspirational for anybody who listens to music, anybody who wants to dance,” Nigel said, noting that many dancers auditioning for the show over the years cited Jackson as the reason why they started dancing. (Last week, contestant Jason Glover was shown doing an impressive Jackson impression when he was four years old.)

Of Jackson’s iconic 1982 “Thriller” video, directed by John Landis, Nigel said, “After this, there was nothing ever again that would be the same.”

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

After the tribute, the voting results were unveiled. It was not a good night for ballroom dancers as Asuka Kondoh and Jonathan Platero were the unlucky ones sent home by judges Nigel, Mary Murphy and guest Toni Basil.

Asuka, who performed a Mandy Moore thrash-jazz routine with partner Vitolio Jeune, was the first to go home in an unanimous decision. The judges called her a beautiful and “exciting performer,” but it wasn’t good enough. “You give a little something of yourself with everything that you do, but we do feel that you are not growing in the competition,” Nigel said.

The boyish Jonathan was the third male to leave the show. Despite an “outstanding” solo, the judges said his hip-hop performance (choreographed by Dave Scott) was “like a Sunday school picnic outing” despite its “gangsta” theme. “I don’t believe you’ve brought the dancing that is required to be America’s best dancer,” Nigel concluded.

The four contestants who escaped the chopping block were Jonathan’s partner, Karla Garcia (despite what the judges called a “desperate” solo), Vitolio, and Caitlin Kinney and Jason, who performed a paso doble by choreographer Jean Marc Genereaux.

Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak lived up to the personality and originality of Mia Michael’s charming “butt” routine.

And speaking of butts, Phillip Chbeeb ripped his pants during his Tyce Diorio jazz number with Jeanine Mason, sending Mary into hysterics. Nigel felt Phillip still needed to grow, despite his popularity with voters: “I need more than your ass sticking out of your trousers.”

The only couple to make it onto Mary’s “hot tomale train” this week was Kupono Aweau and his new partner Kayla Radomski with their performance of a waltz by Genereaux. “I never yell for a Viennese waltz,” said Mary, who preceded to give her signature scream. But Nigel, in a particularly crusty and critical mood on Wednesday, said they weren’t going to make anyone stand up and cheer, even though it was beautifully danced. Voters disagreed.

With seven couples left, dancers will face increasing pressure to exceed expectations every week. Who will survive the heat and who will wilt under the glare of the spotlight?

Farrah Fawcett had about four hours of headlines to herself on Thursday before Michael Jackson kicked her off the metaphorical front page. And both overshadowed Ed McMahon, who died on Tuesday.

They say celebrity deaths come in threes, but rarely do they come in such close proximity. The cancer-related deaths of former “Tonight Show” sidekick McMahon and former “Charlie’s Angel” Fawcett came as little shock, but Jackson’s was perhaps the most stunning celebrity exit since his friend Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997.

Speaking of the so-called “People’s princess,” whose death basically paralyzed Britain and large parts of the world for weeks, she stole some of the thunder of Mother Teresa, who died five days later. And forget about conductor Georg Solti, who had the misfortune to die on the same day as the saint-in-waiting.

Jackson was pronounced dead at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The former president died on June 5, 2004, and the lengthy mourning period enveloped the death of Ray Charles five days later.

Speaking of presidents, John F. Kennedy was assassinated on the same day in 1963 that “Brave New World” author Aldous Huxley and “Chronicles of Narnia” author C.S. Lewis died. 

A would-be president, Barry Goldwater, died of a stroke in 1998. But people may have been focused on the murder of former “Saturday Night Live” comic Phil Hartman at the hands of his wife the day before.

In 2003, Hollywood old-timers Katharine Hepburn and Buddy Hackett died on the same day. But sometimes, it’s a toss-up who overshadows whom. British rocker Marc Bolan of T. Rex was killed in a 1977 car crash on the same day that opera diva Maria Callas died of a heart attack.

Former “Tonight Show” fixture Ed McMahon died on Tuesday, and with his passing at age 86 he takes with him the legacy of being known as television’s top sidekick, (click on “sidekick” for a video) a reputation he formed during more than 30 years of setting up “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson’s comic punchlines.

Few TV personalities these days stand out, or rather stand back, and show an ability to take on the role of a sidekick the way McMahon did on “The Tonight Show” from 1962 to 1992. Late-night host David Letterman on CBS jokes around with band leader Paul Shaffer, but it’s clear that Shaffer’s gifts are more musical than comedic. Jimmy Fallon on NBC started his show in February without a sidekick, and talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart also do without a comedy cohort next to them.

As the New York Times said in a March article, “So many talk show hosts work solo that the second-banana position seems almost as obsolete as the foretopman or the Linotype operator.”

The Los Angeles Times also took note of the apparent end of the sidekick era, in an article about McMahon that ran on its website on Tuesday and called him “the king of sidekicks.” 

“We live in a nation of aspiring quarterbacks, pitchers, lead singers and presidents, where we are told to dream big and have it all. (The vice presidency of the United States is regarded as a rarefied form of failure),” the L.A. Times article said.

But in praising McMahon, the article said that “where there was Johnny, there was always Ed, the witness, the audience, one of us.”

And comedian David Brenner, 73, a frequent guest and substitute host on “The Tonight Show” during the late Carson’s reign, said that McMahon was the “best sidekick” TV has ever known. 

Brenner called McMahon a human navigational system, “guiding you in all the right directions, keeping you from going off course, rerouting you when you did and making all of it great fun.”

McMahon’s role on “The Tonight Show” in many ways was to be the straight man who told less jokes than he set up, a role played by many U.S. performers in decades past (such as Carl Reiner for Mel Brooks, Dick Smothers for his brother Tommy and Dean Martin for Jerry Lewis), but the stage job has since become largely outdated.

When comedian Conan O’Brien took over from Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Show”  on June 1, he brought with him former sidekick Andy Richter as his announcer. But while Richter breaks in with a joke occasionally during O’Brien’s monologue, he does not take a place on a seat next to O’Brien as he did from 1993 to 2000 on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” It remains to be seen how Richter’s role will develop on the NBC show, but critics have remarked on his comedic talent, with Steve Johnson of The Chicago Tribune saying that Richter during his previous starring run with O’Brien was “more partner than sidekick, contributing to the conversation and comedy.” Rather than act as a traditional straight man, Richter often serves up the punchline. And on “The Tonight Show,” he does it from his announcer’s lectern, not from a privileged spot right next to O’Brien.

Will Richter give the job of TV sidekick a new birth? Either way, McMahon has left a legacy as the king of the couch.