Indeed, while McMahon had plenty of roles outside of the universe of “The Tonight Show,” almost every mention of McMahon today includes a significant evaluation of how McMahon related to Johnny Carson. The official New York Times obituary, in fact, prominently refers to a quote from McMahon explaining his deferential attitude toward Carson.

“To me, he’s the star, and I’m on the sidelines, just nudging him a bit,” McMahon said.

Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times  also makes McMahon’s sidekick status the focus of his appreciation of the legendary announcer.

“It's easy to underestimate his accomplishment -- or even to wonder whether it should be called an accomplishment at all,” Lloyd writes. “We live in a nation of aspiring quarterbacks, pitchers, lead singers and presidents, where we are told to dream big and have it all.”

And, of course, Conan O'Brien has warm words for McMahon on this evening's "Tonight Show." The transcript of his remarks is over at TVMoJoe.

Among the other tributes to McMahon:

--Time magazine calls McMahon TV’s “first second banana.”